Negative energy correction for nuclear polarization in muonic atoms

Negative energy corrections to the conventional calculations of nuclear polarization effects in muonic atoms are calculated. It is shown that the corrections are negligible as far as the NP effects due to low lying nuclear states and states in the giant resonance regions are concerned. However, the formula used for the muonic NP calculations breaks down if nuclear excitations with larger energies than the muonic mass are considered. This means that the method cannot be used for calculations of NP effects in electronic atoms. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.