Abstract
The charge radius of the proton has recently been determined from 2s-2p spectroscopy of muonic hydrogen, giving a result which significantly deviates from earlier measurements. One hypothesis is that this discrepancy could arise because a metastable p mu e state is formed under the p mu (2s) threshold. We search for such a state by considering the three-body pex and p mu x systems, where x is a particle with charge -e and a mass which is varied between the electron and muon mass. We identify a new class of resonances, which extends the mass range allowing formation of resonances compared to an earlier work. We conclude that no p mu e resonances relevant for 2s-2p spectroscopy in muonic hydrogen can exist.