X-ray studies on muon transfer reactions from hydrogen to helium

We have experimentally studied the muon transfer reactions from hydrogen to helium in liquid hydrogen with helium impurity concentration around 100–1000 ppm. The X-ray from the decay of (d⁴He) molecule was clearly observed in the D₂-⁴He system, whereas the corresponding X-ray was very weak in other systems such as D₂-³He and H₂-⁴He. This is well explained by the particle decay mode of the muonic molecule.     

Muon transfer from protium to helium isotopes at low temperature

The transfer reaction of negative muons from muonic protium to ³ and ⁴ in binary and triple gas mixtures was studied. In the binary mixtures the transfer rates to the two helium isotopes were determined from the time distribution of the 7-keV X-rays of the intermediate muonic molecule (pμHe)*. The experimental transfer rate to ⁴ is in good agreement with theoretical predictions, whereas the rate to ³ is a factor 2 to 3 smaller than the predicted ones. Radiative branching ratios of the (pμHe)8 molecular decay were obtained. Muon transfer from excited states of muonic protium gives the main contribution to the total intensity of the μHe Lyman series in the binary mixtures. Values of q _1s ^He are determined. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Phenomenological wave functions for the massA=14 system and a consistent description of beta decay observables

A set of phenomenological wave functions has been derived to describe the¹⁴N ground state and the isospin triplet consisting of the¹⁴C ground state, the first excited state of¹⁴N at 2.313 MeV and the¹⁴O ground state. Elastic and inelastic electron scattering form factors, the magnetic moment of the¹⁴N ground state and the shape factors in the ^± decay have been employed in a multiparameter fitting procedure to determine the amplitudes of the wave functions inL-S coupling. The inclusion of the beta decay observables in the fit has become possible for the first time since exact formulas for the shape factor in higher order do exist. The set of wave functions deduced exhibit predominately anL=0 contribution for the 0⁺; 1 states andL=1 and 2 contributions of nearly equal weight for the 1⁺; 0 state. It was observed that the inclusion of the shape factors allowed a more stringent determination of the amplitudes compared to previous attempts reported in the literature and led in the case of the 0⁺; 1 states to wave functions that show a small but noticeable difference within the isospin triplet. Besides the observables used for the fit, the radiative width (M1) of the 2.313 MeV state in¹⁴N can be described quite well with the derived wave functions, and in addition it has become possible to predict the pathological largeft ^– value of the¹⁴C decay and theft ⁺ value of the¹⁴O decay precisely. The wave functions are also applied to calculate the¹⁴N(, ⁺) cross section.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. P. Kienle on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Supported by the German Federal Minister for Research and Technology (BMFT) under contract number 06DA 184I     

Electromagnetic decay of the 6+ isomer of102Rh

Conversion electrons, and X rays from¹⁰²Rh^m (6⁺,T _1/2=1057 d) have been studied. An electromagnetic branch (2.3±0.3) ·10^–3 feeding the¹⁰²Rh first excited state has been observed in the 6⁺ isomeric decay. The excitation energy of the 6⁺ isomer turns out to be 140.7 keV above the 2^– ground state.We wish to thank P. Del Carmine, M. Ottanelli, and A. Pecchioli for their skillful collaboration during the measurements and the Technical Staffs of LNS and LNL for operation of the Tandem Accelerators.     

Coulomb predissociation rates of He dµ molecular ions

The predissociation or particle emitting decay rates of muonic molecular ions³He dµ and⁴He dµ are estimated by means of the complex rotation method. We use a highly accurate variational three-bodyP-wave function based on random-tempered Slater-type exponential expansion. A resonance eigenvalue ofE=–48.420 89 eV and =0.348 × 10^–3 eV for the³He dµ ion and a resonance eigenvalue ofE=–58.225 303 eV and =0.118 × 10^–3 eV for the⁴He dµ ion have been obtained. These results are in a good agreement with the ones previously obtained by Kino and Kamimura by scattering calculation with the non-adiabatic coupled-rearrangement-channel method.     

Muon transfer from ground state deuterium to helium nuclei and its temperature dependence

The energy and time distributions of the decay X-rays of excited, metastable, molecular (dμHe)*-resonances were measured. The comparison of the observed energy spectra with calculated ones suggests that decay from the rotational state J = 1 dominates at the investigated conditions. The muon transfer rates from ground state deuterium to the helium isotopes ³He and ⁴He at low temperatures were determined from the time distributions of these spectra. Additionally, the temperature dependence of the muon transfer rate was clearly established in deuterium / ⁴He mixtures. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Study ofγ radiation from100Pd decay

