The muon capture in <Superscript>16</Superscript>O: the angular and polarization correlations

Longitudinal polarization of the daughter nuclei ¹⁶N which arises in μ⁻ capture on ¹⁶O as a function of the recoil angle, together with the angular distribution and the alignment of the recoil nucleus are calculated. The neutrinos born escape mainly along the muon spin. The polarization is found to vary from zero (recoil momentum counter to the muon spin direction) up to 50% (along the muon spin direction). The results can be applied to the experimental tests of T conservation, to the analysis of the projects of constructing the powerful mono-energetic neutrino sources, to the experimental study of the pseudo-scalar form factor and the K-electron capture, and to other spin-polarization correlation experiments.     

Continuity-equation constraint in the two-vertex nuclear processes: Radiative muon capture on 16O and 40Ca

A modified form of the impulse-approximation effective hamiltonian of the nuclear radiative muon capture (RMC) is developed. In the derivation we have used the electromagnetic current-continuity equation; the procedure is actually an extension for the nonzero momentum transfer of the Siegert theorem. Radiative capture rates and spectra of the emitted photons for RMC on ¹⁶O and ⁴⁰Ca are analysed by using the nuclear shell-model wave functions for the calculation of the partial RMC transition rates. The spectra obtained are strongly reduced in comparison with the standard impulse-approximation calculations and agree with the phenomenological results. The main contradiction of recent RMC theoretical works has been resolved in this way.     

Muon capture by16O—using a microscopic theory of particle-hole states

The partial capture rates for the process,μ ⁻ +¹⁶O (g·s) →¹⁶N (2⁻, 1⁻, 0⁻, 3⁻) +v _μ have been calculated using the particle-hole wavefunctions obtained using self-consistent procedure. In deriving these wavefunctions, the effectiveN-N interaction has been constructed from the bare Hamada-Johnston interaction. The terms in the muon capture Hamiltonian that depend on the momentum of the capturing proton have been included and their importance in 0⁺ → 0⁻ transition is exhibited. The agreement with the available experimental data is good. The need to incorporate meson exchange effects in 0⁺ → 0⁻ transition is pointed out.     

Muon capture in Ar. The muon lifetime and yields of Cl isotopes

The time and energy spectra of γ rays, accompanying negative muon capture in a ⁴⁰Ar target, have been measured using Ge detectors. The results of measuring the muon lifetime in ⁴⁰Ar and yields of different Cl and S isotopes at μ capture are reported.     

The study of prompt and delayed muon induced fission

The mean life times of negative muons bound to actinide nuclei have been measured by detecting the time difference between a stopped muon and the arrival of fragments from delayed fission after muon capture. The deduced capture ratesΛ _c are 1.392(4)·10⁷/s for²³⁷Np, 1.290(7)·10⁷/s for²⁴²Pu and 1.240(7)·10⁷/s for²⁴⁴Pu. The results are compared with published data for the fission and the neutron decay channels and for the electron decay of the bound muon. Including a former measurement ofΛ _c for²³⁹Pu, an isotopic dependence of the muon capture rates in the Pu isotopes is clearly observed.     

Negative-muon capture in <Superscript>150</Superscript>Sm

The energy and time spectra of γ rays emitted during negative-muon capture in ¹⁵⁰Sm were studied. The total muon lifetime in ¹⁵⁰Sm was measured. The yields of several radioactive isotopes in this reaction were determined. The partial γ-ray yield upon muon capture by a ¹⁵⁰Sm nucleus were measured.     

Fission of muonic 232Th and 239Pu

The neutron emission is studied following the formation of muonic atoms of ²³²Th and ²³⁹Pu. Energy and time distributions are measured. Various processes which contribute to the measured spectra are considered. A collective resonance model of the muon capture is used to calculate the nuclear excitation function. The probability of the radiationless nuclear excitations and the influence of the presence of the bound atomic muon on the fission barrier are discussed. The existing data for the $\text{Γ}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{Γ}{}_{\mathrm{f}}$, are analysed. As a result of the analysis the rates of the prompt and delayed fission events (due to the radiationless mu-atomic transitions and the nuclear muon capture, respectively) are deduced from the experimental data to be 0.006/muon and 0.045/muon for ²³²Th and 0.10/muon and 0.49/muon for ²³⁹Pu, respectively. The increase of the fission barrier for muonic atoms is confirmed. The experimental neutron rates can be consistently explained only if it is assumed that in both nucleides the K_α radiationless transitions do not induce fission. The increase of the fission barrier for ²³⁹Pu is hence deduced to be not less than 1.2 MeV. The fate of the atomic muon after the nuclear fission is briefly discussed. Its influence on the interpretation of the present results is found to be small.     

