Precision measurement of the (3p–1s) X-ray transition in muonic hydrogen

The (3p — 1s) X-ray transition to the muonic hydrogen ground state was measured with a highresolution crystal spectrometer. The assumption of a statistical population of the hyperfine levels of the muonic hydrogen ground state was directly confirmed by the experiment and measured values for the hyperfine splitting can be reported. The measurement supplements studies on line broadening effects induced by Coulomb de-excitation hindering the direct extraction of the pion-nucleon scattering lengths from pionic hydrogen and deuterium X-ray lines.