This paper presents a study of the rays from the electron capture decay of 3.63d ¹⁰⁰Pd. Singles and coincidence measurements provided an accurate determination of-ray intensities and an improved knowledge of the¹⁰⁰Rh level scheme. Experimental evidence supports excitation of levels in¹⁰⁰Rh at 86-, 136- and 154 keV, not previously reported from the decay of¹⁰⁰Pd.On leave from Departamento de Fisica, Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Buenos Aires, Argentina     

Proton decay of spin isospin modes excited by the12C(6Li,6He)12N reaction

First investigations of the reaction¹²C(⁶Li,⁶He)-¹²N(p)¹¹C were used to study spin-isospin strength in the nucleus¹²N at E_Li=156 MeV. While the⁶He ejectiles were detected at _He=0° using a magnetic spectrograph, the decay protons were analysed in a wide range of backward angles (100°_p<170°) with=" an=" arrangement=" of=" semiconductor=" strip=" detectors.=" singles=" spectra=" were=" extracted=" as=" well=" as=" coincident=" excitation=" strength=" for=" the=" decay=" to=" low=" lying=" levels=">¹¹C. For the decay to the¹¹C ground state angular correlations were evaluated for six different energy regions in¹²N^*.The authors wish to thank the staff of the Karlsruhe Cyclotron Laboratory for their cooperation. This work has been funded by the German Federal Minister for Research and Technology (BMFT) under contract no. 06ER262I and by the Kernforschungs-zentrum Karlsruhe.     

Charge transfer from the ground state of muonic hydrogen to at room temperature

The present status of research of muon transfer from the ground state of muonic protium to ⁴He is reviewed. The analysis of a recent measurement in a triple gas mixture of H₂+⁴He+Ne at 15 bar and room temperature is presented and the result is compared to the existing experimental and theoretical rates. The average muon transfer rate from protium to ⁴He determined from all lifetime measurements is . Received: 22 January 1998 / Revised: 4 March 1998 / Accepted: 31 March 1998     

The Β decay of the new isotope79Y

The neutron deficient isotope⁷⁹Y has been firstly identified and the decay properties were studied from-decay measurements in the reaction of⁵⁴Fe(²⁸Si,p2n at 92 MeV. Three rays of 152.5, 177.4, and 1106 keV were observed concerning the decay. The half life and Q_EC value were determined to be 14.9 ± 0.6 s and 7.12 ± 0.45 MeV, respectively. The decay scheme including spin-parity is discussed, and 5/2⁺ assignment for the ground state is proposed.We would like to thank to Dr. Y. Maeda for his valuable advice about the electroplating method of iron targets. We also thank to Mr. T. Maeda and Mr. S. Niiya for preparation of hardware for data-taking.     

Nuclear transition in the muonic moleculetμ 3He

We consider the possibility of a nuclear transition, through the intermediate state of the⁶Li(3⁺, 0) nucleus, for the muonic moleculet ³He. While the three-body Coulomb part of the problem is treated by a variational method using a large basis of trial functions ( 1000), the strong-interaction effects are calculated in perturbation theory.Dedicated to Prof. Werner Sandhas on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Muon transfer from protium to helium

Muon transfer from hydrogen isotopes to helium is of importance in muon-catalyzed fusion and serves as a unique tool for the direct observation of the mesomolecular ion (pµHe)^*. During two data-taking runs in 1994 and 1995 at PSI, measurements of the transfer from protium to helium were carried out using CCD's and Ge-diodes as independent X-ray detectors to obtain information on the time distribution and intensity of the 7 keV decay X-ray of the mesomolecular ion. Dual¹H₂ +⁴ He and triple¹H₂ + Ne +^3,4He gas mixtures at low temperatures were investigated to extract transfer rates. Protium of high purity was available. For the first time a transfer rate from muonic protium to³He was measured. A general survey of our measurements and preliminary analysis is presented.     

Three-particle correlations from208Pb+6Li

Three-particle correlations in the reaction²⁰⁸Pb+⁶Li were studied near the Coulomb threshold between \(E_{6_{Li} } = 24\) and 30 MeV. Three reaction mechanisms contribute predominantly to the observed coincidences of the charged particles: 1. Coulomb excitation of the 2.184 MeV,J=3⁺ state of⁶Li, followed by the decay intoα+d, 2. Deuteron pick-up of the⁶Li to the ground state of⁸Be and sequential decay into twoα-particles and 3. Neutron-transfer to the ground state and the first excited states of²⁰⁹Pb:²⁰⁸Pb(⁶Li,αp). The last two reaction mechanisms explain the previously measured large contributions to theα-channel relative to thed-channel.     

