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Electronic $K$ x rays emitted by muonic Ar atoms in the gas phase were observed using a superconducting transition-edge-sensor microcalorimeter. The high-precision energy spectra provided a clear signature of the presence of muonic atoms accompanied by a few electrons, which have never been observed before. One-, two-, and three-electron bound, i.e., H-like, He-like, and Li-like, muonic Ar atoms were identified from electronic $K$ x rays and hyper-satellite $K$ x rays. These $K$ x rays are emitted after the charge transfer process by the collisions with surrounding Ar atoms. With the aid of theoretical calculations, we confirmed that the peak positions are consistent with the x-ray energies from highly charged Cl ions, and the intensities reflecting deexcitation dynamics were successfully understood by taking into account the interaction between the muon and bound electrons.

Background: The nuclear charge radius and distribution are the most fundamental quantities of the atomic nucleus. From the muonic transition energies, the absolute charge radius has been experimentally obtained, while there have been no established methods to discuss the distribution. Purpose: The muonic transition energies for five palladium isotopes with the mass number $A = 104$, $105$, $106$, $108$ and $110$ were measured. The procedure to deduce the charge radii and the method to discuss the charge distribution from the muonic transition energies are proposed. Method: The experiment was performed at the MuSIC-M1 beamline at Research Center for Nuclear Physics, Osaka University. A continuous muon beam impinged on the enriched palladium targets. Muonic X rays were measured by high-purity germanium detectors. Results: The muonic transition energies up to $4f$-$3d$ transitions were determined for five palladium isotopes. Discussion and conclusion: The root-mean-square charge radii are deduced assuming the two-parameter Fermi distribution. The charge distribution of the nucleus is discussed employing the Barrett model. The muonic transition energies of the $3d$-$2p$ transitions are crucial to discuss both the charge radius and the charge distribution.

As a new method to determine the resonance frequency, Rabi-oscillation spectroscopy has been developed. In contrast to the conventional spectroscopy which draws the resonance curve, Rabi-oscillation spectroscopy fits the time evolution of the Rabi oscillation. By selecting the optimized frequency, it is shown that the precision is twice as good as the conventional spectroscopy with a frequency sweep. Furthermore, the data under different conditions can be treated in a unified manner, allowing more efficient measurements for systems consisting of a limited number of short-lived particles produced by accelerators such as muons. We have developed a fitting function that takes into account the spatial distribution of muonium and the spatial distribution of the microwave intensity to apply the new method to ground-state muonium hyperfine structure measurements at zero field. This was applied to the actual measurement data and the resonance frequencies were determined under various conditions. The result of our analysis gives $\nu_{\rm HFS}=4\ 463\ 301.61 \pm 0.71\ {\rm kHz}$, which is the world's highest precision under zero field conditions., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

The emission of muonium ($\mu^+e^-$) atoms into vacuum from silica aerogel with laser ablation on its surface was studied with various ablation structures at room temperature using the subsurface muon beams at TRIUMF and Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). Laser ablation was applied to produce holes or grooves with typical dimensions of a few hundred $\mu$m to a few mm, except for some extreme conditions. The measured emission rate tends to be higher for larger fractions of ablation opening and for shallower depths. More than a few ablation structures reach the emission rates similar to the highest achieved in the past measurements. The emission rate is found to be stable at least for a couple of days. Measurements of spin precession amplitudes for the produced muonium atoms and remaining muons in a magnetic field determine a muonium formation fraction of $(65.5 \pm 1.8)$%. The precession of the polarized muonium atoms is also observed clearly in vacuum. A projection of the emission rates measured at TRIUMF to the corresponding rates at J-PARC is demonstrated taking the different beam condition into account reasonably., Comment: 34 pages, 13 figures, submitted to PTEP

A hydrogen-like atom consisting of a positive muon and an electron is known as muonium. It is a near-ideal two-body system for a precision test of bound-state theory and fundamental symmetries. The MuSEUM collaboration performed a new precision measurement of the muonium ground-state hyperfine structure at J-PARC using a high-intensity pulsed muon beam and a high-rate capable positron counter. The resonance of hyperfine transition was successfully observed at a near-zero magnetic field, and the muonium hyperfine structure interval of ${\nu}_{\text{HFS}}$ = 4.463302(4) GHz was obtained with a relative precision of 0.9 ppm. The result was consistent with the previous ones obtained at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the current theoretical calculation. We present a demonstration of the microwave spectroscopy of muonium for future experiments to achieve the highest precision., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures

