Decay of the ¹²O ground state

The previously measured decay of the ground state of ¹²O was reanalyzed based on new experimental and theoretical results for the ground state of ¹¹N. In the previous analysis no evidence for diproton emission was found and the measured large decay width was inconsistent with sequential proton decay via the intermediate system of ¹¹N. The recent results on ¹¹N show evidence that the ground state of ¹¹N is at substantially lower energy allowing for a consistent explanation of the two-proton decay of ¹²O in terms of sequential proton emission.