Muonic hydrogen and deuterium in H-D mixture and muon transfer in excited states

Abstract

The deexcitation of µp and µd atoms in hydrogen-deuterium mixtures has been studied with a new kinetics model that takes the energy dependence of the cascade processes into account. The X-ray yields, the populations of atomic states, and the muon transfer from hydrogen to deuterium during the cascade have been calculated as functions of density and isotope fractions. The evolution of the kinetic energy distribution during the cascade is shown to play an important role in the transfer kinetics. The atomic energy distribution in the ground state is significantly changed by the transfer. The calculated X-ray yields and the muon transfer probabilities are in fair agreement with experimental data provided the current theoretical transfer rates are reduced by a factor of about 2.