Muon transfer from hot muonic hydrogen atoms to neon

A negative muon beam has been directed on adjacent solid layers of hydrogen and neon. Three targets differing by their deuterium concentration were investigated. Muonic hydrogen atoms can drift to the neon layer where the muon is immediately transferred. The time structure of the muonic neon X-rays follows the exponential law with a disappearance rate corresponding to the one of ^–p atoms in each target. The rates _pp and _pd can be extracted     

Muonic atoms and muon-catalyzed fusion in inhomogeneous mixtures of hydrogen isotopes

The emission of µd and µt atoms from multilayer solid targets consisting of the mixtures of hydrogen isotopes has been investigated with a kinetics model. The methods to study the elastic scattering of muonic atoms, muon transfer, and molecular formation reactions with µ-atomic beams are discussed.     

Ephemeral and/or coloured nuonic hydrogen atoms

The unexpected and, in conventional terms, yet unexplained experimental results, obtained in systematic measurements of muon transfer from muonic hydrogen to sulphur and oxygen of sulphur dioxide, seem to violate the principle of reproducibility of muon transfer data. With the hypothesis of ephemeral muonic hydrogen atoms, the number of different hydrogen atoms can be reduced from four to two. This hypothesis does, however, not help to interpret the transfer data to helium, neon and argon, where the muonic hydrogen atoms seem to wear colours.     

Long-lived population of the metastable 2s state in muonic hydrogen

Preliminary experimental results of the search for long-lived metastable μp(2s) are presented. The μp(2s) are identified via muon transfer to neon in a gas mixture of hydrogen and several percent of neon at mbar pressures. An energy-dependent 1s transfer rate to neon has been observed. The time spectra can only be explained assuming a nonzero μp(2s) population. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

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.     

Production of slow muonic hydrogen isotopes in vacuum

Muonic hydrogen isotopes (μ⁻ p, μ⁻ d, and μ⁻t) are simple quantum mechanical systems ideally suited for studies of numerous fundamental phenomena in electroweak and strong interactions as well as in applied areas such as muon chemistry or muon catalyzed fusion. Emission of muonic hydrogen isotopes into vacuum helps to overcome the limitations which are normally imposed on conventional investigations with gaseous and liquid targets. A proof of principle experiment for this new technique was performed at TRIUMF last year. Negative muons with 30 MeV/c momentum were stopped in a thin film of solid hydrogen and produced very low energy μ⁻d in vacuum. The distribution center of the normal velocity components of emitted μ⁻d atoms was measured to be ∼1 cm/μs. The yield of μ⁻d in vacuum is an increasing function of H₂ film thickness δ up to a value of δ≥1 mm.     

New results in the theory of muonic atom formation in molecular hydrogen

Muonic atom formation in molecular hydrogen proceeds in two stages. In the first stage, the mu-molecular complex (abµe)^* is formed due to Coulomb capture of a muon by a hydrogen molecule (abee), and, in the second stage, the decay of the complex leads to exotic-atom formation. We consider various channels for the decay of the complex. The main competition channels are direct dissociation and Auger decay. The primary distribution of muonic atoms over quantum states and kinetic energy has been obtained taking into account the competition of the decay channels.     

Diffusion radius of muonic hydrogen atoms in H-D gas

The diffusion radius of the 1S muonic hydrogen atoms in gaseous H₂ targets with various deuterium admixtures has been determined for temperatures T=30 and 300 K. The Monte Carlo calculations have been performed using the partial differential cross sections for pμ and dμ atom scattering from the molecules H₂, HD and D₂. These cross sections include hyperfine transitions in the muonic atoms, the muon exchange between the nuclei p and d, and rotational-vibrational transitions in the target molecules. The Monte Carlo results have been used for preparing the time-projection chamber for the high-precision measurement of the nuclear μ^- capture in the ground-state pμ atom, which is now underway at the Paul Scherrer Institute.     

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.     

