Muonic radioactive atoms: a unique probe for nuclear structure

Muonic atoms have been a source of high-precision experimental nuclear structure data for decades, through muonic X-rays that yield information on nuclear charge distributions. The intense driver beams for production of radioactive beams in so-called second generation facilities will simultaneously be capable of producing unprecedented amounts of low-energy muons. This paper concerns some of the potential synergies of combining muons with radioactive nuclei as one possible new tool to be used at future RIB facilities. As a case study, muonic capture rates into highly excited states in /sup 78/Ni have been calculated.