Muon catalyzed fusion in 3-K solid deuterium

Muon catalyzed fusion in deuterium traditionally has been studied in gaseous and liquid targets. The TRIUMF solid-hydrogen-layer target system has been used to study the fusion reaction rates in the solid phase of D{sub 2} at a target temperature of 3 K. Products of two distinct branches of the reaction were observed: neutrons by a liquid organic scintillator and protons by a silicon detector located inside the target system. The effective molecular formation rate from the upper hyperfine state of {mu}d and the hyperfine transition rate have been measured: {tilde {lambda}}{sub (3)/(2)}=2.71(7){sub stat}(32){sub syst}{mu}s{sup {minus}1} and {tilde {lambda}}{sub (3)/(2)(1)/(2)}=34.2(8){sub stat}(1){sub syst}{mu}s{sup {minus}1}. The molecular formation rate is consistent with other recent measurements, but not with the theory for isolated molecules. The discrepancy may be due to incomplete thermalization, an effect that was investigated by Monte Carlo calculations. Information on branching ratio parameters for the s and p wave d+d nuclear interaction has been extracted. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}