Construct · 1 fields · 4 citations

muon: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · a standalone construct Nearest construct by meaningneutrinocompare the meanings
How to read this

Every construct on the map is compared with every other by the meaning of its definitions, and the closest one is surfaced here. The nearest construct to muon is neutrino.

Hold this as a prompt, not a verdict. Two constructs sitting close in meaning is a reason to read them side by side and decide for yourself whether they are one idea under two names. It is not proof that they are. Compare the meanings in the Collider.

muon1 CONSTRUCTMuonANDERSON · MU LEPTON

A single standalone construct; nearby constructs are located against it in the Collider. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

Particle physics

The heavy charged lepton

Carl Anderson and Seth Neddermeyer first recorded the muon's tracks in 1936, when their cloud chamber photographs of cosmic rays showed charged particles that penetrated matter far more deeply than electrons yet still curved in a magnetic field, and in 1937 Neddermeyer and Anderson, with an independent measurement by Jabez Street and Edward Stevenson, established that these were a new kind of particle with a mass between the electron and the proton. The muon is an elementary particle, a charged lepton (a member of the same particle family as the electron, not built from smaller quarks), carrying one unit of electric charge and about 207 times the mass of the electron. It is unstable, with an average lifetime of roughly 2.2 microseconds, after which it decays into an electron and two neutrinos. Because it is produced in large numbers when cosmic rays strike the upper atmosphere and passes readily through rock and detectors, the muon is used both to test predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics, such as its magnetic moment, and as a probe to image the interiors of volcanoes, pyramids, and nuclear reactors. Early literature called it the mesotron or mu meson before it was reclassified as a lepton.[1][2][3][4]

Unit
An elementary particle, one of the three charged leptons in the Standard Model
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Identified by its electric charge, its mass of about 105.7 MeV/c^2 (roughly 207 electron masses), and its characteristic penetration and decay signature in cloud chambers, calorimeters, and tracking detectors

Next

Run it through the Collider, or take the citations with you.

See how muon sits against neighbouring constructs in the Collider, or export every reference on this page in one click.

Open in ColliderExport BibTeXReport this entry

Nearby constructs

charge1 fields · 2 citationsanchor · a standalone constructmass3 fields · 9 citationsjingle · one word, three constructsdecay4 fields · 5 citationsjingle · one word, four constructs

References

  1. Anderson, C. D., & Neddermeyer, S. H. (1936). Cloud chamber observations of cosmic rays at 4300 meters elevation and near sea-level. Physical Review, 50, 263–271. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.50.263
  2. Neddermeyer, S. H., & Anderson, C. D. (1937). Note on the nature of cosmic-ray particles. Physical Review, 51, 884–886. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.51.884
  3. Street, J. C., & Stevenson, E. C. (1937). New evidence for the existence of a particle of mass intermediate between the proton and electron. Physical Review, 52, 1003–1004. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.52.1003
  4. Navas, S., Amsler, C., Gutsche, T., et al. (Particle Data Group). (2024). Review of particle physics. Physical Review D, 110, 030001. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.030001

Cited on this page?

Confirm your construct, or correct us.

If your work is cited behind one of these entries, you know better than we do whether we captured the meaning right. Confirm it, suggest an edit, or dispute it, and your name goes on the entry as an author who has checked it, linked to your ORCID.

Claim your construct