No evidence of an 11.16 MeV 2⁺ state in 12C

An experiment using the 11B(3He,d)12C reaction was performed at iThemba LABS at an incident energy of 44 MeV and analyzed with a high energy-resolution magnetic spectrometer, to reinvestigate states in 12C published in 1971. The original investigation reported the existence of an 11.16 MeV state in 12C that displays a 2⁺ nature. In the present experiment, data were acquired at laboratory angles of 25, 30,and 35, which is part of the center-of-mass (c.m.) angle range in the original measurements where a clear signature of such a state was observed. These new low-background measurements revealed no evidence of the previously reported state at 11.16 MeV in 12C.