Between atomic and nuclear physics: radioactive decays of highly-charged ions

Abstract

Highly charged radioactive ions can be stored for extended periods of time in storage rings which allows for precision measurements of their decay modes. The straightforward motivation for performing such studies is that fully ionised nuclei or few-electron ions can be viewed as clean quantum-mechanical systems, in which the interactions of the many electrons can be either excluded or treated precisely. Thus, the influence of the electron shell on the decay probability can be investigated. Another important motivation is stellar nucleosynthesis, which proceeds at high temperatures and the involved atoms are therefore highly ionised. Presented here is a compact review of the relevant experiments conducted at heavy-ion storage rings. Furthermore, we outline the perspectives for future experiments at new-generation storage-ring facilities.

Studies at the border between nuclear and atomic physics: Weak decays of highly charged ions

“…Highly charged ions (HCIs) offer unparalleled opportunities for studying the interplay of atomic structure and nuclear decay properties [1][2][3][4][5][6]. On the one side, such studies are important for understanding radioactive decay processes.…”

Heavy-ion storage rings and their use in precision experiments with highly charged ions

“…In addition to PTMS, the multi-reflection time-of-flight (MR-TOF) technique [117][118][119] is being intensively developed worldwide and is more often used for mass measurements of short-lived nuclei. First mass measurements with MR-TOF [100,120,121] reach relative mass accuracies in the order of δM/M ≈ 10 −7 and indicate the huge potential of this method. For more details the reader is referred to [122] and references cited therein.…”

Huizhou accelerator complex facility and its future development

“…在激光精密 谱学实验中对超精细能级的精密测量能够探测精细结 构常数α是否随时间和空间变化, 有可能为检验超出标 准模型的新物理提供重要的依据 [35] . 利用激光谱技术 还可以测量放射性核素原子的超精细结构以及电子能 级同位素移位(或者同核异能态移位)来提取原子核的 基本性质 [36] , 研究原子核的内禀结构, 是检验和发展 不稳定核区原子核理论的重要依据, 为原子物理精密 谱 学 与 现 代 核 物 理 的 交 叉 研 究 提 供 了 广 阔 的 舞 台 [37][38][39] . [46] ; 实现高流强连续离子 束的最佳技术路线是超导直线加速器, 典型代表是在 建的美国稀有同位素束流装置FRIB [24] ; 实现高束团功 率的最佳方案是级联的环形同步加速器, 逐级提高束 流能量, 逐级累积提高单束团离子数, 典型代表是在 建的我国强流重离子加速器研究装置HIAF和德国反 质子和离子研究装置FAIR [25] .…”