Formation of the weakly bound muonic molecule (He4μt)012+ in the three-body (tμ)1s+He4+He4 collision

•Formation of the weakly bound muonic molecule composed of 4He and triton due to three-particle collision was proposed.•The size of the resulting muonic molecule was estimated.•Results obtained may influence the cycle rate of muon catalyzed fusion in D–T and D–3He mixtures.

Formation of the weakly bound muonic molecule (He4μt)012+ in the excited rotational–vibrational state (J,ν)=(0,1)(J,ν)=(0,1) due to the three-body collision (tμ)1s+He4+He4 is considered for the first time. It is assumed that the process occurs in T–4He gaseous mixture in thermal equilibrium containing thermalized muonic tritium atoms. The corresponding reaction rate is calculated in the frame of the distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) method using the dipole approximation for the interaction of tμ+He4 system with the incoming helium atom. The obtained formation rate (normalized to helium density equal to the liquid hydrogen density) increases with temperature from 7.8⋅106 s−17.8⋅106 s−1 for 1000 K to 4.8⋅107 s−14.8⋅107 s−1 for 3000 K.