The spectroscopic quadrupole moment of the 2 1 + state of 12 C: A benchmark of theoretical models
The spectroscopic quadrupole moment of the first 2 + state of 12 C has been measured employing the Coulomb-excitation re-orientation technique. Our result of $Q_{s} (2^{+}_{1}) = +9.3^{+3.5}_{-3.8}$ efm 2 suggests a larger oblate deformation than previously reported. Combining this with the consistently re-analyzed adopted value, we present the most precise value to date of $Q_{s} (2^{+}_{1})$ = +9.5(18) efm 2 , which is consistent with a geometrical rotor description. This simple outcome is compared to state-of-the-art shell-model, mean-field, ab initio calculations, cluster-based and geometrical-like theories, which show varying degrees of emergent quadrupole collectivity.