The vacuum decay rate of orthopositronium formed in a gas is determined, after extrapolation to zero gas density, to be 7.056±{}0.007 {μ}sec^-1. The discovery of two systematic effects in a previous powder experiment is discussed. A new measurement of the decay rate in SiO₂ powders yields results in agreement with the new gas value. The experimental values are still in disagreement with the most recent theoretical calculation, 7.0386±{}0.000 16 {μ}sec^-1.
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Gidley et al. (1978) studied this question.
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