Experimental studies of clustering in light nuclei: 11,12,13,16C

Different, complementary, techniques are used to experimentally probe clustering aspects in several carbon isotopes: 11,12,13,16C. Our approaches involve breakup reactions with radioactive cocktail beams (16C), compound nucleus reactions and resonant scattering at low energies (11,13C), and direct reactions with the detection of in-flight resonance decay fragments (12C). In this paper, we discuss results of our experimental campaign: in 11C, we unveil the existence of a new excited state, characterized by clustering nature, at an excitation energy of 9.36 MeV (5/2-); the decay path of the Hoyle state in 12C (7.654 MeV, 0+) is investigated with unprecedented precision; we refine the spectroscopy of 13C above the alpha-threshold supporting the possible appearance of the K pi=3/2 +/- molecular bands, based on the alpha+9Be structure, previously discussed in the literature; in 16C, we find evidence for 6He-10Be decays. Our findings have an impact on the understanding of clustering phenomena in light nuclear systems.