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Theoretical Study Of The Effects Of Di-Muonic Molecules On Muon-Catalyzed Fusion, Eugene V. Sheely

Theses and Dissertations

This document presents a theoretical study di-muonic hydrogen and helium molecules that have the potential of enhancing the muon-catalyzed fusion reaction rate. In order to study these di-muonic molecules a method of non-adiabatic quantum mechanics referred to as a General Particle Orbital (GPO) method was developed. Three mechanisms that have the possibility of enhancing the muon-catalyzed fusion rate were discovered. Two involve the formation of di-muonic hydrogen molecules, and the other uses di-muonic molecules to liberate muons stuck to ³He nuclei. The effects of muon spin on dimuonic hydrogen molecules was studied. The nuclear separation in di-muonic hydrogen molecules …