arXiv subjects

Jingyan Zhao

Publications and source records attributed to Jingyan Zhao.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Nuclear excitation by radiative electron-ion recombination

A nuclear excitation mechanism, nuclear excitation by radiative electron-ion recombination (NERER), is put forward theoretically here. NERER is a third-order process that proceeds via a virtual electronic state: an electron recombines into an atomic vacancy of an ion with the simultaneous emission of a real photon and excitation of the nucleus. The photon emission compensates the energy mismatch between the free-bound electronic transition and the nuclear transition energies, thus there is no resonant condition imposed to the incident electron. We develop here the theoretical framework for NERER, and investigate the case of the $8.4$ eV isomeric excitation of $^{229}$Th for the production of the nuclear clock isomer $^{229m}$Th. Our results show that, with the coupling to the inner atomic shells for highly-charged ions, the NERER cross section can exceed the one of the known lower-order process of nuclear excitation by inelastic electron scattering by more than one order of magnitude. Our findings offer a new pathway for nuclear excitation and efficient isomer production, and support further investigations for high-order effects in the interplay between the atomic and nuclear systems.

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arXiv2026

Isomer depletion via nuclear excitation by inelastic electron scattering

Isomer depletion via the process of nuclear excitation by inelastic electron scattering is investigated theoretically. A comprehensive study on low-energy nuclear excitations by inelastic electron scattering is performed to analyze the impact of the nuclear and ion charge, the nuclear transition energy, and the nuclear transition multipolarity on the cross section of the process. We apply the analysis to the case of isomer depletion, in which an excitation from the isomeric state to a nuclear level above the isomeric state can lead to decay to a nuclear level below the isomer itself and hence lead to the release of the energy stored in the isomer. For this purpose, the isomer depletion of $\mathrm{{}^{93m}{Mo}}$, $\mathrm{{}^{152m}{Eu}}$, and $\mathrm{{}^{178m}{Hf}}$, which represent the most important scenarios of isomer depletion, are studied. Our results demonstrate the capability of the process of nuclear excitation by inelastic electron scattering for isomer depletion.

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arXiv2024

Efficient production of $^{229m}$Th via nuclear excitation by electron capture

The nuclear isomeric state $^{229m}$Th with an exceptionally low excitation energy makes the $^{229}$Th isotope a crucial candidate for nuclear clocks and many other applications. Efficient and controllable production of $^{229m}$Th is essential and still remains a challenge. Here we report a novel approach for efficient production of $^{229m}$Th by the excitation of $^{229}$Th to the above-lying excited state at $29.19$ keV energy via the process of nuclear excitation by electron capture (NEEC). We show theoretically that the production rate of $^{229m}$Th per nucleus with accessible conditions can be six orders of magnitude larger than the value experimentally demonstrated using $29$-keV synchrotron radiation for this indirect excitation. With the efficient production of $^{229m}$Th, our results identify scenarios, as well as the characteristic NEEC signature with which NEEC events could be unambiguously identified, for a clear experimental identification of the long-sought NEEC phenomenon.

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