High precision study of muon catalyzed fusion in D2 and HD gas

Abstract

Muon catalyzed dd fusion in D2 and HD gases in the temperature range from 28 to 350 K was investigated in a series of experiments based on a time-projection ionization chamber operating with pure hydrogen. All main observables in this reaction chain were measured with high absolute precision including the resonant and non-resonant ddμ formation rates, the rate for hyperfine transitions in dμ atoms, the branching ratio of the two charge symmetric fusion channels 3He + n and t + p and the muon sticking probability. The report presents the final analysis of the data together with a comprehensive comparison with calculations based on recent μCF theories. The energy of the loosely bound ddμ state with quantum numbers J = 1, ν = 1, which is central to the mechanism of resonant molecule formation, is extracted with precision ɛ11(fit) = −1.9651(7) eV. in impressive agreement with the latest theoretical results ɛ11(theory) = −1.9646 eV.