| Zugriffsnummer | 45803 |
| Dokumenttyp | Zeitschriftenartikel |
| Peer Review | mit Peer Review |
| Sprache | Englisch |
| Titel | The thorium-229 low-energy isomer and the nuclear clock |
| Autor(in); Institution |
Beeks, Kjeld; Technische Universität Wien, Wien, AUSTRIA
Sikorsky, Tomas; Technische Universität Wien, Wien, AUSTRIA
Schumm, Thorsten; Technische Universität Wien, Wien, AUSTRIA
Thielking, Johannes; 4.4, Zeit und Frequenz, PTB-Braunschweig
Okhapkin, Maxim V.; 4.4, Zeit und Frequenz, PTB-Braunschweig
Peik, Ekkehard; 4.4, Zeit und Frequenz, PTB-Braunschweig
|
| Quelle/Jahr | Nature Reviews Physics: 3 (2021), 238 - 248 |
| Availability | [online only] |
| ISSN | 2522-5820 |
| URL | |
| Verlag | London: Springer Nature Verlag |
| Freie Schlagworte | Thorium-229 nuclear clock ; Trapped atomic ions |
| Zusammenfassung | The 229Th nucleus has an isomeric state at an energy of about 8 eV above the ground state, several orders of magnitude lower than typical nuclear excitation energies. This has inspired the development of a field of low-energy nuclear physics in which nuclear transition rates are influenced by the electron shell. The low energy makes the 229Th isomer accessible to resonant laser excitation. Observed in laser-cooled trapped thorium ions or with thorium dopant ions in a transparent solid, the nuclear resonance may serve as the reference for an optical clock of very high accuracy. Precision frequency comparisons between such a nuclear clock and conventional atomic clocks will provide sensitivity to the effects of hypothetical new physics beyond the standard model. Although laser excitation of 229Th remains an unsolved challenge, recent experiments have provided essential information on the transition energy and relevant nuclear properties, advancing the field. |
| Themenbereich der Metrologie | Zeit und Frequenz |