Search for mixing of muonium and antimuonium
Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 1990 papers
Abstract
A search is described for mixing of muonium (${\ensuremath{\mu}}^{+}{e}^{\ensuremath{-}}$) and antimuonium (${\ensuremath{\mu}}^{\ensuremath{-}}{e}^{+}$). Thermal muonium was produced by stopping muons in a Si${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ powder target. As a conversion signature, a ${\ensuremath{\mu}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ from antimuonium would create $^{184}\mathrm{Ta}$ in an adjacent tungsten foil. The surface layer of the sample was chemically extracted and counted in a low-background germanium spectrometer; no conversion events were observed. The resulting upper limit on the probability that a muonium atom spontaneously converts to antimuonium is 2.1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}$ (90% confidence). This corresponds to a limit of $0.29{G}_{F}$ on the effective four-fermion coupling constant between muonium and antimuonium.
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