This paper introduces a new approach to measure the muon magnetic moment anomaly $a_{\mu} = (g-2)/2$, and the muon electric dipole moment (EDM) $d_{\mu}$ at the J-PARC muon facility. The goal of our experiment is to measure $a_{\mu}$ and $d_{\mu}$ using an independent method with a factor of 10 lower muon momentum, and a factor of 20 smaller diameter storage-ring solenoid compared with previous and ongoing muon $g-2$ experiments with unprecedented quality of the storage magnetic field. Additional significant differences from the present experimental method include a factor of 1,000 smaller transverse emittance of the muon beam (reaccelerated thermal muon beam), its efficient vertical injection into the solenoid, and tracking each decay positron from muon decay to obtain its momentum vector. The precision goal for $a_{\mu}$ is statistical uncertainty of 450 part per billion (ppb), similar to the present experimental uncertainty, and a systematic uncertainty less than 70 ppb. The goal for EDM is a sensitivity of $1.5\times 10^{-21}~e\cdot\mbox{cm}$., Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures

Muons have been accelerated by using a radio frequency accelerator for the first time. Negative muonium atoms (Mu$^-$), which are bound states of positive muons ($\mu^+$) and two electrons, are generated from $\mu^+$'s through the electron capture process in an aluminum degrader. The generated Mu$^-$'s are initially electrostatically accelerated and injected into a radio frequency quadrupole linac (RFQ). In the RFQ, the Mu$^-$'s are accelerated to 89 keV. The accelerated Mu$^-$'s are identified by momentum measurement and time of flight. This compact muon linac opens the door to various muon accelerator applications including particle physics measurements and the construction of a transmission muon microscope.

Emission of muonium ($\mu^+e^-$) atoms from a laser-processed aerogel surface into vacuum was studied for the first time. Laser ablation was used to create hole-like regions with diameter of about 270$~\mu$m in a triangular pattern with hole separation in the range of 300--500$~\mu$m. The emission probability for the laser-processed aerogel sample is at least eight times higher than for a uniform one.

Emission of muonium ($\mu^{+}e^{-}$) atoms from silica aerogel into vacuum was observed. Characteristics of muonium emission were established from silica aerogel samples with densities in the range from 29 mg cm$^{-3}$ to 178 mg cm$^{-3}$. Spectra of muonium decay times correlated with distances from the aerogel surfaces, which are sensitive to the speed distributions, follow general features expected from a diffusion process, while small deviations from a simple room-temperature thermal diffusion model are identified. The parameters of the diffusion process are deduced from the observed yields., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PTEP

We have measured the angular correlation of the pair nucleons np and nn emitted from the nonmesonic weak decay (NMWD) of ^{12}_{Lambda}C produced via the (pi^+,K^+) reaction in coincidence measurement. The Lambda p -> np and Lambda n -> nn modes were clearly identified by measuring the back-to-back correlation of the emitted nucleon pairs which is the characteristic of two-body kinematics. From the measured nucleon pair numbers N_{nn} and N_{np}, the ratio Gamma_n/Gamma_p of the partial decay widths Gamma_n(Lambda n -> nn) and Gamma_p(Lambda p -> np) of ^{12}_{Lambda}C was extracted to be 0.51+-0.13(stat) +- 0.05(syst); this result is almost free from the ambiguity due to the nuclear final state interaction and 3-body decay process, which were inherent in the previous results. The obtained Gamma_n/Gamma_p ratio of ^{12}_{Lambda}C (p-shell) is close to that of ^5_{Lambda}He (s-shell). The results are consistent with those of recent theoretical calculations., Comment: 13 pages, 4figures, 1 table,re-submitted to Physics Letters B

