Muon capture by 3He nuclei followed by proton and deuteron production

The paper describes an experiment aimed at studying muon capture by ${}^3\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}$ nuclei in pure ${}^3\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}$ and $$\mathrm{D}$2 + {}^{3}$\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}$$ mixtures at various densities. Energy distributions of protons and deuterons produced via $\mu^-+{}^{3}$\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}$\to p+n+n + \nu{\mu }$and$\mu^-+{}^{3} $\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}$ \to d+n + \nu_{\mu}$ are measured for the energy intervals $10-49$ MeV and $13-31$ MeV, respectively. Muon capture rates, ${\lambda }_{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{p}}^p(\mathrm{\Delta }{E}_p)$ and $\lambda_$\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{p}$^d (\Delta E_d)$ are obtained using two different analysis methods. The least–squares methods gives $\lambda_$\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{p}$^p = (36.7\pm 1.2) {s}^{- 1}$,$\lambda_$\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{p}$^d = (21.3 \pm 1.6) {s}^{- 1}$. The Bayes theorem gives ${\lambda }_{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{p}}^p=(36.8\pm 0.8)s^{-1}$, ${\lambda }_{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{p}}^d=(21.9\pm 0.6)s^{-1}$. The experimental differential capture rates, $d{\lambda }_{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{p}}^p(E_p)\mathrm{/}d{E}_p$ and $d{\lambda }_{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{p}}^d(E_d)\mathrm{/}d{E}_d$, are compared with theoretical calculations performed using the plane–wave impulse approximation (PWIA) with the realistic NN interaction Bonn B potential. Extrapolation to the full energy range yields total proton and deuteron capture rates in good agreement with former results.