Abstract
The energy levels of hydrogen-like atomic systems are shifted slightly by the complex structure of the nucleus, in particular by the finite size of the nucleus. These energy shifts are vastly magnified in muonic atoms and ions, i.e. the hydrogen-like systems formed by a negative muon and a nucleus. By measuring the 2S-2P energy splitting in muonic hydrogen, muonic deuterium and muonic helium, we have been able to deduce the p, d, ^33He and ^44He nuclear charge radii to an unprecedented accuracy. These radii provide benchmarks for hadron and nuclear theories, lead to precision tests of bound-state QED in regular atoms and to a better determination of the Rydberg constant.
Highlights
Some energy levels of light, hydrogen-like muonic atoms are extremely sensitive to the influence of nuclear properties, such as the nuclear charge and magnetization distributions, and the nuclear polarizability
Because of the large muon mass, mμ ≈ 200 me, the wave function overlap is about 2003 ≈ a few million times larger for muonic atoms, compared to the corresponding electronic atom. This results in a million-fold enhanced shift of the 2S state due to nuclear size effects
The measurement of the 2S-2P transition in these light muonic atoms is based on pulsed laser spectroscopy
Summary
Some energy levels of light, hydrogen-like muonic atoms are extremely sensitive to the influence of nuclear properties, such as the nuclear charge and magnetization distributions, and the nuclear polarizability. This makes laser spectroscopy of these states a unique tool for precision determination of these nuclear properties. Because of the large muon mass, mμ ≈ 200 me, the wave function overlap is about 2003 ≈ a few million times larger for muonic atoms, compared to the corresponding electronic atom This results in a million-fold enhanced shift of the 2S state due to nuclear size effects. The first term is the sum of the “pure” QED effects, the last term is the finite nuclear charge radius effect, and the second term is the remaining nuclear structure effects (elastic and inelastic two- and three-photon exchange, 2PE and 3PE, respectively) [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]
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