Reduction of muon sticking in muon-catalyzed fusion

Reduce the alpha-sticking probability in muon-catalyzed fusion sufficiently to raise the number of catalytic fusion events per muon to the level required for net energy production, approximately 300 or more and ideally near 1,000 fusions per muon.

Background

Muon-catalyzed fusion is limited by the loss of the muon when it remains bound to the alpha particle produced in deuterium–tritium fusion. The resulting sticking probability limits the observed yield to roughly 150 fusions per muon, below the yield needed to offset the energy cost of producing and delivering muons. The paper identifies reducing sticking as the principal unresolved issue governing whether muon-catalyzed fusion can become an energy source.

References

The required reduction in sticking has not yet been demonstrated experimentally, and represents the central open problem of the field.

— Science Of Nuclear Fusion: Insights and Ideas  (2609.01366 - Rafelski et al., 1 Sep 2026) in Section 4, subsection “Muon-catalyzed fusion,” subsection “Muon production”