Improved estimates of the nuclear structure corrections in μD

Abstract

We calculate the nuclear structure corrections to the Lamb shift in muonic deuterium by using state-of-the-art nucleon–nucleon potentials derived from chiral effective field theory. Our calculations complement previous theoretical work obtained from phenomenological potentials and the zero range approximation. The study of the chiral convergence order-by-order and the dependence on cutoff variations allows us to improve the estimates on the nuclear structure corrections and the theoretical uncertainty coming from nuclear potentials. This will enter the determination of the nuclear radius from ongoing muonic deuterium experiments at PSI.

Keywords

• Muonic atoms
• Nuclear polarizability
• Chiral potential