An onium (plural: onia) is a

bound state A bound state is a composite of two or more fundamental building blocks, such as particles, atoms, or bodies, that behaves as a single object and in which energy is required to split them. In quantum physics, a bound state is a quantum state of a ...

of a

particle In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscle in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass. They vary greatly in size or quantity, from s ...

and its

antiparticle In particle physics, every type of particle of "ordinary" matter (as opposed to antimatter) is associated with an antiparticle with the same mass but with opposite physical charges (such as electric charge). For example, the antiparticle of the ...

. These states are usually named by adding the suffix ''-onium'' to the name of one of the constituent particles (replacing an ''-on'' suffix when present), with one exception for " muonium"; a muon–antimuon bound pair is called " true muonium" to avoid confusion with old nomenclature.

Examples

Positronium Positronium (Ps) is a system consisting of an electron and its antimatter, anti-particle, a positron, bound together into an exotic atom, specifically an onium. Unlike hydrogen, the system has no protons. The system is unstable: the two part ...

is an onium which consists of an

electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...

and a

positron The positron or antielectron is the particle with an electric charge of +1''elementary charge, e'', a Spin (physics), spin of 1/2 (the same as the electron), and the same Electron rest mass, mass as an electron. It is the antiparticle (antimatt ...

bound together as a long-lived

metastable In chemistry and physics, metastability is an intermediate energetic state within a dynamical system other than the system's state of least energy. A ball resting in a hollow on a slope is a simple example of metastability. If the ball is onl ...

state. Positronium has been studied since the 1950s to understand bound states in

quantum field theory In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines Field theory (physics), field theory and the principle of relativity with ideas behind quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct phy ...

. A recent development called non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics (NRQED) used this system as a proving ground.

Pionium Pionium is a composite particle consisting of one and one meson. It can be created, for instance, by interaction of a proton beam accelerated by a particle accelerator and a target atomic nucleus, nucleus. Pionium has a short lifetime, predicted ...

, a bound state of two oppositely charged

pion In particle physics, a pion (, ) or pi meson, denoted with the Greek alphabet, Greek letter pi (letter), pi (), is any of three subatomic particles: , , and . Each pion consists of a quark and an antiquark and is therefore a meson. Pions are the ...

s, is interesting for exploring the

strong interaction In nuclear physics and particle physics, the strong interaction, also called the strong force or strong nuclear force, is one of the four known fundamental interaction, fundamental interactions. It confines Quark, quarks into proton, protons, n ...

. This should also be true of protonium. The true analogs of positronium in the theory of strong interactions are the quarkonium states: they are

meson In particle physics, a meson () is a type of hadronic subatomic particle composed of an equal number of quarks and antiquarks, usually one of each, bound together by the strong interaction. Because mesons are composed of quark subparticles, the ...

s made of a heavy quark and antiquark (namely, charmonium and bottomonium). Exploration of these states through non-relativistic quantum chromodynamics (NRQCD) and

lattice QCD Lattice QCD is a well-established non- perturbative approach to solving the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) theory of quarks and gluons. It is a lattice gauge theory formulated on a grid or lattice of points in space and time. When the size of the ...

are increasingly important tests of

quantum chromodynamics In theoretical physics, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the study of the strong interaction between quarks mediated by gluons. Quarks are fundamental particles that make up composite hadrons such as the proton, neutron and pion. QCD is a type of ...

. Understanding bound states of

hadron In particle physics, a hadron is a composite subatomic particle made of two or more quarks held together by the strong nuclear force. Pronounced , the name is derived . They are analogous to molecules, which are held together by the electri ...

s such as

pionium Pionium is a composite particle consisting of one and one meson. It can be created, for instance, by interaction of a proton beam accelerated by a particle accelerator and a target atomic nucleus, nucleus. Pionium has a short lifetime, predicted ...

and protonium is also important in order to clarify notions related to exotic hadrons such as mesonic molecules and

pentaquark A pentaquark is a human-made subatomic particle, consisting of four quarks and one antiquark bound together; they are not known to occur naturally, or exist outside of experiments specifically carried out to create them. As quarks have a bar ...

states.

Footnotes

References

{{Particles Particle physics

Examples

See also

Footnotes

References