Origin and consequences of 12C+12C fusion resonances at deep sub-barrier energies

Phys Rev Lett. 2013 Feb 15;110(7):072701. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.072701. Epub 2013 Feb 11.

Abstract

Previous explanations for the resonance behavior of (12)C+(12)C fusion at low energies were based on a nonresonant compound-nucleus background and an additional contribution from a series of resonances. This separation into "resonance" and "background" contributions of the cross section is artificial. We propose to explain this phenomenon through the impact on the cross section of the relatively large spacings and the narrow widths of (24)Mg compound levels in the corresponding excitation-energy region.