Talk:Exotic atom
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Would an exciton count as an "exotic atom"? It looks like it might to me, but I'm no expert in these matters. Bryan Derksen
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[edit] defn of atom?
Don't really know how to fix this, but it seems to me that some (all?) molecules are also systems of particles held together primarily by electric forces. On the atom page, the defn is made by being the smallest constituent with given chemical properties, but this is probably not a good definition for exotic atoms?
The definition given is plain wrong. The particles within an atom are not held together by the electromagnetic force. As a matter of fact, since particles in the nucleus of an atom have the same charge, the electromagnetic force would would tear atoms apart, not hold them together. Atoms are held together by the strong-nuclear force. Molecules, on the other hand, *are* held together by the electromagnetic force, but this is largely irrelevant to this article. I removed the definition altogether as I deemed it unnecessary; it made the sentence hard to read and if the reader is unaware of what an atom is 1) the definition given wouldn't have made it easier and 2) the reader can click on atom and read the wikipedia page on atoms.
Nuclei are indeed held together by the strong nuclear force, but an atom's electrons are bound to the nucleus by the EM force. Both forces contribute to keeping an atom from falling apart. Miraculouschaos 14:55, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
- You people are out of your element. Atomic nuclei are held together by peanut butter. I've seen it myself under X-ray crystallography. Let's see YOUR evidence. - Eric (talk) 07:54, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Neutron star
I'm removing this statement, because it is false:
Although a neutron star could logically be classed as an exotic atom, since the bulk of the star is one huge atomic nucleus and electrical neutrality forces it to have a thin shell of electrons surrounding it
A neutron star is made up solely of neutrons; this is how electrical neutrality is maintained. The protons and electrons which exist in the star have "combined" to form neutrons via inverse beta decay due to the enormous temperature and pressure produced by the star's collapse. Miraculouschaos 14:55, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] hypothetical or real?
Are the different atoms discussed on this page hypothetical, or have they been 'observed' somehow? There are so many things that physicists talk about as real that they only know because their equations say they should/could exist... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.47.252.26 (talk) 18:29, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Hadronic atoms
"A hadronic atom is an atom in which one or more of the orbital electrons has been replaced by a hadron. Possible hadrons include mesons such as the pion or kaon, yielding a mesonic atom..."
Mesons are bosons not fermions; bosons don't obey the Pauli Exclusion Principle. So, while the general idea of a meson replacing an orbital electron is clear, the actual implementation of the idea is far from clear. 86.138.247.8 (talk) 19:24, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
