Evidence against nuclear polarization as source of fine-structure anomalies in muonic atoms

Abstract

A long-standing problem of fine-structure anomalies in muonic atoms is revisited by considering the ∆2p splitting in muonic 90 Zr, 120 Sn and 208 Pb and the ∆3p splitting in muonic 208 Pb. State-ofthe-art techniques from both nuclear and atomic physics are brought together in order to perform the most comprehensive to date calculations of nuclear-polarization energy shifts. Barring the more subtle case of µ-208 Pb, the results suggest that the dominant calculation uncertainty is much smaller than the persisting discrepancies between theory and experiment. We conclude that the resolution to the anomalies is likely to be rooted in refined QED corrections or even some other previously unaccounted-for contributions.