IMPROVED ADIABATIC CALCULATION OF MUONIC-HYDROGEN-ATOM CROSS-SECTIONS .1. ISOTOPIC EXCHANGE AND ELASTIC-SCATTERING IN ASYMMETRIC COLLISIONS

The improved adiabatic representation is used in calculations of elastic and isotopic-exchange cross sections for asymmetric collisions of p-mu, d-mu, and t-mu with bare p, d, and t nuclei and with H, D, and T atoms. This formulation dissociates properly, correcting a well-known deficiency of the standard adiabatic method for muonic-atom collisions, and includes some effects at zeroth order that are normally considered nonadiabatic. The electronic screening is calculated directly and precisely within the improved adiabatic description; it is found to be about 30% smaller in magnitude than the previously used value at large internuclear distances and to deviate considerably from the asymptotic form at small distances. The reactance matrices, needed for calculations of molecular-target effects, are given in tables.