High multiplicity α-particle breakup measurements to study α-condensate states

An experiment was performed to investigate α-condensate states via high α-particle multiplicity breakup. The nucleus of interest was 28Si therefore to measure multiplicity 7 particle breakup events, a highly granular detector with a high solid angle coverage was required. For this purpose, the CHIMERA and FARCOS detectors at INFN LNS were employed. Particle identification was achieved through ∆E-E energy loss. The α-particle multiplicity was measured at three beam energies to investigate different excitation regimes in 28Si. At a beam energy where the energy is sufficient to provide the 7 α-particles with enough energy to be identified using the ∆E-E method, multiplicity 7 events can be seen. Given these high multiplicity events, the particles can be reconstructed to investigate the breakup of α-condensate states. Analysing the decay paths of these states can elucidate whether the state of interest corresponds to a non-cluster, clustered or condensed state.