Muon capture
Encyclopedia
Muon capture is the capture of a negative muon
by a proton
, usually resulting in production of a neutron
and a neutrino
, and sometimes a gamma
photon
.
Muon capture by heavy nuclei often leads to emission of particles; most often neutron
s, but charged particles can be emitted as well.
Ordinary muon capture (OMC) involves capture of a negative muon from the atomic orbital without emission of a gamma photon:
Radiative muon capture (RMC) is a radiative version of OMC, where a gamma photon is emitted:
One motivation for the study of muon capture on the proton is its connection to the proton's induced pseudoscalar form factor gp.
Muon
The muon |mu]] used to represent it) is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with a unitary negative electric charge and a spin of ½. Together with the electron, the tau, and the three neutrinos, it is classified as a lepton...
by a proton
Proton
The proton is a subatomic particle with the symbol or and a positive electric charge of 1 elementary charge. One or more protons are present in the nucleus of each atom, along with neutrons. The number of protons in each atom is its atomic number....
, usually resulting in production of a neutron
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
and a neutrino
Neutrino
A neutrino is an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle with a half-integer spin, chirality and a disputed but small non-zero mass. It is able to pass through ordinary matter almost unaffected...
, and sometimes a gamma
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
photon
Photon
In physics, a photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic interaction and the basic unit of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation. It is also the force carrier for the electromagnetic force...
.
Muon capture by heavy nuclei often leads to emission of particles; most often neutron
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
s, but charged particles can be emitted as well.
Ordinary muon capture (OMC) involves capture of a negative muon from the atomic orbital without emission of a gamma photon:
- + → +
Radiative muon capture (RMC) is a radiative version of OMC, where a gamma photon is emitted:
- + → + +
One motivation for the study of muon capture on the proton is its connection to the proton's induced pseudoscalar form factor gp.