Effect of meson exchange corrections on allowed muon capture

Corrections to the impulse approximation calculation of the γ?ν angular correlation coefficient and recoil nuclear polarization in allowed muon capture transitions, arising from meson exchange effects, are studied and the value for the induced pseudoscalar coupling consistent with both observables is found to be (13.3 + 3)_gA, to a large extent free from nuclear wave function uncertainties.     

Weak nucleon currents in beta decay and muon capture

We made extensive investigations on the weak charged nucleon currents and structure of complex nuclei in weak nuclear processes. Using our new formalism, which has almost no approximation as far as the lepton part is concerned, we have studied the beta-ray spectra and beta-ray angular distributions in the¹²B and¹²N beta decays. The weak magnetism predicted by CVC is in excellent agreement with the experimental data on beta-ray spectra given by the Columbia and Heidelberg groups. It is noticed here that the difference _– – ₊ of the coefficients in the beta-ray angular distributions in aligned¹²B and¹²N is free from ambiguity of the nuclear model. We found practically no second-class induced tensor current with the data given by the Osaka, Louvain and Zürich groups. On the other hand, the sum _– + ₊ of the coefficients represents the time component of the main axial vector current, and it is free from weak form factors. With this sum we studied the exchange-current and core-polarization effects. These two effects are large, and they are almost cancelled out by each other in this case. We also found the strength of the induced pseudoscalar form factor which is generally consistent with PCAC, from nuclear polarizations of¹²B in muon capture of¹²C performed by the Zürich and Tokyo groups. These nuclear polarizations are insensitive to the nuclear model, if the exchange-current and corepolarization effects are properly taken into account.This paper was partially delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Korean Physical Society, Seoul, 1983; the Asia Pacific Physics Conference, Singapore, 1983; and the International Symposium on Nuclear Spectroscopy and Nuclear Interactions, Osaka, 1984.The present paper is based on our recent theoretical investigations, which have been performed by the theory group, Department of Physics, Osaka Unicersity. The author would like to express his sincere thanks to Professors H. Ohtsubo, Y. Yokoo, Drs. T. Sato, K. Koshigiri, M. Nishimura, M. Kobayashi, and Mr. M. Fukui for their collaboration, to Professors C.W. Kim, Y.K. Lee and K. Kubodera for their stimulating discussions during his 1983 summer visit to Johns Hopkins University, to Professors K. Sugimoto, T. Minamisono, V.L. Telegdi, L. Grenacs, T. Yamazaki and K. Nagamine for sending him their experimental results before publication. Numerical calculations were performed with the aid of NEAC ACOS 1000, Computor Center, Osaka University. This work is partly supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, The Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture.This paper is dedicated to Professor K. Sugimoto in commemoration of his sixtieth birthday.     

Meson exchange currents for nuclear muon capture by3He leading to the triton final state

We have calculated exchange corrections for nuclear muon capture by³He using the hard-pion model and realistic nuclear wavefunctions. These currents modify the vector and axial part of the weak nuclear current. In their absence the rate is found to be about 12% smaller than experiment. Our aim is to test the hard-pion model by making a realistic estimate of the theoretical uncertainty and comparing the calculated rate with its experimental value. Results for the rate and spin observables will be presented at the symposium. The recent precise measurement of the rate (see the contributions of A.A. Vorobyov and W. Prymas in these proceedings) allows the most stringent test of exchange currents for muon capture to date.Supported by the Sir James Knott Fellowship.Supported by grants nos. 202/94/0370 (GA CR) and 148410 (GA ASC CR).     

Radiative muon capture on nuclei

Radiative muon capture rates of stopped meons, spectra, circular polarisation, and asymmetries of emitted -quanta in¹⁶O and⁴⁰Ca are analysed using the shell-model nuclear wave functions. Calculated characteristics show considerable sensitivity to the value of induced pseudoscalar coupling constantg _p. Where possible we compare the theoretical results with the preliminary experimental data.Dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.On leave of absence fromthe Institute of Nuclear Physics, Czechosl. Acad. Sci., 250 68 e, Czechoslovakia.     

Effects of kinematical constraints in nuclear muon capture

Muon capture is discussed in the framework of linear response theory. This approach allows a general discussion of the role played by kinematical constraints in determining which features of nuclear dynamics are actually probed in the capture event. It is argued that the muon momentum spread can increase the capture rate at large energy transfer.     