The asymmetry parameter alpha_p^NM for a proton exclusively emitted in the Lambda p -> np process was, for the first time, measured in the non-mesonic weak decay of a polarized 5_La,bda_He hypernucleus by selecting the proton-neutron pairs emitted in the back-to-back kinematics. The highly polarized 5_Lambda_He was abundantly produced with the (pi+,K+) reaction at 1.05GeV/c in the scattering angular range of +-15$ degrees. The obtained value alpha_p^NM=0.31+-0.22, as well as that for inclusive protons, alpha_p^NM=0.11+-0.08+-0.04, largely contradicts recent theoretical values of around -0.6, although these calculations well reproduce the branching ratios of non-mesonic weak decay., Comment: 4pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters

We performed a coincidence measurement of two nucleons emitted from the nonmesonic weak decay (NMWD) of ^{5}_{\Lambda}He formed via the ^{6}Li(\pi^+,K^+) reaction. The energies of two nucleons and the pair number distributions in the opening angle between them were measured. In both np and nn pairs, we observed a clean back-to-back correlation coming from the two-body decay of \Lambda p --> n p and \Lambda n --> n n, respectively. The ratio of the nucleon pair numbers was N_{nn}/N_{np}=0.45 \pm 0.11(stat)\pm 0.03(syst) in the kinematic region of cos(theta_{NN}) < -0.8. Since each decay mode was exclusively detected, the measured ratio should be close to the ratio of \Gamma(\Lambda p --> np)/\Gamma(\Lambda n --> nn). The ratio is consistent with recent theoretical calculations based on the heavy meson/direct quark exchange picture., Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. lett., 4 pages, 3 figures

We have measured both yields of neutron-proton and neutron-neutron pairs emitted from the non-mesonic weak decay process of 5_Lambda-He and 12_Lambda-C hypernuclei produced via the (pi^+,K^+) reaction for the first time. We observed clean back-to-back correlation of the np- and nn-pairs in the coincidence spectra for both hypernuclei. The ratio of those back-to-back pair yields, Nnn / Nnp, must be close to the ratio of neutron- and proton-induced decay widths of the decay, Gn(Lambda n -> nn)/Gp(Lambda p -> np). The obtained ratios for each hypernuclei support recent calculations based on short-range interactions., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, International Nuclear Physics Conference (INPC 2004), Goteborg, Sweden, June 27 - July 2, 2004, to appear in Nuclear Physics A

We have simultaneously measured the energy spectra of neutrons and protons emitted in the non-mesonic weak decays of 5_Lambda-He and 12_Lambda-C hypernuclei produced via the (pi^+,k^+) reaction with much higher statistics over those of previous experiments. The neutron-to-proton yield ratios for both hypernuclei at a high energy threshold (60 MeV) were approximately equal to two, which suggests that the ratio of the neutron- and proton-induced decay channels, Gn(Lambda n -> nn)/Gp(Lambda p -> np), is about 0.5. In the neutron energy spectra, we found that the yield of the low-energy component is unexpectedly large, even for 5_Lambda-He., Comment: 13pages, 4figures, submitted to Physics Letters B

We have precisely measured $\Lambda \to p\pi^-$ decay width of \5LHe and demonstrated significantly larger $\alpha$ -$\Lambda$ overlap than expected from the central repulsion $\alpha$-$\Lambda$ potential, which is derived from YNG \Lambda$-nucleon interaction., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

We precisely measured pi^0 branching ratios of 5_Lambda-He and 12_Lambda-C hypernuclei produced via (pi^+,k^+) reaction. Using these pi^0 branching ratios with the pi^- branching ratios and the lifetimes, we obtained the pi^0 decay widths and the non-mesonic weak decay widths at high statistics with the accuracy of ~5 % (stat) for both hypernuclei., Comment: 4pages, 4figures, International Conference on Hypernuclear and Strange Particle Physics (HYP2003)

We have obtained the decay asymmetry parameters in non-mesonic weak decay of polarized Lambda-hypernuclei by measuring the proton asymmetry. The polarized Lambda-hypernuclei, 5_Lambda-He, 12_Lambda-C, and 11_Lambda-B, were produced in high statistics via the (pi^+,k^+) reaction at 1.05 GeV/c in the forward angles. Preliminary analysis shows that the decay asymmetry parameters are very small for these s-shell and p-shell hypernuclei., Comment: 4pages, 4figures, International Conference on Hypernuclear and Strange Particle Physics (HYP2003)