Published April 14, 2010 | Version v1
Journal article

In pursuit of highly accurate atomic lifetime measurements of multiply charged ions

  • 1. Physics Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States)
  • 2. Astronomisches Institut, Fakultaet fuer Physik und Astronomie, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany)

Description

Accurate atomic lifetime data are useful for terrestrial and astrophysical plasma diagnostics. At accuracies higher than those required for these applications, lifetime measurements test atomic structure theory in ways complementary to spectroscopic energy determinations. At the highest level of accuracy, the question arises whether such tests reach the limits of modern theory, a combination of quantum mechanics and QED, and possibly point to physics beyond the standard model. If high-precision atomic lifetime measurements, especially on multiply charged ions, have not quite reached this high accuracy yet, then what is necessary to attain this goal?

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/43/7/074034

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/43/7/074034;
PII
S0953-4075(10)21273-9;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Journal of Physics. B, Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Journal Volume
43
Journal Issue
7
Journal Page Range
[19 p.]
ISSN
0953-4075
CODEN
JPAPEH