Existence of inelastic supernumerary nuclear rainbow in 16O+12C scattering

The existence of a supernumerary nuclear rainbow in inelastic scattering is reported. This is done by studying inelastic O-16 scattering from C-12, exciting the 2(+) (4.44 MeV) state of C-12 and elastic scattering at the incident energies in the range 124-200 MeV, using the coupled channels method. An extended double folding potential is used. This is derived from realistic wave functions for C-12 and O-16 calculated with a microscopic a cluster model and a finite-range density-dependent nucleon-nucleon force. Excitations to the 2(+) (4.44 MeV), 3(-)(9.64 MeV), and 4(+) (14.08 MeV) states of C-12, and the 3(-)(6.13 MeV) and 2(+) (6.92 MeV) states of O-16 are included in the coupled channels calculations. The emergence of the supernumerary bow is understood by the properties of both the Luneburg-lens-like potential in the internal region and diffuse attraction in the outer region. The existence of a supernumerary rainbow for inelastic scattering in addition to the existence of a dynamically created secondary rainbow and a dynamically refracted primary rainbow for elastic scattering, which are not observed in meteorological rainbows, further deepens the understanding of nuclear rainbows.