arXiv subjects

V. V. Flambaum

Publications and source records attributed to V. V. Flambaum.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Relativistic study of the nuclear anapole moment effects in diatomic molecules

Nuclear-spin-dependent (NSD) parity violating effects are studied for a number of diatomic molecules using relativistic Hartree-Fock and density functional theory and accounting for core polarization effects. Heavy diatomic molecules are good candidates for the successful measurement of the nuclear anapole moment, which is the dominant NSD parity violation term in heavy elements. Improved results for the molecules studied in our previous publication [Borschevsky et al., Phys. Rev. A 85, 052509 (2012)] are presented along with the calculations for a number of new promising candidates for the nuclear anapole measurements.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2013

Limits on the dependence of the fine-structure constant on gravitational potential from white-dwarf spectra

We propose a new probe of the dependence of the fine structure constant, alpha, on a strong gravitational field using metal lines in the spectra of white dwarf stars. Comparison of laboratory spectra with far-UV astronomical spectra from the white dwarf star G191-B2B recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph gives limits on the fractional variation of alpha of (Delta alpha/alpha)=(4.2 +- 1.6)x10^(-5) and (-6.1 +- 5.8)x10^(-5) from Fe V and Ni V spectra, respectively, at a dimensionless gravitational potential relative to Earth of (Delta phi) ~ 5x10^(-5). With better determinations of the laboratory wavelengths of the lines employed these results could be improved by up to two orders of magnitude.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Parity nonconservation in Fr-like actinide and Cs-like rare-earth-metal ions

Parity nonconservation amplitudes are calculated for the 7s-6d transitions of the francium isoelectronic sequence (Fr, Ra +, Ac 2+, Th 3+, Pa 4+, U 5+ and Np 6+) and for the 6s-5d transitions of the cesium isoelectronic sequence (Cs, Ba +, La 2+, Ce 3+ and Pr 4+). We show in particular that isotopes of La 2+, Ac 2+ and Th 3+ ions have strong potential in the search for new physics beyond the standard model - the PNC amplitudes are large, the calculations are accurate and the nuclei are practically stable. In addition, 232-Th 3+ ions have recently been trapped and cooled [C. J. Campbell et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 233004 (2009)]. We also extend previous works by calculating the s-s PNC transitions in Ra + and Ba +, and provide new calculations of several energy levels, and electric dipole and quadrupole transition amplitudes for the Fr-like actinide ions.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2013

On the prospects of building optical atomic clocks using Er I or Er III

The possibility of using neutral and double ionized erbium for atomic clocks of high precision is investigated. In both cases the narrow electric quadrupole clock transition between the ground and first exited state of the same configuration lies in optical region. The estimated ratio of decay width to transition energy is less then 10 20. We demonstrate that this transitions are not sensitive to black body radiation and if other perturbations are also considered the relative accuracy of the clocks can probably reach the level of 10 (pow minus 18) or better.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2013

Varying the light quark mass: impact on the nuclear force and Big Bang nucleosynthesis

The quark mass dependences of light element binding energies and nuclear scattering lengths are derived using chiral perturbation theory in combination with non-perturbative methods. In particular, we present new, improved values for the quark mass dependence of meson resonances that enter the nuclear force. A detailed analysis of the theoretical uncertainties arising in this determination is presented. As an application we derive from a comparison of observed and calculated primordial deuterium and helium abundances a stringent limit on the variation of the light quark mass, $δm_q/m_q = 0.02 \pm 0.04$. Inclusion of the neutron lifetime modification under the assumption of a variation of the Higgs vacuum expectation value that translates into changing quark, electron, and weak gauge boson masses, leads to a stronger limit, $|δm_q/m_q| < 0.009$.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Dense spectrum of resonances and spin-1/2 particle capture in a near-black-hole metric

