Microscopic study of the 16O + 16O quasimolecule

An angular momentum projected microscopic calculation, including the Coulomb force, is performed with accuracy for the 16O+16O system. The projected energy curves form an almost pure rotational structure, but with an effective reduced mass which is a function of the distance. A critical number Nsub(c)=24 is shown to exist. The recent ORNL experimental results seem to confirm this value. Simple parametrizations make clear the essential characteristics of the projection and allow calculation of the effective reduced mass. Emphasis is put on the quasibound states of the system, both in the projected curves and in a generator coordinate calculation. Some confirmation of their energies is found in experimental results on related channels. The rotational band characterized by a constant 62 keV is due to the existence of a quasimolecule whose excitation energy in the spectrum of 32S is estimated to be 24.5 MeV. (Auth.)