T. Murböck

High precision hyperfine measurements in Bismuth challenge bound-state strong-field QED

Electrons bound in highly charged heavy ions such as hydrogen-like bismuth 209Bi82+ experience electromagnetic fields that are a million times stronger than in light atoms. Measuring the wavelength of light emitted and absorbed by these ions is therefore a sensitive testing ground for quantum electrodynamical (QED) effects and especially the electron–nucleus interaction under such extreme conditions. However, insufficient knowledge of the nuclear structure has prevented a rigorous test of strong-field QED. Here we present a measurement of the so-called specific difference between the hyperfine splittings in hydrogen-like and lithium-like bismuth 209Bi82+,80+ with a precision that is improved by more than an order of magnitude. Even though this quantity is believed to be largely insensitive to nuclear structure and therefore the most decisive test of QED in the strong magnetic field regime, we find a 7-σ discrepancy compared with the theoretical prediction.

An improved value for the hyperfine splitting of hydrogen-like 209Bi82+

We report an improved measurement of the hyperfine splitting in hydrogen-like bismuth (209Bi82+) at the experimental storage ring ESR at GSI by laser spectroscopy on a coasting beam. Accuracy was improved by about an order of magnitude compared to the first observation in 1994. The most important improvement is an in situ high voltage measurement at the electron cooler (EC) platform with an accuracy at the 10 ppm level. Furthermore, the space charge effect of the EC current on the ion velocity was determined with two independent techniques that provided consistent results. The result of nm provides an important reference value for experiments testing bound-state quantum electrodynamics in the strong magnetic field regime by evaluating the specific difference between the splittings in the hydrogen-like and lithium-like ions.

Rapid crystallization of externally produced ions in a Penning trap

We have studied the cooling dynamics, formation process and geometric structure of mesoscopic crystals of externally produced magnesium ions in a Penning trap. We present a cooling model and measurements for a combination of buffer gas cooling and laser cooling which has been found to reduce the ion kinetic energy by eight orders of magnitude from several hundreds of eV to micro-eV and below within seconds. With ion numbers of the order of 1000 to 100000, such cooling leads to the formation of ion Coulomb crystals which display a characteristic shell structure in agreement with theory of non-neutral plasmas. We show the production and characterization of two-species ion crystals as a means of sympathetic cooling of ions lacking a suitable laser-cooling transition.

Sympathetic cooling in two-species ion crystals in a Penning trap

Abstract We have studied the formation and properties of two-species ion Coulomb crystals in the Penning trap of the SpecTrap experiment. These crystals have been formed by injection of admixture ions from an external source into a previously confined and laser-cooled cloud of magnesium ions. This kind of study, performed over a range of the admixture ions’ charge-to-mass ratios, indicates the conditions for their sympathetic cooling and the formation of two-species ion crystals. This mechanism allows efficient cooling of the admixed species such as highly charged ions which do not feature suitable laser-cooling transitions, and thus make them accessible to high-resolution laser spectroscopy.

A compact source for bunches of singly charged atomic ions

We have built, operated, and characterized a compact ion source for low-energy bunches of singly charged atomic ions in a vacuum beam line. It is based on atomic evaporation from an electrically heated oven and ionization by electron impact from a heated filament inside a grid-based ionization volume. An adjacent electrode arrangement is used for ion extraction and focusing by applying positive high-voltage pulses to the grid. The method is particularly suited for experimental environments which require low electromagnetic noise. It has proven simple yet reliable and has been used to produce μs-bunches of up to 10(6) Mg(+) ions at a repetition rate of 1 Hz. We present the concept, setup and characterizing measurements. The instrument has been operated in the framework of the SpecTrap experiment at the HITRAP facility at GSI/FAIR to provide Mg(+) ions for sympathetic cooling of highly charged ions by laser-cooled (24)Mg(+).

SpecTrap: precision spectroscopy of highly charged ions—status and prospects

We present the status of the SpecTrap experiment currently being commissioned in the framework of the HITRAP project at GSI, Darmstadt, Germany. SpecTrap is a cryogenic Penning trap experiment dedicated to high-accuracy laser spectroscopy of highly charged ions (HCI) near rest. Determination of fine structure and hyperfine structure splittings in HCI with an expected relative spectral resolution of 10−7 will offer the possibility to test quantum electrodynamics in strong fields with unprecedented accuracy. Recently, we have demonstrated trapping and laser Doppler cooling of singly charged magnesium ions in SpecTrap. We report on the status of the experimental apparatus, measurements and present the future program toward storage and cooling of HCI.

Hyperfine transition in 209Bi80+—one step forward

The hyperfine transitions in lithium-like and hydrogen-like bismuth were remeasured by direct laser spectroscopy at the experimental storage ring. For this we have now employed a voltage divider which enabled us to monitor the electron cooler voltage in situ. This will improve the experimental accuracy by about one order of magnitude with respect to our previous measurement using the same technique.

Penning-trap experiments for spectroscopy of highly-charged ions at HITRAP

Highly charged ions offer the possibility to measure electronic fine structures and hyperfine structures with precisions of optical lasers. Microwave spectroscopy of transitions between Zeeman substates further yields magnetic moments (g-factors) of bound electrons, making tests of calculations in the framework of bound-state QED possible in the strong-field regime. We present the SPECTRAP and ARTEMIS experiments, which are currently being commissioned with highly charged ions in the framework of the HITRAP facility at GSI, Germany. We present the scientific outline, the experimental setups and first results with confined ions.

Improved accuracy of in-ring laser spectroscopy by in-situ electron cooler voltage measurement

Laser spectroscopy experiments of highly charged, heavy ions at the experimental storage ring ESR have been performed for more than twenty years by now [1, 2, 3], aiming at tests of fundamental theories. A conclusive test of bound-state quantum electrodynamics (BS-QED) in strong fields, however, has not been reached so far, because of the large uncertainty arising from the unknown spatial distribution of the nuclear magnetization (Bohr-Weisskop f effect). The method formulated by Shabaev and coworkers [4], defining a specific difference between the hyperfine splittings in hydrogenand lithium-like ions of the same species removes these uncertainties and provides the possibility to test BS-QED without nuclear uncertainties. Although the attempt in 2011 to measure the hyperfine splitting energies of the ground states in hydrogenand lithiumlike bismuth ions was for the first time successful in detecting both resonances, it yielded a large uncertainty caused by an inaccurate knowledge of the ion velocity [5]. Hence, a second attempt was performed in March 2014 with an improved setup.