Pionic and muonic X-ray transitions in liquid helium

Abstract

Abstract Energies and intensities of pionic and muonic X-rays in liquid 4 He have been measured with a Si (Li) detector. The energy shift due to strong interaction effects of the pionic 1s level in 4 He was determined to be −75.7±2.0 eV. The natural line width of this level is 45±3 eV. These values are compared with different theoretical predictions. Cascade calculations, including external Auger effect and sliding transitions, have been performed to reproduce the yields of the muonic and pionic transitions. The pionic 2p level width is deduced: Γ 2 p = (1.1 ± 0.5) × 10 12 sec −1 = (7.2±3.3) × 10 −4 eV .