Natural Resolution of the Proton Size Puzzle

TL;DR

This paper proposes that off-mass-shell effects from the proton's internal structure can explain the discrepancy in proton radius measurements between muonic and electronic hydrogen, offering a new resolution to the proton size puzzle.

Contribution

It introduces a novel proton polarization mechanism based on off-mass-shell effects that can account for the proton radius discrepancy.

Findings

Off-mass-shell effects are proportional to the lepton mass to the fourth power.

The mechanism can resolve the proton size puzzle.

Potential for experimental probing of the effects.

Abstract

We show that off-mass-shell effects arising from the internal structure of the proton provide a new proton polarization mechanism in the Lamb shift, proportional to the lepton mass to the fourth power. This effect is capable of resolving the current puzzle regarding the difference in the proton radius extracted from muonic compared with electronic hydrogen. These off-mass-shell effects could be probed in several other experiments.