Sensitivity of three-body decays to the reactions mechanism and the initial structure by example of 6Be

Abstract

The influence of the initial-state structure and the reaction mechanism on three-body decays is investigated by example of the 6Be continuum populated in neutron-knockout reactions on 7Be. The sensitivity of the 6Be excitation spectrum and the three-body correlations to the different components of the model is demonstrated. It is shown that the spin composition of the initial state may have an overwhelming effect on the three-body continuum. The characteristics and structure of the second $0_2^{+}$ and $2_2^{+}$ states in 6Be are predicted for the first time and the conditions for their reliable observations are formulated. The effects of interference and the alignment of three-body states on the three-body correlations are demonstrated.

Comments: 6 pages, 7 figures