Radiative muon capture on hydrogen

The radiative capture of negative muons by protons can be used to measure the weak induced pseudoscalar form factor. Brief arguments why this method is preferable to ordinary muon capture are given followed by a discussion of the experimental difficulties. The solution to these problems as attempted by experiment #452 at TRIUMF is presented together with preliminary results from the first run in August 1990. An outlook on the expected final precision and the experimental schedule is also given. Talk presented by W. Bertl at the Symposium “The Future of Muon Physics” in Heidelberg, Germany, May 7–9, 1991     

Gamma-rays following muon capture

The energy and intensity of γ-rays following capture of muons by Si, Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Y, Ag and Au were measured with a Ge(Li) detector. In most cases it was possible to identify the final nucleus from the energy of the γ-ray observed. In general, this showed that one or more neutrons were emitted in the initial stages of de-excitation. In the case of capture by Fe and Ni the evidence pointed to a mode of de-excitation by the emission of a proton and a neutron and in Ti by γ-rays alone. In these measurements it was possible to account for as much as 60% of the muons captured in Co, less in the other elements, and only 15 % in Si.     

Effect of correlations on nuclear muon capture

The process μ⁻+¹²C→¹²B+v _μ is studied using the modified Hartree Fock wavefunction obtained with the unitary-model-operator-approach starting from the realistic hardcore nucleon-nucleon interaction, with the aim of testing the wavefunctions and obtaining a numerical value for the induced pseudoscalar coupling constant (g _P ). These observables, namely, the partial capture rate to the¹²B(1⁺; g.s), its recoil nuclear polarisation and the total capture rate, which exhaust the available experimental data in the above process have been calculated and compared with the other theoretical and experimental results. As far as the partial capture rate is concerned the use of the unitary-model operator approach wave functions for¹²C withb=2.09 fm and Cohen-Kurath wave function for¹²B(1⁺; g.s) reduces the pure shell model capture rate by about 30%. The effect of strong configuration mixing in the ground state of¹²C in taken into account by introducing a scale factor ξ similar to the ‘amplitude reduction factor’ of Donnelly and Walecka. With this ξ the agreement with the experiment both for the partial capture rate and the beta decay ‘ft’ value is found to be satisfactory. The¹²B(1⁺; g.s) recoil polarisation is found to be insensitive to the use of the unitary-model-operator-approach wave functions. When compared with the experimental data, we obtaing _P =(14.9±1.9)g _A . The total capture rate is found to be sensitive to the use of the unitary-modeloperator-approach wave functions which contain the effect of nucleon-nucleon short range correlations and we obtain a satisfactory agreement with the experiment for¹⁶O and¹²C, thereby revealing the importance of the effect of such correlations in the total capture rate studies.     

Effects of meson exchange currents on pion absorption

The effect of the π exchange current on the pion absorption process π⁺ + d → p + p has been investigated. The absorption cross section is significantly enhanced particularly in the energy region above the 33 resonance.     

Hard pions and axial meson exchange current effects in negative muon capture in deuterium

The contribution of the axial meson exchange current effects to the doublet transition rate in the reaction μ^? +d → 2n+ ν_μ is calculated by using the minimal, chiral and approximately gauge invariant Lagrangian model for the A₁ρπ system. The contribution from the ρ-π weak decay process current usually considered is found to be nearly cancelled by that from the A₁ pole graph which is prescribed by the underlying invariance principles. Correct treatment of the N¹ propagator in the N¹ excitation current of the pion range leads to ≈ 30 % suppression of the N¹ effect.     

Neutrino mass effect on the nuclear muon capture

Multipole expansion of the partial transition amplitude in the nuclear muon capture with massive lefthanded Dirac neutrino has been derived. The multipole amplitudes for the partial nuclear transitions are given as the explicit functions of the neutrino mass parameter. As an example, the capture rate, the recoil asymmetry and the neutrino polarization are investigated in terms of these multipole amplitudes. The transversal neutrino polarization provides a connection between theT-violation and the neutrino mass: ifT-odd component in the neutrino polarization is observed, then neutrino must be a massive particle. It turns out that in the capture rate and recoil polarization, the effects due to very small neutrino mass can be proportional to the square ratio of the neutrino mass to its momentum, while the neutrino transversal polarization is proportional to this ratio only. Under the recent limits on the muon neutrino mass, the observable effects inthe partial transition may be below the order of ?10^?3.     

