Muotin

Muotin is a term used in speculative physics and in some science-fiction contexts to denote a hypothetical elementary particle. It is not part of the Standard Model and has no confirmed experimental validation.

Origin and usage: The name muotin appears as a portmanteau of the muon and a diminutive suffix. In theoretical discussions, muotins are introduced in various models as candidates for new weakly interacting particles; in fiction, they may serve as exotic matter or as a plot device. Because the concept is not standardized, its exact definitions vary between sources.

Proposed properties: In representative schemes, muotins are described as neutral fermions with spin 1/2, and they may be formulated as Dirac or Majorana particles. They are typically assumed to couple only weakly to Standard Model fields, or to interact through a new gauge boson or portal interaction. Their mass scale is model dependent, with proposals spanning from sub-GeV to multi-TeV ranges. The precise phenomenology—such as lifetimes, decay modes, and production mechanisms—depends on the underlying theoretical framework.

Potential roles: In some speculative scenarios, muotins are dark matter candidates or serve as mediators of a hidden sector. They are also discussed in the context of anomalies in lepton physics, collider missing-energy signals, or cosmic-ray observations, though these ideas remain unconfirmed.

Experimental status: There is no experimental confirmation of muotins. Searches in collider experiments, fixed-target setups, and astrophysical observations have placed constraints on their possible properties under specific model assumptions, but no consistent signal has been established. Muotin discussions are often linked to related concepts such as muons, dark matter, hidden sectors, and sterile neutrinos.