4 ms·
The header of the wikipedia article mentions that because the resulting particles are usually unstable, the exotic atoms typically have short lifetimes. If som
by deftnerd 8y ago
The header of the wikipedia article mentions that because the resulting particles are usually unstable, the exotic atoms typically have short lifetimes.
If someone has the time to point to the research, the article would be massively improved by mentioning the typical lifetimes of each of the listed exotic atoms.
A "short lifetime" could be nanoseconds or could be years when you compare it to the traditional lifetime of the non-exotic version of the atom and knowing what is typical for each exotic atom would be good information to have at a glance.
- _Microft 8y agoThe half-life of approximately 15 minutes for free neutrons is considered long. It's actually the longest for any sub-atomic particle if I recall correctly.
- batbomb 8y agoI think protons would like to have a word with you.
- _Microft 8y agoProton decay has never been observed, afaik. Edit: that's still the case. Since protons can not decay in the standard model, actually observing it would be huge.
- NZGumboot 8y agoFree protons (protons outside of an atom) have never been observed to decay. Protons inside a nucleus can of course decay, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positron_emission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positron_emission
- apokkv 8y agoThe half-life of those exotic atoms are almost the same as the particles themselves, if not the exact same, so about 2.2us for the muonic atom.