Muonic atom (source code)

= Muonic atom

A <muonic atom> has a negative <muon> bound in the <Coulomb potential> of an <atomic nucleus>. Its much larger <reduced mass> than in an electronic <chemical atom> greatly reduces the orbital scale, increasing sensitivity of transition <energies> to the <nuclear charge radius> and <nuclear charge distribution>. Measuring muonic X-ray transitions therefore complements <electron scattering>. Strong relativistic and nuclear-size effects in heavy systems require a treatment beyond a point-nucleus nonrelativistic Coulomb spectrum.