Repolarization of Negative Muons by Polarized $^{209}$Bi Nuclei

Abstract

A large $\mu^-$ polarization was achieved in muonic Bi atoms with the help of the strong hyperfine field in a polarized nuclear target. Using $^{209}$Bi nuclei polarized to ($59\pm9$)% in ferromagnetic BiMn, we observed a $\mu$-$e$ decay asymmetry of ($13.1\pm3.9$)%, which gives $\mu^-$ polarization per nuclear polarization equal to $-1.07\pm 0.35$. This value is almost consistent with $-0.792$ calculated for nuclei with spin $I= \frac{9}{2}$ and a positive magnetic moment under the assumption that the hyperfine interaction becomes effective in the lowest muonic states.