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Muon and Muonium Chemistry
David Walker, BSc 1956, DSc 1974
This book describes all aspects of the chemical behaviour of the muon - a rare, short-lived, elementary particle which has a mass intermediate between that of the electron and the proton. The negative muon behaves as a massive electron, while its anti-particle, the positive muon, acts as a light proton.
The latter readily captures an electron to become muonium, which is a sub-atom, regarded as a light isotope of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium. Thanks to the unique spin polarization of muons, and the marvels of the muon-spin-rotation technique of particle physics, muonium has been used to decipher the detailed mechanisms of many chemical reactions of hydrogen, for the first time.
There is also a web page updating the book's data.
[Cambridge University Press, 1983, reproduced in electron format on its 25th anniversary, 2008.]
ISBN: 0 521 24241 X
