Experimental results on muon-catalyzed dt fusion

A comprehensive experimental study of the kinetics of muon-catalyzed dt fusion has been conducted at PSI, based on the measurement of the 14 MeV neutrons from the fusion process. The target conditions included densities from 1–150% of the atomic density of liquid hydrogen, relative tritium concentrations of 2–95%, and temperatures of 13–300 K. Information about the dt cycle has been obtained from the measured neutron time distributions by different methods: Monte Carlo simulations primarily aimed at investigating epithermal effects in molecular formation and the determination and interpretation of cycling rates describing the steady state regime.     

Longitudinal flow of protons from (2-8)A GeV central Au+Au collisions

Rapidity distributions of protons from central 197Au+197Au collisions measured by the E895 Collaboration in the energy range from (2-8)A GeV at the Brookhaven AGS are presented. Longitudinal flow parameters derived using a thermal model including collective longitudinal expansion are extracted from these distributions. The results show an approximately linear increase in the longitudinal flow velocity, (L), as a function of the logarithm of beam energy.     

Measurements ofn−p correlations in the reaction of relativistic neon with uranium

We report a preliminary measurement of coincident neutron-proton pairs emitted at 45° in the interaction of 400, 530, and 650 MeV/A neon beams incident on uranium. Charged particles were identified by time of flight and momentum, as determined in a magnetic spectrometer. Neutral particles were detected using a thick plastic scintillator, and their time of flight was measured between an entrance scintillator, triggered by a charged particle, and the neutron detector. The scatter plots and contour plots of neutron momentum vs. proton momentum appear to show a slight correlation ridge above an uncorrelated background. The projections of this plane on then-p momentum difference axis are essentially flat, showing a one standard deviation enhancement for each of the three beams energies. At each beam energy, the calculated momentum correlation function for the neutron-proton pairs is enhanced near zero neutron-proton momentum difference by approximately one standard deviation over the expected value for no correlation. This enhancement is expected to occur as a consequence of the attractive final state interaction between the neutron and proton (i.e., virtual or “singlet” deuterons). The implications of these measurements are discussed.     

Determination of very slow μ+ hop rates in Cu by LLF-μSRhop rates in Cu by LLF-μSR

Muon spin relaxation in low (weak) longitudinal magnetic field (LLF-μSR) provides a means of independently determining the static dipolar width Δ characterizing the μ⁺ lattice site and the correlation time τ_c for μ⁺ hopping, in a manner that is nearly model-independent for τ_c and especially accurate in the near-static limit (τ_c>τ_μ). The advantages of this method are illustrated by its application to muon hopping in Cu near the τ_c maximum around 50 K.     

Molecular orbital calculations for the HF crystal

CNDO based molecular orbital calculations are reported for solid HF and compared with results from a recent structural determination. It is found that theoretical structure is not in good agreement with that observed experimentally at 4 K.     

Bombarding energy dependence of pi(-) interferometry at the brookhaven AGS

We present the first excitation function of pi(-) intensity interferometry at Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) energies (2-8 A GeV). The sensitivity of the multidimensional correlation functions to the geometry and dynamics of the pion-emitting system provides a stringent test of transport models of heavy ion collisions. Detailed comparisons with a realistic transport model, both with and without an explicit nuclear mean field, suggest that the beam energy evolution in the reaction dynamics is different in the model than in the data. A significantly increased pi(-) emission time scale, which has been suggested as a signal of the onset of the transition to quark-gluon plasma, is not observed.