We show that a spin-1/2 particle in the gravitational field of a massive body of radius R which slightly exceeds the Schwarzschild radius r_s, possesses a dense spectrum of narrow resonances. Their lifetimes and density tend to infinity in the limit R -> r_s. We determine the cross section of the particle capture into these resonances and show that it is equal to the spin-1/2 absorption cross section for a Schwarzschild black hole. Thus black-hole properties may emerge in a non-singular static metric prior to the formation of a black hole.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2013

Calculation of parity non-conserving optical rotation in iodine at 1315 nm

We examine the feasibility of a parity non-conserving (PNC) optical rotation experiment for the $^2$P$_{3/2}\rightarrow ^2$P$_{1/2}$ transition of atomic iodine at 1315 nm. The calculated $E1_{\rm PNC}$ to $M1$ amplitude ratio is $R=0.80(16)\times 10^{-8}$. We show that very large PNC rotations (greater than 10 $μ$rad) are obtained for iodine-atom column densities of $\sim 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$, which can be produced by increasing the effective interaction pathlength by a factor of $\sim 10^4$ with a high-finesse optical cavity. The simulated signals indicate that measurement of the nuclear anapole moment is feasible, and that a 1% PNC precision measurement should resolve the inconsistency between previous measurements in Cs and Tl.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2013

Exchange assisted tunneling and positron annihilation on inner atomic shells

It is known for a long time that the long range asymptotic behavior of the Hartree-Fock orbitals is different from that of the orbitals in the local potential. However, there is no consensus about observable physical effects associated with this asymptotics. Here we argue that weaker decrease of the Hartree-Fock orbitals at large distances is responsible for the positron annihilation on the inner shell electrons, which is observed experimentally.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2013

Quantum electrodynamics corrections to energies, transition amplitudes and parity nonconservation in Rb, Cs, Ba$^+$, Tl, Fr and Ra$^+$

We use previously developed radiative potential method to calculate quantum electrodynamic (QED) corrections to energy levels and electric dipole transition amplitudes for atoms which are used for the study of the parity non-conservation (PNC) in atoms. The QED shift in energies and dipole amplitudes leads to noticeable change in the PNC amplitudes. This study compliments the previously considered QED corrections to the weak matrix elements. We demonstrate that the QED corrections due to the change in energies and dipole matrix elements are comparable in value to those due to change in weak matrix elements.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2012

Colour-octet bound states, induced by Higgs mechanism

The current limits for fourth generation quarks allows to expect their mass of the order of 500 GeV. In this mass region for quark-anti-quark pair the additional Yukawa-type attraction due to Higgs mechanism is expected to emerge. This Higgs induced attraction greatly exceeds strong interaction between quarks and leads to the formation of bound states in both colour octet $S^{(8)}$ and singlet $S^{(1)}$ states. In the key of recent works on significance of colour octet channel for production of colour singlet state of fourth generation $Q\bar{Q}$ we calculated the binding energies for both octet and singlet states. Such attraction localizes quarks in extremely small area. Hence colour octet pair of fourth generation quarks can form the "nucleus" and together with colour neutralizing light particle that is captured by strong interaction in orbit around the nucleus, create particle, similar by its structure to Deuterium.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Nuclear-spin dependent parity violation in diatomic molecular ions

Nuclear-spin-dependent (NSD) parity violating (PV) effects can be strongly enhanced in diatomic molecules containing heavy atoms. Future measurements are anticipated to provide nuclear anapole moments and strength constants for PV nuclear forces. In light molecules, the NSD electroweak electron-nucleus interaction may also be detected. Here we calculate NSD PV effects for molecular ions. Our calculations are motivated by rapid developments in trapping techniques for such systems at low temperatures.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2012

Parity non-conservation in rubidium atom

Currently the theoretical uncertainty limits the interpretation of the atomic parity non-conservation (PNC) measurements. We calculate the PNC $5s$ - $6s$ electric dipole transition amplitude in rubidium and demonstrate that rubidium is a good candidate to search for new physics beyond the standard model since accuracy of the atomic calculations in rubidium can be higher than in cesium. PNC in cesium is currently the best low-energy test of the standard model, therefore, similar measurements for rubidium present a good option for further progress in the field. We also calculate nuclear spin-dependent part of the parity non-conserving (PNC) amplitude which is needed for the extraction of the nuclear anapole moment from the PNC measurements.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2012

Calculation of parity non-conservation in xenon and mercury

We use configuration interaction technique to calculate parity non-conservation (PNC) in metastable Xe and Hg [proposal of the experiment in L. Bougas et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 210801 (2012)]. Both, nuclear spin-independent and nuclear spin-dependent (dominated by the nuclear anapole moment) parts of the amplitude are considered. The amplitudes are strongly enhanced by proximity of the states of opposite parity.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2012

High-precision atomic clocks with highly charged ions: nuclear spin-zero $f^{12}$-shell ions

Optical atomic clocks using highly-charged ions hold an intriguing promise of metrology at the 19th significant figure. Here we study transitions within the $4f^{12}$ ground-state electronic configuration of highly charged ions. We consider isotopes lacking hyperfine structure and show that the detrimental effects of coupling of electronic quadrupole moments to gradients of trapping electric field can be effectively reduced by using specially chosen virtual clock transitions. The estimated systematic fractional clock accuracy is shown to be below $10^{-19}$.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2012

Bound states of spin-half particles in a static gravitational field close to the black hole field

We consider the bound-state energy levels of a spin-1/2 fermion in the gravitational field of a near-black hole object. In the limit that the metric of the body becomes singular, all binding energies tend to the rest-mass energy (i.e. total energy approaches zero). We present calculations of the ground state energy for three specific interior metrics (Florides, Soffel and Schwarzschild) for which the spectrum collapses and becomes quasi-continuous in the singular metric limit. The lack of zero or negative energy states prior to this limit being reached prevents particle pair production occurring. Therefore, in contrast to the Coulomb case, no pairs are produced in the non-singular static metric. For the Florides and Soffel metrics the singularity occurs in the black hole limit, while for the Schwarzschild interior metric it corresponds to infinite pressure at the centre. The behaviour of the energy level spectrum is discussed in the context of the semi-classical approximation and using general properties of the metric.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Parity violation and electric dipole moments in atoms and molecules

We review the current status of the study of parity and time invariance violation in atoms, nuclei and molecules. We focus on parity non-conservation in cesium and three of the most promising areas of research: (i) parity non-conservation in a chain of isotopes, (ii) search for nuclear anapole moments, and (iii) search for permanent electric dipole moments (EDMs) of atoms and molecules, which in turn are caused by either an electron EDM or nuclear $T,P$-odd moments such as a nuclear EDM or nuclear Schiff moment.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2012

Decays of Fourth Generation Bound States

We consider the decay modes of the heavy $q^\prime\bar{q^\prime}$ bound states originating from Higgs boson exchange between quark -- anti-quark pair. In case of a small coupling between the fourth and lower generation the main decay mode is $q^\prime\bar{q^\prime}$ annihilation. We show that for a vector state the dominant decay modes are Higgs-gamma and Higgs-Z decays, while for a pseudoscalar state the strong two-gluon decay mode dominates. The bound states are very narrow. The ratio of the total width to the binding energy is less than 1% if we are not extremely close to the critical quark mass where the binding energy is very small. The discussed decay modes exist for any fermion-antifermion bound states including heavy leptons and heavy neutrinos if their masses are high enough to form a bound state due to attractive Higgs boson exchange potential.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Ion clock and search for the variation of the fine structure constant using optical transitions in Nd$^{13+}$ and Sm$^{15+}$

We study ultranarrow $5s_{1/2}$ - $4f_{5/2}$ transitions in Nd$^{13+}$ and Sm$^{15+}$ and demonstrate that they lie in the optical region. The transitions are insensitive to external perturbations. At the same time they are sensitive to the variation of the fine structure constant $α$. The fractional accuracy of the frequency of the transitions can be smaller than $10^{-19}$, which may provide a basis for atomic clocks of superb accuracy. Sensitivity to the variation of $α$ approaches $10^{-20}$ per year.

physics.atom-ph↗