Reduced Theoretical Error for QED Tests with 4He+ Spectroscopy

Abstract

We apply point-particle effective field theory (PPEFT) to electronic and muonic 4He+ ions, and use it to identify linear combinations of spectroscopic measurements for which the theoretical uncertainties are much smaller than for any particular energy levels. The error is reduced because these combinations are independent of all short-range physics effects up to a given order in the expansion in the small parameters R/a_B and(Z alpha) (where R and a_B are the ion's nuclear and Bohr radii). In particular, the theory error is not limited by the precision with which nuclear matrix elements can be computed, or compromised by the existence of any novel short-range interactions, should these exist. These combinations of 4He+ measurements therefore provide particularly precise tests of QED. The restriction to 4He+ arises because our analysis assumes a spherically symmetric nucleus, but the argument used is more general and extendable to both nuclei with spin, and to higher orders in R/a_B and (Z alpha).