Identification of the predicted 5s-4f level crossing optical lines with applications to metrology and searches for the variation of fundamental constants

A. Windberger*, J. R. Crespo López-Urrutia, H. Bekker, N. S. Oreshkina, J. C. Berengut, V. Bock, A. Borschevsky, V. A. Dzuba, E. Eliav, Z. Harman, U. Kaldor, S. Kaul, U. I. Safronova, V. V. Flambaum, C. H. Keitel, P. O. Schmidt, J. Ullrich, O. O. Versolato

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

We measure optical spectra of Nd-like W, Re, Os, Ir, and Pt ions of particular interest for studies of a possibly varying fine-structure constant. Exploiting characteristic energy scalings we identify the strongest lines, confirm the predicted 5s-4f level crossing, and benchmark advanced calculations. We infer two possible values for optical M2/E3 and E1 transitions in Ir17+ that have the highest predicted sensitivity to a variation of the fine-structure constant among stable atomic systems. Furthermore, we determine the energies of proposed frequency standards in Hf12+ and W14+.

Original languageEnglish
Article number150801
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume114
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Apr 2015

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