Scattering of muonic hydrogen atoms

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 pd µ and pt µ formation creates background processes. We measure the formation rates in solid hydrogen by detecting the 5.5 MeV ( pd µ) and 19.8 MeV ( pt µ) γ-rays emitted during the subsequent nuclear fusion processes.