Scattering of muonic hydrogen atoms

Abstract

Our measurement compares the energy dependence of the scattering cross-sections of muonic deuterium and tritium on hydrogen molecules for collisions in the energy range 0.1–45 eV. A time-of-flight method was used to measure the scattering cross-section as a function of the muonic atom beam energy and shows clearly the Ramsauer–Townsend effect. The results are compared with theoretical calculations by using Monte Carlo simulations. The molecular pdµ and ptµ formation creates background processes. We measure the formation rates in solid hydrogen by detecting the 5.5 MeV (pdµ) and 19.8 MeV (ptµ) γ-rays emitted during the subsequent nuclear fusion processes.