Survey of experimental results in muoncatalyzed fusion

Articles you may be interested in Muon losses in deuteriumtritium muoncatalyzed fusion due to fast transfer reactions to helium nuclei AIP Conf. Some properties of three body resonances of dt related to muoncatalyzed fusion AIP Conf. INTRODUCTION Muon-catalyzed fusion research is motivated both by a curiosity about nature and by the possibility of applications. After all, exoergic nuclear fusion is readily induced by negative muons. And muon-catalyzed fusion is indeed curious: we have uncovered many surprises in a rich tapestry of exotic atomic and molecular processes, unexpected resonances, and extremely rapid nuclear interactions. It is remarkable that a fundamentally nuclear process can be affected by changing the temperature and composition of the environment. This phenomenon demonstrates the subtle interplay of atomic and nuclear physics inherent in muon-catalyzed fusion (l~Cf). Theoretical and experimental efforts have also dovetailed to expand our understanding of muon catalysis. The theoretical breakthroughs ten years ago achieved by Leonid Ponomarev and his colleagues motivated experiments involving #cf in mixtures of deuterium and tritium. Observed temperature, density and d/t ratio effects in turn led to refinements in the theory. We can say that much progress has been made, but that many areas remained unresolved, some even virtually unexplored. Overall, we can look back over the past decade of research and conclude that muon-catalyzed fusion yields have significantly exceeded expectations, leading to renewed speculation regarding app!ications. To guide our discussion of recent progress in I~cf research, let us consider a straightforward yet profound equation: where I/Y = A<,lStc + w. Y = yield, the number of fusions per muon (average); Ao = muon-decay rate (0.455 per microsecond); Ac = muon-catalysis cycling rate (1/time between fusion neutrons); and