Key Points
- Scientists have directly observed a new type of exotic atom, known as a “highly charged muonic ion,” for the first time.
- This exotic atom has a muon (a heavy relative of the electron) instead of a regular electron, and most of its other electrons have been removed.
- Researchers used a powerful particle accelerator in Japan to create the atoms and a highly sensitive X-ray detector to see them.
- The X-ray signals they detected perfectly matched the predictions from theoretical models.
For the first time, a team of international researchers has directly observed a completely new class of exotic atoms known as a “highly charged muonic ion.” These strange atoms have had most of their electrons stripped away, and one of the remaining ones is replaced by a muon—a heavier cousin of the electron.
The discovery, published in Physical Review Letters, is a significant breakthrough because it provides scientists with a new tool to study the extreme conditions found inside stars and other high-energy environments in the universe.
While theories predicted these exotic atoms could exist, no one had ever managed to see one until now because they are so short-lived and hard to detect.
To make and see these atoms, the team experimented at a powerful particle accelerator facility in Japan. They fired a beam of muons into argon gas. When an argon atom captured a muon, it kicked out most of the atom’s regular electrons, creating the new exotic ion. To detect these fleeting creations, they utilized a highly sensitive X-ray detector originally designed for space observation.
The detector detected the unique X-ray signals emitted by the new atoms, and these signals perfectly matched what theoretical models predicted they would look like. This successful experiment confirms the existence of these strange atoms. It opens up a new frontier for studying the fundamental properties of matter.
