On the reaction of muon transfer from protium to neon at low collision energies

Abstract

The reaction of direct muon transfer from protium to neon at thermal collision energies is considered. The question of whether it is possible to reconstruct the energy dependence of the reaction rate on the basis of available experimental data is discussed. A model based on the following two assumptions is proposed: (i) The reaction in question proceeds within an interaction sphere beyond which the entrance channel and the muon-transfer channel decouple. (ii) For s and p waves, the complex logarithmic derivatives of radial wave functions for the entrance channel at the surface of the interaction sphere are independent of energy at low collision energies. Two logarithmic-derivative values that comply with experimental data on the reaction rate at the temperatures of 20 and 300 К are found upon taking into account the s-wave contribution alone. In this temperature range, the reaction rates calculated at the resulting two values do not differ substantially. Sizable distinctions arise only at temperatures of a few kelvin units. The problem of choosing one specific value of the logarithmic derivative is solved by comparing the energy dependence of the S matrix with the results of an earlier calculation. Thereby, the proposed procedure can be viewed as a means for correcting calculations in the low-energy region.