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Muonic atoms are formed after the capture of negative muons in atomic orbitals, followed by de-excitation through the emission of characteristic X-rays. In high-Z atoms, nuclear capture can occur, producing gamma rays with energies strongly dependent on nuclear structure.
The FAMU experiment at RAL (UK) aims at measuring the ground-state hyperfine splitting in muonic hydrogen to extract the proton Zemach radius with an accuracy better than 1%. The measurement is performed by exciting µH atoms with a tunable mid-infrared laser and detecting the spin-flip signal via an increase in delayed muonic oxygen X-rays.
Muonic atoms are also exploited for the elemental and isotopic characterisation of cultural heritage samples. In this context, the CHNet-MAXI experiment focuses on determining detection limits and figures of merit for isotopic ratio measurements in lead, which features several stable and long-lived isotopes.
