New insights in muon-catalyzed dd fusion by using ortho-para controlled solid deuterium.

For the first time, we observed the dependence of the ddmu formation rate and the dmu hyperfine-transition rate on the ortho-para state in muon-catalyzed fusion in the solid D2 state, and found that the effect is even opposite to a recent theoretical prediction. We also determined the back-decay rate and the hyperfine-transition rate via scattering in solid state by using the ortho-para dependence. A theory to describe properly our experimental result is called for to understand the nature of muon-catalyzed fusion in the solid state.