Observation of unexpected density effects in muon-catalyzed d-t fusion

Abstract

Ne~experimental results on muon-catalyzed d-t fusion are reported. Unexpected target-density effects have been discovered both in dt p, molecular formation in t p, + 02 collisions and in the effective sticking probability. The dt p. formation rate is significantly enhanced at high density, presumably because of a strong three-body contribution. The origin of the observed reduction of the sticking probability at high density remains unclear. Both effects increase the number of fusions per muon that can be achieved; 150+ 4(stat.) + 20(syst.) fusions per muon have been observed.

Vibrational excitation of simple molecular ions in resonant and under-resonant strong laser fields: Dissociation and ionization of ppe and pde; laser-enhanced nuclear fusion in ddμ and dtμ

“…With 150 dt fusions per muon achieved experimentally [58] and the fusion enhancement K F (t) > 6.9 at t P 250 as (see the solid curve 'dtl' in Fig. 8), one gets from Eq.…”

Nuclear fusion rate for ddμ muonic molecule

“…For dd, on the other hand, the transition from J ϭ 1 3 0 is strongly suppressed (since it requires spin-flip, analogous to the ortho-para transitions in the homonuclear hydrogen molecule), and fusion takes place mainly from the J ϭ 1 states, if the molecule is resonantly formed in the (1, 1) state [1]. The processes of CF in deuterium have been studied at many laboratories [2][3][4][5][6]. Recent years have seen significant success in theoretical consideration [7][8][9][10][11].…”

Studies on muonic dynamics of liquid D–T–H in dtμ muonic-molecule resonance formation and its comparison with a D–T system

“…Among such reactions, muoncatalyzed fusion (µCF) in a deuterium-tritium mixture has attracted particular interest, where one muon can catalyze more than 100 fusions between the deuteron and the triton [1][2][3][4] µ where λ a is a muonic capture rate, λ dt is the muon exchange rate from deuterium to tritium, λ dtµ is the rate of formation of a dtµ molecule, λ f dtµ is the rate of fusion of a dtµ molecule, and ω eff s is the effectivesticking fraction and includes the reactivation of the muon, which occurs after fusion when the muon is detached from the α particle during later collisions. A key step in high-yield µCF is resonant formation of muonic molecules [5].…”