Partial Capture Rates of Muons byO16Leading to Excited Nuclear States ofN15

Partial interaction rates have been measured for the muon capture reaction ${\mu }^{-}+{}_{}{}^{16}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{O}\to {}_{}{}^{15}{}_{}{}^{}N_{}^{*}{}_{}{}^{}+n+\nu$ leading to the excited states at 6.323 MeV (${\frac{3}{2}}^{-}$), 5.270 MeV (${\frac{5}{2}}^{+}$), and 5.299 MeV (${\mathrm{½}}^{+}$). The total observed transition rate to excited states of ${}_{}{}^{15}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{N}$ is in good agreement with predictions attending recent calculations of the total capture rate. The distribution of the excitation among the three levels is very similar to that observed from the photoproton and photoneutron reactions on ${}_{}{}^{16}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{O}$.