Muon catalyzed fusion

This paper presents an overview of the program and results of our experiment performed by a European-American collatoration at the Swiss Institute of Nuclear Research. Systematic investigations of the low temperature region (23K to 300K) reveal a surprisingly rich physics of mesoatomic and mesomolecular processes, unparalleled in other systems of isotopic hydrogen mixtures. A dramatic density dependence of the reaction rates is found. The rich structure in the time spectra of the fusion neutrons observed at low gas density yields first evidence for new effects, most likely strong contributions from reactions of hot muonic atoms. The important question of muon losses due to He sticking is investigated by different methods and over a wide range of tritium concentrations