Nonpeculiar behavior of the (O16, C12) transfer reaction in the s-d shell

Recent analyses of (O16, C12) four-nucleon transfer data in the s-d shell have suggested (a) that the transfer occurs with the α cluster in its 28.5-MeV excited state, and separately (b) that weakly absorbing optical potentials must be used. Our analysis of four-nucleon transfers measured in the reaction Mg24(O16, C12)Si28 contradicts such peculiar features in the (O16, C12) reaction, and yields spectroscopic information in agreement with theoretical predictions.