An enhancement of formation of unstable $^{8}$Be nucleus with the growth of $\alpha$-particle multiplicity in fragmentation of relativistic nuclei

Abstract

In this paper, the correlation between the formation of the unstable $^{8}$Be nucleus and accompanying $\alpha$ particles in the fragmentation of relativistic $^{16}$O, $^{22}$Ne, $^{28}$Si, and $^{197}$Au nuclei in a nuclear track emulsion is investigated. The $^{8}$Be decays are identified in a wide energy range by invariant masses calculated from 2$\alpha$-pair opening angles. The adopted approximations are verified by data on fragmentation of $^{16}$O nuclei in a hydrogen bubble chamber in a magnetic field. An increase in the $^{8}$Be contribution to the dissociation with the growth of $\alpha$-particle multiplicity is found.