μ-介子在He3原子核上的俘获

本文计算了μ介子在He³核上俘获的几率、末态H³核的角分布和极化。所采用的理论是带有重正化效应(包含弱磁矩及赝标项)的V-A普适弱作用理论。在计算中考虑了μ和He³核在始态有极化及处于不同超精细态上的情况。在计算中假定了He³核的基态是纯S态,这时忽略了由张量力以及其他自旋轨道耦合力引起的其他态。介子交换电流的效应也没有考虑。在以上这两个假定下,我们证明了俘获几率中只包含一个未知的原子核矩阵元,这个矩阵元恰好是原子核密度函数的富氏分量。利用μ介子(或电子)与He³(或H³)原子核的散射可以确定这个未知矩阵元。     

Muon capture on neutron-rich nuclei

Future facilities will allow the exploration of extremely neutron-rich nuclei far from the valley of stability. It is discussed that the strong-neutron excess results in changes in the collective excitations of such nuclei compared to conventional stable nuclei. We propose muon capture as an experimental tool to explore such changes. We will quantify our discussion by the calculation of the total and differential muon capture rates on selected calcium isotopes between ⁴⁰Ca and ⁶⁰Ca. Our calculations are based on the random phase approximation and agree nicely with the measured rates for ⁴⁰Ca and ⁴⁴Ca. Received: 6 April 2001 / Accepted: 14 May 2001     

Isotope effect in nuclear capture of negative muons in xenon

The lifetime of negative muons in the ¹²⁹Xe 1_s state was measured. The muon capture rate in ¹²⁹Xe is compared with that in the ^{132, 136}Xe isotopes. The capture rate was found to depend on the mass number of the cited isotopes. The experimental results are compared with the results of calculations by the semiempirical Goulard-Primakoff formula.     

Nuclear orientation following muon capture by spin zero nuclei

It is shown that in the proposed experimental set-up of the Louvain-Saclay collaboration, the nuclei recoiling into the forward (or backward) hemisphere in the reaction $\text{μ}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{+ A(J}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>i</mtext>}}\text{= 0) → B(J}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>f</mtext>}}\text{≧ 1) + ν}{}_{\mathrm{\mu }}$ will not only be polarized but also aligned. A general expression for the alignment of the recoiling nucleus is derived in terms of the other observables and it is shown to be independent of nuclear structure and the dynamics of the muon capture interaction. Numerical results are presented for muon capture by ¹²C and ¹⁶O.     

A microscopic theory of muon capture in nuclei

The muon capture rates are calculated for a series of nuclei, using the Hartree-Fock randomphase approximation, and compared with experiment. The recoil term, the binding energy of the muon and finite size effects are calculated in detail. In a schematic model, the validity of the assumption M²_V = M²_A = M²_P is studied, and found to hold reasonably well even for nuclei as heavy as ²⁰⁸Pb.     

High-multiplicity neutron emission from muon capture

The nuclear excitation function resulting from muon captures on pairs of nucleons which is induced by meson-exchange currents, is used to calculate the probabilities of high-multiplicity (X⩾6) neutron emission. For muon capture in ²⁰⁹Bi these are found to be 8 × 10⁻³ for X = 6, 3.5 × 10⁻³ for X = 7 and 0.7 × 10⁻³ for X = 8. Results are presented also for Pb, Ho and Ag. The agreement with existing experiments is very good.     

Pion capture in hydrogen: chemical aspects

Measurements of the probability of pion capture by hydrogen provide information on the properties of the chemical bond of hydrogen in molecules. This is demonstrated in the examples of the temperature dependence of pion capture in hydrogen-bonded liquids and of the influence of the position of the hydrogen atom in molecules. For the proper analysis and interpretation of the pion capture data we studied the effects of pion transfer from p^– to heavier atoms. Measurements were made in H₂ + D₂ mixtures and in alcohols. Together with the information available on the muon capture and cascade processes, the pion transfer results could be used for understanding muon transfer and, in particular, to estimate the parameterq _1s in muon catalysed fusion.     

