Correlated emission of three α-particles in the β-decay of N-12

Abstract

The β-decay of N-12 is used to populate α-emitting excited states in 12 degreesC. The α-particles from the break-up of both the 10.3 MeV and 12.71 MeV states were measured in coincidence with an efficient detector setup consisting of two double-sided Si strip detectors. The break-up of the 12.71 MeV 1(+) state is an interesting testing ground for the different descriptions of multi-particle break-up, whereas the properties of the 10.3 MeV state, which under some astrophysical conditions is relevant for the production of C-12 in stars, are poorly known. First results from the analysis of the data is presented and compared with Monte Carlo simulations.