Quantifying alpha clustering in the ground states of 16-O and 20-Ne

E. Harris; M. Barbui; J. Bishop; G. Chubarian; Sebastian Konig; E. Koshchiy; K. D. Launey; Dean Lee; Zifeng Luo; Yuan-Zhuo Ma; Ulf-G. Meissner; C. E. Parker; Zhengxue Ren; M. Roosa; A. Saastamoinen; G. H. Sargsyan; D. P. Scriven; Shihang Shen; A. Volya; Hang Yu; G. V. Rogachev

arXiv · 2507.17059

Quantifying alpha clustering in the ground states of 16-O and 20-Ne

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Abstract

Understanding the role of multi-nucleon correlations in the structure of light nuclei is at the forefront of modern nuclear science. In this letter, we present a quantitative benchmark study of alpha-cluster correlations in the ground states of 16-O and 20-Ne. Experimental data provide direct evidence that the wave functions of the ground states of 16-O and 20-Ne are dominated by alpha-cluster correlations, in agreement with the predictions of sophisticated nuclear structure models. We also provide a new model-independent constraint for the alpha asymptotic normalization coefficient of the 16-O ground state and discuss the implications of these findings on the 12-C(alpha,gamma)16-O reaction, which is of critical importance for nuclear astrophysics.

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E. Harris, M. Barbui, J. Bishop, G. Chubarian, Sebastian Konig, E. Koshchiy, K. D. Launey, Dean Lee, Zifeng Luo, Yuan-Zhuo Ma, Ulf-G. Meissner, C. E. Parker, Zhengxue Ren, M. Roosa, A. Saastamoinen, G. H. Sargsyan, D. P. Scriven, Shihang Shen, A. Volya, Hang Yu, G. V. Rogachev. 2025-07-22. Quantifying alpha clustering in the ground states of 16-O and 20-Ne. https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.17059

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