Electroweak radiative corrections to muon capture

Electroweak radiative corrections to muon capture on nuclei are computed and found to be sizable. They enhance the capture rates for hydrogen and helium by 2.8% and 3.0%, respectively. As a result, the value of the induced pseudoscalar coupling, g(P)(exp), extracted from a recent hydrogen 1S singlet capture experiment is increased by about 21% to g(P)(exp)=7.3+/-1.2 and brought into good agreement with the prediction of chiral perturbation theory, g(P)(theory)=8.2+/-0.2. Implications for helium capture rate predictions are also discussed.     

Angular correlation for nuclear muon capture

Formulae for the capture rates, gamma-neutrino correlations, and angular distributions of recoil in muon capture processes J_i J_f by an unpolarized nucleus for J_i ≦ 3 and J_f ≦ 5/2, with and without change of parity of nuclear levels, are given explicitely in terms of the multipole amplitudes. Relation of helicity amplitudes for muonic atom decay to the multipole amplitudes and to amplitudes introduced by other authors is presented. The derivation is based on kinematics only, and the formulae are strictly valid for the muon capture by any nuclei. The formulae are convenient for model calculations of partial transitions with realistic nuclear and muon wave functions and for the phenomenological analysis of a weak interaction.     

Radiative muon capture in medium-heavy nuclei

Radiative muon capture in nuclei is thoroughly investigated in view of its sensitivity to the pseudoscalar coupling constant g_P. In the photon energy domain of interest (k ? 60 MeV) the effective one-body hamiltonian in use is shown essentially to hold true, with minor corrections due to the muon propagator in the nuclear field and to the two-step process. The closure approximation is avoided by appropriately integrating the response function calculated in the Fermi gas model, in the energy-momentum transfer plane.Theoretical predictions in medium-heavy nuclei of the high-energy photon spectrum, of photon polarization, and of muon-spin photon angular correlation are given for various values of the pseudoscalar coupling constant.     

Negative muon capture in3He

We compute the partial capture rate of negative muons in³He by following the analysis of Peterson to include the relativistic corrections and the exchange effects, for various values of theg _p /g _A ratio. We also calculate the total capture rate. The ground state of³He is assumed to be spherical. The radial dependence of the ground state wave function is taken to be (a) one parameter Irving function, (b) a modified three-parameter Irving function and (c) a function having ‘soft-core’, whose parameters have been fixed in a variational calculation of the binding energy of the triton using a non-local momentum-dependent potential involvingp ² terms. The calculated values of the capture rates are compared with the experimental data to find a value for theg _p /g _A ratio.     

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.     

Spin-isospin excitations and nuclear muon capture

Muon capture rates in complex nuclei are calculated on basis microscopic models of nuclear structure. The calculation results are consistent with experimental values, unsuppressed spin-isospin transitions, and in contrast to the data obtained from the cross sections for nuclear charge-exchange (p, n) and (n, p) reactions.     

Experimental results on radiative muon capture in complex nuclei

Experimental results for the radiative muon capture branching ratio in several nuclei and the photon-muon spin asymmetry in⁴⁰Ca are reported. For the measurements a two arm Nalspectrometer was used. Apart from²⁶O and⁴⁰Ca, where we confirm previous results of our group, new data on¹²C,²⁶Fe,¹⁶⁵Ho and²⁰⁹Bi are presented. No available theoretical models explain all the data consistently. The preliminary results for the asymmetry measurements, obtained using a stroboscopic method are in agreement with previous measurements and with theoretical calculations.Presented at the symposium Mesons and Light Nuclei, Bechyn, Czechoslovakia, May 27–June 1, 1985.     

Neutron-neutron interaction and muon capture by deutron

The reaction μ⁻ + d → 2n + v_μ is studied in the non-relativistic approximation using the Primakoff weak interaction Hamiltonian including relativistic corrections. The neutron-neutron interaction is treated (a) by the Om?es-Muskhelishvili equation, (b) in a potential model, (c) using the Bethe-Longmire procedure. Influence of D-state admixture in deutron upon the transition rates and neutron spectrum is investigated.