Charge transfer from muonic hydrogen to neon

Fundamentally, the electron and muon transfer mechanisms are the same. We report on muon transfer from the ground state of muonic hydrogen to neon, measured in the gas mixtures ${\mathrm{H}}_2$+Ne and ${\mathrm{H}}_2$+Ne+Ar. Unexpectedly, the muonic x-ray time spectra measured in the binary mixture show two components. From the extracted transfer rates, the higher one agrees with an older experiment, whereas the lower one, which is reproduced in the triple gas mixture, was not observed before.