Towards the pair spectroscopy of the Hoyle state in 12C

Abstract

The triple–alpha process leading to the formation of stable carbon in the Universe is one of the most important nuclear astrophysical processes. The radiative width of the so–called Hoyle state, involving the 7.654 MeV E0 and the 3.2148 MeV E2 transitions, is known with 10–12% accuracy. A novel, more direct approach to determining the width is proposed here, based on the measurement of the E0 and the E2 internal pair conversion intensities. We report on the development of a new magnetic pair spectrometer with high sensitivity for electron–positron pairs and with excellent energy resolution.