Probing Nuclear Interactions Through Isotope Shift Spectroscopy of Mercury

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Autori principali: Groh, Thorsten, Affeld, Felix, Stellmer, Simon
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Groh, Thorsten
Affeld, Felix
Stellmer, Simon
author_facet Groh, Thorsten
Affeld, Felix
Stellmer, Simon
contents We present precision isotope shift spectroscopy of the $\mathrm{6s^{2}}\, {}^{1}\mathrm{S}_{0}{\rightarrow\,}\mathrm{6s\, 6p}\, {}^{3}\mathrm{P}_{1}$ intercombination line and the $\mathrm{6s\,6p}\, {}^{3}\mathrm{P}_{1}{\rightarrow\,}\mathrm{6s\,6d}\, {}^{3}\mathrm{D}_{J}$ ($J=1,2$) transitions in neutral mercury, performed on the five naturally abundant even isotopes, including the low-abundant isotope ${}^{196}\mathrm{Hg}$. Using laser-cooled atoms in a magneto-optical trap, we achieve uncertainties down to $20\,\mathrm{kHz}$, resolving the isotope shift to a fractional uncertainty of ${\sim}\,2{\,\times\,}10^{-6}$. A King plot analysis comparing our ${}^{1}\mathrm{S}_{0}{\rightarrow}{}^{3}\mathrm{P}_{1}$ data to previous results on the $\mathrm{6s\,6p}\,{}^{3}\mathrm{P}_{2}{\rightarrow\,}\mathrm{6s\,7s}\,{}^{3}\mathrm{S}_{1}$ line reveals a nonlinearity with $4.9\,σ$ significance. Our generalized King plot nonlinear decomposition analysis discusses potential contributions from quadratic ($\propto δ\langle r^{2}\rangle^{2}$) and higher order field shifts ($\propto δ\langle r^{4}\rangle$) also induced by nuclear deformation. These measurements yield new insights into the structure of the $\mathrm{Hg}$ nucleus and provide benchmarks for nuclear-structure models. They further establish mercury as a potential platform to search for hypothetical Yukawa-type boson-mediated forces coupling electrons to neutrons.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_18514
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Probing Nuclear Interactions Through Isotope Shift Spectroscopy of Mercury
Groh, Thorsten
Affeld, Felix
Stellmer, Simon
Atomic Physics
We present precision isotope shift spectroscopy of the $\mathrm{6s^{2}}\, {}^{1}\mathrm{S}_{0}{\rightarrow\,}\mathrm{6s\, 6p}\, {}^{3}\mathrm{P}_{1}$ intercombination line and the $\mathrm{6s\,6p}\, {}^{3}\mathrm{P}_{1}{\rightarrow\,}\mathrm{6s\,6d}\, {}^{3}\mathrm{D}_{J}$ ($J=1,2$) transitions in neutral mercury, performed on the five naturally abundant even isotopes, including the low-abundant isotope ${}^{196}\mathrm{Hg}$. Using laser-cooled atoms in a magneto-optical trap, we achieve uncertainties down to $20\,\mathrm{kHz}$, resolving the isotope shift to a fractional uncertainty of ${\sim}\,2{\,\times\,}10^{-6}$. A King plot analysis comparing our ${}^{1}\mathrm{S}_{0}{\rightarrow}{}^{3}\mathrm{P}_{1}$ data to previous results on the $\mathrm{6s\,6p}\,{}^{3}\mathrm{P}_{2}{\rightarrow\,}\mathrm{6s\,7s}\,{}^{3}\mathrm{S}_{1}$ line reveals a nonlinearity with $4.9\,σ$ significance. Our generalized King plot nonlinear decomposition analysis discusses potential contributions from quadratic ($\propto δ\langle r^{2}\rangle^{2}$) and higher order field shifts ($\propto δ\langle r^{4}\rangle$) also induced by nuclear deformation. These measurements yield new insights into the structure of the $\mathrm{Hg}$ nucleus and provide benchmarks for nuclear-structure models. They further establish mercury as a potential platform to search for hypothetical Yukawa-type boson-mediated forces coupling electrons to neutrons.
title Probing Nuclear Interactions Through Isotope Shift Spectroscopy of Mercury
topic Atomic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.18514