Pion correlations and resonance effects in \bar{p}p annihilation to 4\pi^0 at rest

We study correlations in the exclusive reaction at rest with complete reconstruction of the kinematics for each event. The inclusive distribution is fairly flat at small invariant mass of the pion pair while a small enhancement in the double differential distribution is observed for small invariant masses of both pion pairs. Dynamical models with resonances in the final state are shown to be consistent with the data while the stochastic HBT mechanism is not supported by the present findings. Received: 26 February 2002 / Revised version: 22 July 2002 / Published online: 30 August 2002     

Measurement of the Strong Interaction Shift and Width of the Ground State of Pionic Hydrogen

Hyperfine Interactions - An experiment to measure the strong interaction width (Γ1s ) and shift (ε1s ) of the ground state of pionic hydrogen (π?p), in order to determine the...     

Generalized exponential functions applied to atomic calculations

The use of a generalized exponential function r ^v?1 exp(?ζr ^μ ) as a radial basis function in atomic calculations is studied with our special interest in the variationally optimum value of the parameter μ, since special cases of μ = 1 and μ = 2 correspond respectively to the radial parts of commonly-used Slater-type and Gaussian-type functions. Roothaan-Hartree-Fock calculations are performed for ground-state neutral atoms with atomic number Z = 2–54, singly-charged cations with Z = 3–55, and anions with Z = 1–53 within the single-zeta (or minimal basis) framework. For all the species examined, the optimtum μ values are found to be smaller than unity and increase towards unity as the atomic number increases. The present results support the use of Slater-type functions when μ is restricted to be an integer, but suggest from the variational point of view that even the exponential decay of Slater-type functions is too “strong” within the single-zeta approximation.     

Kinetics of muonic hydrogen drift in axial symmetric geometry

The kinetics of muonic atoms of hydrogen isotopes in an axially symmetric trap is studied. The problem of the determination of the initial kinetic energy distribution of µp and µd atoms from time-of-flight spectra is discussed. The effects of the scattering of muonic atoms from gas and of the stopping distribution are evaluated. When the collision length is much larger than the target radius, the moments of the kinetic energy distribution are shown to be determined by the time-of-flight spectrum in a model-independent way.     

Survey of experimental results on μCF including hyperfine effects

Complementary to the investigations of the most efficient dt cycle, also the other muon-induced fusion cycles in mixtures of hydrogen isotopes have been studied. The results of these dedicated experiments provide rich information about muon-induced few-body reactions and contribute significantly to a better overall understanding of CF. A summary of the recent progress will be presented. Special emphasis will be put on two characteristic examples, namely a new experimental approach to study the muonic cascade in H-D mixtures and the systematic study of hyperfine effects in muon-induced reactions.     

Measurement of the resonant d(mu)t molecular formation rate in solid HD

Measurements of muon-catalyzed dt fusion ( d(mu)t-->4He + n + mu(-)) in solid HD have been performed. The theory describing the energy dependent resonant molecular formation rate for the reaction (mu)t + HD-->[(d(mu)t)pee](*) is compared to experimental results in a pure solid HD target. Constraints on the rates are inferred through the use of a Monte Carlo model developed specifically for the experiment. From the time-of-flight analysis of fusion events in 16 and 37 microg x cm(-2) targets, an average formation rate consistent with 0.897+/-(0.046)(stat)+/-(0.166)(syst) times the theoretical prediction was obtained.     

Experiments with low-energy muons

Two experiments with low-energy muons are described: the determination of the stopping power of C, Si, Ti and Au for muons at energies down to 2 keV and the measurement of the diffusion times for pµ and dµ atoms in low-pressure (0.25–12 hPa) hydrogen gas. A pronounced Barkas effect was found for muons at the Bragg peak (about 10 keV): the stopping power for µ^– in C, e.g., is about 30% lower than that for µ⁺. The mean kinetic energy of pµ atoms at the end of the cascade in 1 hPa hydrogen gas was determined to be (2.6 ± 0.6) eV (preliminary value).     

The pionic hydrogen experiment at PSI

A new high-precision determination of the strong-interaction shift (∈_1s) and broadening (Γ_1s) of the ground state in pionic hydrogen (πH) has been started at PSI. This constitutes a direct measurement of the πN scattering lengths and is an important test of the methods of chiral perturbation theory.The experiment will be conducted in two steps. In the first step we aim for a precision of 0.2% for ∈_1s and 3% for Γ_1s. A new method of energy calibration is used: by measuring πH simultaneously with pionic oxygen (πO), systematic errors are suppressed. The goal for the second step is an accuracy of 1% for Γ_1s.