First measurement of the temperature dependence of muon transfer rate from muonic hydrogen atoms to oxygen

We report the first measurement of the temperature dependence of muon transfer rate from muonic hydrogen atoms to oxygen between 100 and 300 K. Data were obtained from the X-ray spectra of delayed events in a gaseous target, made of a H₂/O₂ mixture, exposed to a muon beam. This work sets constraints on theoretical models of muon transfer and is of fundamental importance for the measurement of the hyperfine splitting of muonic hydrogen ground state as proposed by the FAMU collaboration.     

Muon transfer rates in collisions of hydrogen isotope mesic atoms on “bare” nuclei. Multichannel adiabatic approach

A numerical scheme for solving the problem of slow collisions in the three-body adiabatic approach is applied for calculation of muon transfer rates in collisions of hydrogen isotope atoms on bare nuclei. It is demonstrated that the multichannel adiabatic approach allows to reach high accuracy results (3%) estimating the cross sections of charge transfer processes which are the best ones up to the present time. The method is applicable in a wide range of energies (0.001–50 eV) which is of interest for analysis of muon catalysed fusion experiments.     

Time-of-flight measurement of resonant molecular formation in muon-catalyzed dt fusion

Preliminary results are reported for an experiment at TRIUMF where a time-of-flight technique was tested for measuring the energy dependence of the rate for muon-catalyzed dt fusion. Muonic tritium atoms were created following transfer of negative muons from muonic protium in a layer of solid hydrogen (protium) containing a small fraction of tritium. The atoms escaped from the solid layer via the Ramsauer-Townsend mechanism, traversed a drift region of 18 mm, and then struck an adjacent layer of deuterium, where the muonic atom could form a molecular system. The time of detection of a fusion product (neutron or alpha) following muon arrival is dependent upon the energy of the muonic tritium atom as it traverses the drift region. By comparison of the time distribution of fusion events with a prediction based on the theoretical energy dependence of the rate, the strength of resonant formation can in principle be determined. The results extracted so far are discussed and the limitations of the method are examined.     

On the change of polarization of positive muons in alkali halides

Positive muons implanted in nonconducting solids form with high probability hydrogenlike muonium atoms (µ ⁺ e ^–) with properties similar to those ofU ₂-centers. The influence of superhyperfine interactions with neighbor nuclei on the evolution of the polarization of the muon is investigated theoretically. The resulting muon polarization in longitudinal magnetic fields is calculated for muonicU ₂-centers in some alkali halides.     

Charge exchange and Coulomb de-excitation of muonic atoms in low energy collisions

The muon transfer and Coulomb de-excitation rates at the collisions of (pμ) _n , (dμ) _n and (tμ) _n muonic atoms in excited states n = 3, 4, 5 with hydrogen isotopes p, d, t are calculated for all possible combinations of hydrogen isotopes. The advanced adiabatic approach (AAA) [1–3] is adapted and used to the specific case of muonic atom collisions. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Proposal for X-ray spectroscopy of muonic atoms formed from implanted ions in solid hydrogen films

A new method is proposed to extend muonic atom X-ray spectroscopy to the study of nuclear beams, including radioactive beams, by stopping both muon and nuclear beams in a solid hydrogen film. The muon transfer reaction to higher Z nuclei is used then to form muonic atoms. This method would allow studies of the nuclear charge distribution of unstable atoms. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Experiment to measure the Lamb shift in muonic hydrogen

The contribution of the root mean square (RMS) proton charge radius to the Lamb shift (2S–2P energy difference) in muonic hydrogen (μp) amounts to 2%. Apart from the uncertainty on this charge radius, theory predicts the Lamb shift with a precision on the ppm level. We are going to measure ΔE (2 S_1/2(F=1)–2 P_3/2(F=2)) in a laser resonance experiment to a precision of 30 ppm (i.e., 10% of the natural linewidth) and to deduce the RMS proton charge radius with 10⁻³ relative accuracy, 20 times more precise than presently known. The most important requirement for the feasibility of such an experiment, namely the availability of a sufficient amount of long lived metastable μp atoms in the 2S state, has been investigated in a recent experiment at PSI. Our analysis shows that in the order of one percent of all muons stopped in low pressure hydrogen gas form a long lived μp(2S) with a lifetime of the order of 1 μs. The technical realization of our experiment involves a new high intensity low energy muon beam, an efficient low energy muon entrance detector, a randomly triggered 3 stage laser system providing the 0.5 mJ, 7 ns laser pulses at 6.02 μm wavelength, and a combination of a xenon gas proportional scintillation chamber (GPSC) and a microstrip gas chamber (MSGC) with a CsI coated surface to detect the 2 keV X rays from theμp(2P → 1S) transition. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Cascade Processes in Muonic Hydrogen Atoms