The characterisation of three different coal samples by means of various analytical techniques

We report on a new generation of muon lifetime experiments at PSI to measure the nuclear muon capture rate in hydrogen and deuterium with ≤1% accuracy. The goals are to determine in μp capture the induced pseudoscalar coupling g _P predicted in HBchPT, and in μd capture the axial two-body current term L_1A described by modern EFT’s. For the μp experiment a hydrogen TPC was developed as active muon stop detector, surrounded by cylindrical wire chambers and a plastic hodoscope as electron detector. Ultra-high purity of the hydrogen isotope $^1H_1$ at levels below 10^???8 was achieved with a specially developed gas circulation and purification system, and with a novel isotope separation column. About 2 ·10¹⁰ events were collected which are now in final analysis. Data from the first production run result in g _P = 7.3 ± 1.1 in good agreement with theory. The μd experiment is in development. It requires measurements in ultra-pure, cold deuterium gas at ～30K. For this we are constructing a new Cryo-TPC.     

Precision measurement of the rate of nuclear muon capture in the muonic hydrogen atom and the determination of the pseudoscalar form factor of the nucleon

The rate Λ _S of nuclear muon capture by a proton from the hyperfine singlet ground state of the µp atom has been measured using a new experimental method based on a time-projection chamber operating in an ultrapure hydrogen gas at a pressure of 10 atm. The capture rate has been determined from the difference between the measured lifetime of the negative muon in hydrogen and the world average lifetime of the positive muon. The analysis of 10% of the collected statistics (2 × 10¹⁰) of µe decays yields the muon capture rate Λ _S = 725.0 ± 17.4 s^?1, from which the pseudoscalar form factor of the nucleon, g _P (q _c ² = ?0.88m _µ ² ) = 7.3 ± 1.1, is determined. The further analysis of the collected experimental data should improve the precision of this measurement by a factor of 3.     

The role of deep shell nucleons in the formation of giant dipole resonance

The high energy branch of giant dipole resonance (GDR) is considered. The intensive excitation of this part of GDR is expected in certain (e, e) reactions and muon capture. The large excitation probability is due to the axial component of the external field which leads to the intensive spin-flip transitions of deeply bound nucleons. The possible explanation of the local maximum observed in the spectra of neutrons following muon capture is given. The ways of experimental study of ths high energy resonance are pointed out. The consideration is carried out for³²S,⁵⁸Ni and⁸⁸Sr nuclei. Due to the universality of GDR this choice covers rather broad region of nuclei.Dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.     

Excitation of the T> components of the giant dipole states in N > Z nuclei by muon capture

Muon capture on N > Z nuclei is proposed as a means of studying the T_> isospin component of giant dipole states. Calculations for nickel isotopes (except ⁵⁶Ni) indicate that these states are strongly excited by muon capture. Possible experiments to detect these states are discussed.     

Measurement of neutron energy spectra and neutron-gamma angular correlations for the muon capture process 16O(μ−, νμxn)14, 15N

Neutron-gamma coincidence spectra have been measured for muon capture in ¹⁶O. The γ-spectrum is dominated by the ground state transitions from the $\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{(6.32}\text{MeV}\text{)}\text{and}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{(5.3}\text{MeV}\text{)}$ states of ¹⁵N that are populated after the emission of one neutron. The neutron energy spectra and the neutron energy dependence of the ny angular correlation coefficient A₂ for these final states are presented. The observed transitions in ¹⁴N and the associated neutron spectra give direct evidence for the emission of two correlated neutrons. The data are discussed in terms of direct neutron emission plus emission via giant resonance intermediate states of ¹⁶N. The large yield for the emission of one and two fast neutrons is explained by a capture mechanism involving short-range nucleon-nucleon correlations.     

Muon capture rates in Se and Cd isotopes

Energy and time spectra of γ rays following nuclear capture of negative muons in natural Se and Cd and isotopically enriched ⁷⁶Se and ¹⁰⁶Cd targets have been measured with HPGe detectors. Total muon lifetimes in Se and Cd isotopes and partial μ capture rates to excited levels of ⁷⁶As and ¹⁰⁶Ag are obtained. These results are necessary for calculation of nuclear matrix elements of the 2β decay of ⁷⁶Ge and ¹⁰⁶Cd respectively.