Nuclear track emulsion in search for the Hoyle-state in dissociation of relativistic ${}^{12}$C nuclei

Abstract

Production of ensembles of $\alpha$-particle triples associated with the Hoyle state (the second excited state of the ${}^{12}$C nucleus) in peripheral dissociation of relativistic ${}^{12}$C nuclei is studied. Stacks of nuclear track emulsion pellicles exposed to ${}^{12}$C with an energy from hundreds MeV to a few GeV per nucleon serve as the material for studies. The Hoyle state decays are reconstructed via measurement of emission angles of $\alpha$ particles with the precision sufficient for identification of the unstable ${}^{8}$Be nucleus. The estimate of the contribution of Hoyle's state to the ${}^{12}$C $\to$ 3$\alpha$ dissociation is 10-15\%.