Lifetime and population of the 2S state in muonic protium and deuterium

Marc Diepold; Fernando D. Amaro; Aldo Antognini; François Biraben; João M. R. Cardoso; Daniel S. Covita; Andreas Dax; Satish Dhawan; Luis M. P. Fernandes; Adolf Giesen; Andrea L. Gouvea; Thomas Graf; Theodor W. Hänsch; Paul Indelicato; Lucile Julien; Cheng-Yang Kao; Paul Knowles; Franz Kottmann; Eric-Olivier Le Bigot; Yi-Wei Liu; José A. M. Lopes; Livia Ludhova; Cristina M. B. Monteiro; Françoise Mulhauser; Tobias Nebel; François Nez; Paul Rabinowitz; Joaquim M. F. dos Santos; Lukas A. Schaller; Karsten Schuhmann; Catherine Schwob; David Taqqu; João F. C. A. Veloso; Jan Vogelsang; Randolf Pohl

doi:10.1103/physreva.88.042520

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arXiv · 1307.6775

Lifetime and population of the 2S state in muonic protium and deuterium

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Abstract

Radiative deexcitation (RD) of the metastable 2S state of muonic protium and deuterium atoms has been observed. In muonic protium, we improve the precision on lifetime and population (formation probability) values for the short-lived μp(2S) component, and give an upper limit for RD of long-lived μp(2S) atoms. In muonic deuterium at 1 hPa, 3.1 +-0.3 % of all stopped muons form μd(2S) atoms. The short-lived 2S component has a population of 1.35 +0.57 -0.33 % and a lifetime of τ_short(μd) = 138 +32 -34 ns. We see evidence for RD of long-lived μd(2S) with a lifetime of τ_long(μd) = 1.15 +0.75 -0.53 μs. This is interpreted as formation and decay of excited muonic molecules.

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Marc Diepold, Fernando D. Amaro, Aldo Antognini, François Biraben, João M. R. Cardoso, Daniel S. Covita, Andreas Dax, Satish Dhawan, Luis M. P. Fernandes, Adolf Giesen, Andrea L. Gouvea, Thomas Graf, Theodor W. Hänsch, Paul Indelicato, Lucile Julien, Cheng-Yang Kao, Paul Knowles, Franz Kottmann, Eric-Olivier Le Bigot, Yi-Wei Liu, José A. M. Lopes, Livia Ludhova, Cristina M. B. Monteiro, Françoise Mulhauser, Tobias Nebel, François Nez, Paul Rabinowitz, Joaquim M. F. dos Santos, Lukas A. Schaller, Karsten Schuhmann, Catherine Schwob, David Taqqu, João F. C. A. Veloso, Jan Vogelsang, Randolf Pohl. 2013-10-10. Lifetime and population of the 2S state in muonic protium and deuterium. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.88.042520

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