Unless you're involved in the study of particle physics or a similar field, there's a good chance you might never have heard of a muon. Similar to electrons, but around 200 times heavier, muons interact only weakly with matter, allowing them to be used like X-rays but for large and dense structures like geological features, bridges, and dams.
The muon's larger mass also makes them sensitive and useful for understanding fundamental physics. However, one of the challenges for scientists has always been that despite their apparent benefits to science - and even society more broadly - muons only have a half-life of around one microsecond.
Now researchers at the University of Plymouth have suggested a means of overcoming that, using intense laser pulses to reduce the rate of decay and at least double the muon's lifetime.
They believe their theory will eventually benefit those working in fields that employ muons, such as geology, material science and particle physics. However, it could also help work to develop the next generation of scientific facilities that will ultimately succeed the Large Hadron Collider, with muons - rather than electrons - being suggested as a more sensitive particle species.
The theory, outlined in the journal Physical Review Letters, was developed by Associate Professor of Theoretical Physics Dr Ben King and Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Di Liu, both from the University's
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