Signature of the existence of the positronium molecule

J. Usukura, K. Varga, and Y. Suzuki
Phys. Rev. A 58, 1918 – Published 1 September 1998
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Abstract

The positronium molecule (Ps2) has not been experimentally observed yet because its tiny (4.5 eV) binding energy cannot be detected when the molecule annihilates by emitting two photons with energy of 0.51 MeV each. It is shown in this paper that the electric dipole transition between the recently found L=1 excited state and the L=0 ground state with its characteristic photon energy of 4.94 eV is a clear signature of the existence of the positronium molecule and the possibility of its experimental observation is realistic. The probability of this transition is about 17% of the total decay rate. Another Coulomb four-body system containing positron HPs (the positronium hydride or hydrogen positride), is also included for comparison.

  • Received 20 April 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.58.1918

©1998 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J. Usukura1, K. Varga2,3, and Y. Suzuki4

  • 1Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan
  • 2Institute of Nuclear Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (ATOMKI), H-4001 Debrecen, Hungary
  • 3Institute for Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
  • 4Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan

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Vol. 58, Iss. 3 — September 1998

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