title: Microscopic study of the triple-α reaction.
abstract: We present a microscopic dynamical study of the reactions involving three 4He clusters. We show that the much discussed triple-α linear chain configuration of 12C is formed with a certain lifetime and subsequently makes a transition to a triangular configuration of 12C and then to a configuration near the ground state. Time-dependent Hartree-Fock theory coupled with a density constraint is used to study the properties of these configurations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Umar
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Maruhn
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Itagaki
authors.forename: V E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Oberacker