Search for the 2+ excitation of the Hoyle state in 12C using the 12C(12C,3α)12C reaction

A search for the 2+ excitation of the Hoyle state in 12C has been performed using the 12C(12C,3α)12C reaction at a beam energy of 101.5 MeV. An angular correlation analysis was used to suppress known contributions to the excitation energy spectrum, enhancing the experimental sensitivity. No strong evidence was found for new states in 12C between 9 and 11 MeV; rather upper limits for their excitation in the 12C+12C inelastic scattering reaction are determined.