The QCMC scheme created earlier for cascade calculations in heavy hadronic atoms of hydrogen isotopes has been modified and applied to the study of cascade processes in the μp muonic hydrogen atoms. The distribution of μp atoms over kinetic energies has been obtained and the yields of K-series X-rays per one stopped muon have been calculated. Comparison with experimental data indicated directly that for muonic and pionic atoms new types of non-radiative transitions are essential, while they are negligible for heavy (kaonic, antiprotonic, etc.) atoms. These processes have been considered and their probabilities have been estimated. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Low energy muonic hydrogen reactions with heavy atoms

Average s-wave cross-sections appropriate for liquid hydrogen temperatures are calculated with the aid of an in-coming wave boundary condition for the muon transfer process μ^-p + Z → (μ^-Z)¹ + p on heavy atoms. The surface-correlated nature of the heavy atom X-rays is emphasized.     

Lamb shift in muonic hydrogen—II. Analysis of the discrepancy of theory and experiment

Currently, both the g factor measurement of the muon as well as the Lamb shift 2S–2P measurement in muonic hydrogen are in disagreement with theory. Here, we investigate possible theoretical explanations, including proton structure effects and small modifications of the vacuum polarization potential. In particular, we investigate a conceivable small modification of the spectral function of vacuum polarization in between the electron and muon energy scales due to a virtual millicharged particle and due to an unstable vector boson originating from a hidden sector of an extended standard model. We find that a virtual millicharged particle which could explain the muonic Lamb shift discrepancy alters theoretical predictions for the muon anomalous magnetic moment by many standard deviations and therefore is in conflict with experiment. Also, we find no parameterizations of an unstable virtual vector boson which could simultaneously explain both “muonic” discrepancies without significantly altering theoretical predictions for electronic hydrogen, where theory and experiment currently are in excellent agreement. A process-dependent correction involving electron screening is evaluated to have the right sign and order-of-magnitude to explain the observed effect in muonic hydrogen. Additional experimental evidence from light muonic atoms and ions is needed in order to reach further clarification.     

Hydrogen outgassing mechanism in titanium materials

This paper addresses a hydrogen outgassing mechanism in titanium materials with extremely low outgassing property by investigating the distribution of hydrogen atoms concentration in depth below the surface, and the activation energy for desorption of dissolved hydrogen atoms into the boundary region between the surface oxide layer and the bulk titanium and that of adsorbed hydrogen atoms on the surface. The distribution of hydrogen atoms concentration in depth below the surface was analyzed by a time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). The activation energy for desorption of dissolved hydrogen atoms was estimated by the thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) measurement with various heating rates. The activation energy for desorption of adsorbed hydrogen atoms was estimated by the temperature dependence of the outgassing rate in titanium material. In the titanium material, hydrogen atoms show maximum concentration at the boundary between the surface oxide layer and the bulk titanium. Concentration of hydrogen atoms decreases rapidly at the surface oxide layer, while it decreases slowly in the deep region below the surface layer-bulk boundary by the vacuum evacuation without/with the baking process. The activation energy for desorption of 1.02 eV of dissolved hydrogen atoms into the surface layer-bulk boundary is about three times as large as that of 0.38 eV of the adsorbed hydrogen atoms on the surface. These results suggest that the hydrogen outgassing mechanism in the titanium material is composed the follows processes, i.e. the slow hydrogen atoms diffusion at the surface layer-bulk boundary, quick hydrogen atoms diffusion at the surface oxide layer and rapid desorption of adsorbed hydrogen atoms on the surface. This outgassing mechanism gives very low hydrogen concentration near the surface, which results in the extremely low outgassing rate in titanium materials.