Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wang, Xiaofeng, Tang, Zebo, Xu, Zhangbu, Yang, Chi, Zha, Wangmei, Zhang, Yifei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.09327
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866915969790640128
author Wang, Xiaofeng
Tang, Zebo
Xu, Zhangbu
Yang, Chi
Zha, Wangmei
Zhang, Yifei
author_facet Wang, Xiaofeng
Tang, Zebo
Xu, Zhangbu
Yang, Chi
Zha, Wangmei
Zhang, Yifei
contents We develop a framework for the formation of exotic muonic kaon atoms ($Kμ$) in semileptonic $D^{0}$ decays, using the effective weak Hamiltonian, a helicity-based treatment of the leptonic current, and a nonrelativistic bound-state projection. The resulting branching ratio, $\mathrm{BR}(D^{0} \to (Kμ)ν_μ)=2.29\times10^{-10}$, is implemented in a ROOT-based code to estimate yields at RHIC, LHC, and STCF. We show quantitatively that $Kμ$ atoms-also produced through coalescence in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP)-provide a sensitive probe of low-momentum primordial muons and early time electromagnetic radiation, offering complementary constraints in an otherwise unexplored phase space for thermal dilepton and photon emission. Newly estimated dissociation cross sections in detector material indicate that secondary-vertex reconstruction should be experimentally feasible, allowing clean experimental identification of the atoms. Projected yields from QGP coalescence in LHC and RHIC heavy-ion collisions, and from $D^{0}$ decays in LHC high luminosity $p+p$ collisions indicate that the first observation of $Kμ$ atoms is within reach.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_09327
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Production of muonic kaon atoms at high-energy colliders
Wang, Xiaofeng
Tang, Zebo
Xu, Zhangbu
Yang, Chi
Zha, Wangmei
Zhang, Yifei
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
We develop a framework for the formation of exotic muonic kaon atoms ($Kμ$) in semileptonic $D^{0}$ decays, using the effective weak Hamiltonian, a helicity-based treatment of the leptonic current, and a nonrelativistic bound-state projection. The resulting branching ratio, $\mathrm{BR}(D^{0} \to (Kμ)ν_μ)=2.29\times10^{-10}$, is implemented in a ROOT-based code to estimate yields at RHIC, LHC, and STCF. We show quantitatively that $Kμ$ atoms-also produced through coalescence in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP)-provide a sensitive probe of low-momentum primordial muons and early time electromagnetic radiation, offering complementary constraints in an otherwise unexplored phase space for thermal dilepton and photon emission. Newly estimated dissociation cross sections in detector material indicate that secondary-vertex reconstruction should be experimentally feasible, allowing clean experimental identification of the atoms. Projected yields from QGP coalescence in LHC and RHIC heavy-ion collisions, and from $D^{0}$ decays in LHC high luminosity $p+p$ collisions indicate that the first observation of $Kμ$ atoms is within reach.
title Production of muonic kaon atoms at high-energy colliders
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.09327