Emission of Neutrons from Muonic Lead and Bismuth

Abstract

The emission of prompt neutrons from muonic bismuth observed experimentally is believed to be caused by the radiationless excitation of the target nucleus above the neutron separation energy by muonic transitions of the type np → 1s[Formula: see text]. The work of Zaretskii and Novikov for muon induced fission in uranium is extended to the case of muonic lead and bismuth. The ratio of rates of radiationless excitation to the radiative transition probabilities is calculated by the surface current model of Sliv to check a random phase approximation used in the calculation by Zaretskii. The neutron spectrum obtained using this nuclear branching in the cascade calculation is given for lead and bismuth.