Nuclear muon capture on the proton and He-3 within the standard model and beyond

Nuclear muon capture on the proton and He-3 is considered both within and b eyond the standard model in terms as general as is possible. Explicit and p recise analytic expressions for all possible observables are given, assumin g only a Dirac neutrino in the limit of vanishing mass. These results allow both for precision tests of the standard model and new physics, as well as for the assessment of the potential physics reach of experiments designed to measure specific observables. Using these expressions, stringent constra ints can already be inferred from a recent precision measurement of the sta tistical capture rate on He-3. Likewise, similar constraints should follow the completion of a precision measurement in progress of the singlet captur e rate on the proton. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.