Monte Carlo analysis of the four-body final state in the neutron-induced 12C breakup

Abstract The expectation spectra obtained by the Monte Carlo simulation of those reaction mechanisms which are known to occur in the interactions of light nuclei have been compared with the experimental distributions of various physical variables obtained from a complete measurement, in 4π geometry, of the 12 C(n, n3α) reaction. By the use of this method, contributions of various reaction channels, including the three-body nα 8 Be and the four-body nααα simultaneous breakup, have been extracted. The present study has also shown that the Monte Carlo simulation of the sequential reaction mechanism alone may be successfully used in modelling the four-body n3α final state. This is true for any variable or correlation of variables and for any specific experimental condition, provided the known 12 C excitation spectra with given branching ratios to the transition via 8 Be g.s. are used as input data for the Monte Carlo simulation.