1 research outputs found
Observation of Long-Lived Muonic Hydrogen in the 2S State
The kinetic energy distribution of ground state muonic hydrogen atoms
mu-p(1S) is determined from time-of-flight spectra measured at 4, 16, and 64
hPa H2 room-temperature gas. A 0.9 keV-component is discovered and attributed
to radiationless deexcitation of long-lived mu-p(2S) atoms in collisions with
H2 molecules. The analysis reveals a relative population of about 1%, and a
pressure-dependent lifetime (e.g. (30.4 +21.4 -9.7) ns at 64 hPa) of the
long-lived mu-p(2S) population, equivalent to a 2S-quench rate in mu-p(2S) + H2
collisions of (4.4 +2.1 -1.8) 10^11 s^-1 at liquid hydrogen density.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter