Analysis of the elastic scattering of negative muons from atomic hydrogen

The total elastic cross section and the transport cross section for the scattering of negative muons from the hydrogen atom is determined by making a partial wave analysis of the elastic scattering amplitude. An effective Schrodinger equation for the muon-hydrogen system is obtained, using a static model of the field of the hydrogen atom, and its numerical solution allows the phase shifts for fifty partial waves to be obtained over a wide range of energies. A polarization potential term is then included, and the results of the scattering from the effective potential obtained are compared with the results from the static field. The results show a substantial effect of the polarization in the cross sections at low energy. The analysis of the low energy behavior of the phase shifts indicates that a substantial number of bound states for the muon exist in both the static and the static + polarization fields of hydrogen