EXAMINATION OF A KEY RESONANT PROCESS IN THE MUON-CATALYZED FUSION CYCLE THAT CAN BE TREATED THEORETICALLY IN THE SAME WAY AS A CHEMICAL-REACTION

The muon-catalysed fusion cycle, the sequence of processes whereby a n egatively charged muon in a deuterium-tritium mixture at room temperat ure catalyses nuclear fusion reactions, is first described. A key proc ess in this cycle is a low-energy collision of a t mu atom with a DA m olecule, where A is D, H or T, which leads at appropriate incident ene rgies, to the formation of a resonant complex containing dt mu A descr iption is given of methods that have been used so far to calculate, la mbda(dt mu), the resonant formation rate of dt mu. A new theoretical a pproach involving close-coupling equations and elements of Feshbach's theory of resonances is discussed. It is shown how close-coupling meth ods, such as that developed by Pack and Parker to calculate the rates of chemical reactions involving three atoms, can be applied to the cal culations of lambda(dt mu).