Direct evidence of α-particle condensation for the Hoyle state

The fragmentation of quasi-projectiles from the nuclear reaction 40Ca+12C at 25 MeV/nucleon was used to produce excited states candidates to α-particle condensation. Complete kinematic characterization of individual decay events, made possible by the CHIMERA high-granularity 4π charged particle multi-detector, reveals that 7.5±4.0 % of the Hoyle state particle decays correspond to direct decays in three equal-energy α-particles. Moreover, events with increased kinetic energy dispersion in the 12C center of mass, which amount to 9.5±4.0 %, point toward the occurrence of a second competing molecular configuration, of a linear α-chain.