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Muonium (/ m juː ˈ oʊ n i ə m /) is an exotic atom made up of an antimuon and an electron, [1] which was discovered in 1960 by Vernon W. Hughes [2] and is given the chemical symbol Mu. During the muon's 2.2 µs lifetime, muonium can undergo chemical reactions.
In particle physics, true muonium is a theoretically predicted exotic atom representing a bound state of an muon and an antimuon (μ + μ −). The existence of true muonium is well established theoretically within the Standard Model .
Precision tests of QED have been performed in low-energy atomic physics experiments, high-energy collider experiments, and condensed matter systems. The value of α is obtained in each of these experiments by fitting an experimental measurement to a theoretical expression (including higher-order radiative corrections) that includes α as a parameter.
Muonium, despite its name, is not an onium state containing a muon and an antimuon, because IUPAC assigned that name to the system of an antimuon bound with an electron. However, the production of a muon–antimuon bound state, which is an onium (called true muonium ), has been theorized. [ 15 ]
The positive muon is also not attracted to the nucleus of atoms. Instead, it binds a random electron and with this electron forms an exotic atom known as muonium (mu) atom. In this atom, the muon acts as the nucleus. The positive muon, in this context, can be considered a pseudo-isotope of hydrogen with one ninth of the mass of the proton.
A semi-accurate depiction of the helium atom. In the nucleus, the protons are in red and neutrons are in purple. ... Of these positronium and muonium have been ...
It is not perfectly accurate, but is a remarkably good approximation in many cases, and historically played an important role in the development of quantum mechanics. The Bohr model posits that electrons revolve around the atomic nucleus in a manner analogous to planets revolving around the Sun.
The collision with electrons in the aerogel formed muonium, which was then stripped of electrons using a laser to generate stationary antimuons. These antimuons were then frozen to keep them static. Using an electric field, the researchers accelerated the stationary positive muons to speeds of 4% of the speed of light (~12 million meters per ...