Measurements of transfer process in pion capture by a series of alcohols

The transfer of negative pions captured by hydrogen to heavier atoms has been investigated in a series of alcohols by measuring both 2 rays from ⁰ decay and pionic X rays. Capture rates for the pionic hydrogen of different chemical states in the molecule were determined from a comparison between the data for the ordinary compound and the deuterated one. The external transfer in the condensed phase was revealed by the dependence of the capture rate of hydrogen on the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl group. The influence of the chemical structure on the transfer process is discussed with respect to the large difference between the relative transfer rates, _C=1.5±0.2 and _O = 4.5±0.4, corresponding to carbon and oxygen, respectively.     

Excited levels and isobaric analogue states in55Co investigated with the54Fe(p, γ)55Co reaction

The yield curve for the⁵⁴Fe(p, γ)⁵⁵Co reaction in the energy regionE _p=1.5–2.9 MeV has been recorded and the decay of ten resonances has been investigated. For six of the resonances the strengths have been determined. The angular distributions of the gamma rays have been recorded for four resonances to obtain spins or spin limitations for excited levels. In addition the lifetimes of 10 bound levels were determined with the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method. The isobaric analogues of the ground state and five excited states in⁵⁵Fe are discussed.     

Direct reactions involving exotic nuclei 8He and 5H

The angular distribution of 26 MeV/n ⁸He ions elastically scattered from a gaseous helium target was measured in a wide CM angular range. Results are discussed in terms of the potential scattering and neutron transfer. The angular distributions of elastic scattering as well as 1n and 2n transfer reactions of these ions on protons are presented. Finite-range DWBA calculations made for the 2n transfer reaction leading to the ground (0⁺) and excited (2⁺) states of ⁶He underestimate the cross section for 2n transfer to ⁶He(0⁺). Analysis of data for this reaction channel suggests the importance of a direct ⁵H-cluster exchange process. A resonance state of ⁵H with an energy of 2 MeV above the decay threshold n+n+ ³H was obtained for the first time by making use of the reaction p(⁶He,²He)⁵H.     

Ion storage technique for very long living states: The decay rate of the 5D 3/2 state of Ba II

The metastable 5D _3/2 state of Ba⁺ is used to demonstrate the possibility of the ion storage technique for the measurement of extremely long lived states. The ions are confined in a r.f. quadrupole trap and excited by a strong pulsed tunable dye laser to the 6P _1/2 state which partially decays into the 5D _3/2 state. Sampling of the time development of the ground state population leads to the determination of the 5D _3/2 decay rate. Using He as a buffer gas at a pressure of about 10^?6 mbar to initially store the ions, varying the gas density and extrapolating to zero pressure, we find for the lifetime \(\tau _{D_{3/2} } = 17.5 \pm 4s\) .     

Energetical structure of muonic molecular ions ddµ and dtµ

The long-lived states lying below then=2 threshold in muonic molecular ions ddµ and dtµ are reviewed. We have considered all the known long-lived states both of normal and anomalous spatial parity, the bound states as well as resonant three-body states of shape and Feshbach types. It is shown that these states could be satisfactorily classified in terms of the Born-Oppenheimer adiabatic theory. We calculate some characteristic properties of the Feshbach resonances, thus obtaining that the life-time of the 3d states is greater than 10^–11 s, and the fusion rate from these states less than 10⁹ s^–1. The geometry of the 4f(J=0,v=0) state shows that it does not obey approximate ungerade symmetry. On the contrary, the low vibrational 3d states are approximately of gerade symmetry, as a result these states decay ejecting dµ atoms in the same proportion as tµ atoms.     

μ −SR-Spectroscopy on light neutral muonic atoms

In the past few years ^–SR-spectroscopy has been successfully applied to the simple muonic atoms, namely muonic helium: He ^–e^–. Here the theoretical and experimental progress in understanding this atomic system consisting of a nucleus, a muon and an electron is reviewed. The various effects contributing to the ground state hyperfine structure are explained. The experiments are described and are compared with the theoretical calculations.     

Lifetime of metastable magnesium atoms in superfluid helium

The metastable 3s3p³P_{0, 1, 2} states of the magnesium atom immersed into superfluid helium have been investigated. Absorption-fluorescence measurements were carried out to monitor the population of the³P₀,³P₁ and³P₂ level as a function of time. The population of these levels was found to decrease exponentially with a constant of =15±2 ms. This is about three times as long as the vacuum lifetime of the³P₁ level. In the resonant excitation band of the 3s3p³P states to the 3s4s³S state a blueshift of 70 nm compared to the emission and a large broadening were detected. The³P₂ and³P₀ states are not at all metastable any more. Additionally the weak intercombination transition of the³P₁ state to the¹S₀ ground state was investigated by monitoring this emission line as a function of time and of wavelength. The experiments resulted in the same exponential decay time as the excitation measurement. This outcome indicates a rather effective fine structure mixing of the considered Mg states in superfluid helium. Moreover, this raises the question whether common atomic quantum numbers are conserved and the selection rules are still valid.