Effects of impurity molecules on the lifetime of antiprotonic helium atoms

Quenching of metastable antiprotonic helium atoms in collisions with hydrogen and deuterium molecules has been studied using laser spectroscopy at CERN's antiproton decelerator. The temperature dependence of the quenching cross sections of the antiprotonic states (n, l) = (37, 34), (38, 35) and (38, 37) has been investigated and a deviation from the Arrhenius law was found at low temperatures. In case of the state (38, 37) with deuterium, detailed measurements revealed that the quenching cross section levels off at low temperatures indicating a strong quantum tunneling effect. (14 refs).