MUON CAPTURE IN HYDROGEN (thesis)

Technical Report · Sat Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1963

OSTI ID:4658434

Rothberg, J E

The muon capture rate in liquid hydrogen was measured by scintillation counter techniques. The experiment tests muon-electron universality in interaction with a proton at a momentum transfer of 100 Mev/c. The use of ultra- pure liquid hydrogen, a purified muon beam, neutron-gamma ray discriminating detectors and oscilloscope photography made possible the detection of the 5.2-Mev neutron from the relatively improbable capture reaction ( mu /sup -/ + p yields n + nu ). Observation of the well known pion capture reaction ( pi /sup -/+ p yields n + gamma ) served as a check on many aspects of the experimental arrangement as well as on the neutron detector efficiency calculation. Interpretation of the muon capture experiment depends on knowledge of the muon molecular wave function and the muon-proton spin configuration; these are known from detailed calculations. The muon molecular formation rate was measured in an independent experiment, but the present result is relatively insensitive to it. The stability of the muon molecular ortho state against transitions to the para ground state for times comparable to the free muon lifetime is confirmed. The experimental result of the capture rate measurement, 464 plus or minus 42 sec/ sup -1/ is compared with 562 plus or minus 60 sec/sup -1/, the rate expected on the basis of the conserved vector current theory, muon-electron universality and the accepted value of the induced pseudoscalar'' coupling constant. 42 references. (auth)

• Research Organization: Columbia Univ., Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y. Nevis Labs.
• NSA Number: NSA-17-033002
• OSTI ID: 4658434
• Report Number(s): NEVIS-116; AD-409501
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

CAPTURE
CONFIGURATION
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRONS
GAMMA RADIATION
HYDROGEN
INTERACTIONS
LIQUIDS
MEASURED VALUES
MOMENTUM
MUONS
NEUTRINOS
NEUTRONS
NUMERICALS
OSCILLOGRAPHS
PHOTOGRAPHY
PHYSICS
PIONS
PROTONS
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS
SPIN