Diffusion of muonic deuterium and hydrogen atoms

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1997 · Physical Review A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.55.214· OSTI ID:434298

Abbott, D J; Chen, G F; Guss, P; Hancock, A D; Kraiman, J B; Siegel, R T; Vulcan, W F; Viel, D W; Welsh, R E ^[1]; Petitjean, C; Zehnder, A ^[2]; Breunlich, W H; Cargnelli, M; Kammel, P; Scrinzi, A; Marton, J; Zmeskal, J ^[3]; Reidy, J J; Woolverton, H L ^[4]; Hartmann, F J ^[5] ; Adamczak, A ^[6]; Markushin, V E ^[7]; Melezhik, V S ^[8]

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1. College of William and Mary in Virginia, Williamsburg, Virginia 23185 (United States)
2. Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland)
3. Institut fuer Mittelenergiephysik, Oesterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, A-1090 Vienna (Austria)
4. University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38667 (United States)
5. Technische Universitaet Muenchen, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
6. Institute for Nuclear Physics, PL-31-342 Cracow (Poland)
7. Russian Scientific Center, Kurchatov Institute, RU-123182 Moscow (Russia)
8. Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, RU-141980 Dubna (Russia)

Diffusion of muonic deuterium {mu}d and muonic hydrogen {mu}p atoms produced following the stopping of negative muons in D{sub 2} or H{sub 2} at 300 K was studied at pressures of 47{endash}750 mbar (H{sub 2}) and 94{endash}1520 mbar (D{sub 2}) in two distinct target geometries. Time intervals were recorded between entry of negative muons into the gas and arrival of each resulting {mu}d or {mu}p atom at one of 50 foils immersed in the gas, and spaced regularly along the muon beam axis. The results of such measurements were fitted to time distributions generated by Monte Carlo methods, using theoretical scattering predictions and empirically chosen forms for the initial energy distributions of the muonic atoms in the 1S state. Results indicate muonic atom energy distributions which (a) are different for {mu}d and {mu}p and (b) vary with pressure. The best-fit energy distributions have mean energies ranging from 1.5 eV for {mu}d at 94 mbar to {ge}9 eV for {mu}p at 750 mbar. The data are also sensitive to scattering cross sections for {mu}d and {mu}p, and are consistent with current theoretical calculations for the {mu}d+D{sub 2} cross sections. In the case of {mu}p+H{sub 2} scattering, the experimental data suggest discrepancies with the theoretical predictions. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

• OSTI ID: 434298
• Journal Information: Physical Review A, Journal Name: Physical Review A Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 55; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
CAPTURE
DEUTERIUM
DIFFUSION
ENERGY SPECTRA
HYDROGEN
MUON REACTIONS
MUON-NEUTRON INTERACTIONS
MUON-PROTON INTERACTIONS
MUONIC ATOMS
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K