Published February 1, 2024 | Version v1
Journal article

Cm15+ and Bk16+ ion clocks with enhanced sensitivity to new physics

  • 1. School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia

Description

We perform calculations of the electronic structure of Cm15+ and Bk16+ ions and demonstrate that they have transitions which combine the features of atomic optical clocks with the enhanced sensitivity to the variations of the fine-structure constant α. The high sensitivity is due to large nuclear charge Z, high ionization degree Zi, and the effect of level crossing, which enables optical transitions between states of different configurations. These are the 6p1/25f5/2 and 6p1/25f7/2 transitions in the single-valence electron approximation. The variation of α may be due to the interaction with scalar and pseudoscalar (axion) dark-matter fields. Therefore, Cm15+ and Bk16+ clocks are promising candidates to search for these fields.

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1103/PhysRevA.109.L021101;
arXiv
arXiv:2311.18264;
Crossref Funder ID
10.13039/501100000923;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review A
Journal Volume
109
Journal Issue
2
Journal Page Range
6 pgs.
ISSN
1094-1622

Optional Information

Copyright
©2024 American Physical Society
Contract/Grant/Project number
DP230101058; DP200100150
Notes
Record automatically processed
Funding organization
Australian Research Council