: an unstable lepton that is common in the cosmic radiation near the earth's surface, has a mass about 207 times the mass of the electron, and exists in negative and positive forms
Examples of muon in a Sentence
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The muons would emerge in a cloud centimeters wide.
—
Byadrian Cho, science.org, 28 Mar. 2024
Instead of a muon neutrino oscillating into a sterile neutrino and then into an electron neutrino, the neutrino source that provides the muon neutrinos could also produce heavier sterile neutrinos—or some other new particle.
—Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 4 Nov. 2021
So Tanaka and his colleagues turned to muons when developing their own alternative system.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 June 2023
The heavier cousins of the electron, muons could offer high-energy collisions via surprisingly compact hardware.
—Daniel Garisto, Scientific American, 13 Dec. 2023
There is a field for each of the particles in nature, from common particles such as electrons and photons to their more exotic cousins such as muons and gluons.
—Luke Caldwell, Scientific American, 16 Jan. 2024
The researchers estimate that muon detectors must be located within 300 kilometers of storms to analyze muons zipping through them.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 Nov. 2022
The message was encoded by mechanically interposing or not interposing a three-inch block of brass in the muon beam every time a 12-billion-electron-volt synchrotron at the Argonne National Laboratory emitted a short burst of particles.
—Mark Fischetti, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2022
The machine would collide tiny, point-like particles called muons, which resemble electrons but are more massive.
—Katrina Miller, New York Times, 7 Dec. 2023
Byadrian Cho, science.org, 28 Mar. 2024
Instead of a muon neutrino oscillating into a sterile neutrino and then into an electron neutrino, the neutrino source that provides the muon neutrinos could also produce heavier sterile neutrinos—or some other new particle.
—Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 4 Nov. 2021
So Tanaka and his colleagues turned to muons when developing their own alternative system.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 June 2023
The heavier cousins of the electron, muons could offer high-energy collisions via surprisingly compact hardware.
—Daniel Garisto, Scientific American, 13 Dec. 2023
There is a field for each of the particles in nature, from common particles such as electrons and photons to their more exotic cousins such as muons and gluons.
—Luke Caldwell, Scientific American, 16 Jan. 2024
The researchers estimate that muon detectors must be located within 300 kilometers of storms to analyze muons zipping through them.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 Nov. 2022
The message was encoded by mechanically interposing or not interposing a three-inch block of brass in the muon beam every time a 12-billion-electron-volt synchrotron at the Argonne National Laboratory emitted a short burst of particles.
—Mark Fischetti, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2022
The machine would collide tiny, point-like particles called muons, which resemble electrons but are more massive.
—Katrina Miller, New York Times, 7 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'muon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
contraction of earlier mu-meson, from mu
First Known Use
1951, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near muon
Cite this Entry
“Muon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/muon. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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