Proton radius puzzle and large extra dimensions

Abstract

We propose a theoretical scenario to solve the proton radius puzzle which recently arises from the muonic hydrogen experiment. In this framework, (4+n)-dimensional theory is incorporated with modified gravity. The extra gravitational interaction between the proton and muon at very short range provides an energy shift which accounts for the discrepancy between spectroscopic results from muonic and electronic hydrogen experiments. Assuming the modified gravity is a small perturbation to the existing electromagnetic interaction, we find the puzzle can be solved with stringent constraint on the range of the new force. Our result not only provides a possible solution to the proton radius puzzle but also suggests a direction to test new physics at very small length scale. © 2013 World Scientific Publishing Company.