Coulomb energy contribution to the excitation energy in ${}^{229}$Th and enhanced effect of $\alpha$ variation

Abstract

We calculated the contribution of Coulomb energy to the spacing between the ground and first excited state of ${}^{229}$Th nucleus as a function of the deformation parameter $\delta$. We show that despite the fact that the odd particle is a neutron, the change in Coulomb energy between these two states can reach several hundreds KeV.This means that the effect of the variation of the fine structure constant $\alpha =e^2/\hslash c$ may be enhanced $\Delta U_C/E\sim 10^4$ times in the $E=$7.6 eV "nuclear clock" transition between the ground and first excited states in the ${}^{229}$Th nucleus.

arXiv comment6 pages,2 figures

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• Sensitivity of ${}^{229}$Th nuclear clock transition to variation of the fine-structure constant
• Enhanced violation of the Lorentz invariance and Einstein's equivalence principle in nuclei and atoms
• The ${}^{229}$Th isomer: prospects for a nuclear optical clock
• Rotational spectrum of molecular ion NH^+ as a probe for alpha- and m_e/m_p-variation
• Towards a direct transition energy measurement of the lowest nuclear excitation in 229Th
• Searching for dark matter with the Th-229 nuclear lineshape from laser spectroscopy
• Sympathetic cooling of trapped Th3+ alpha-recoil ions for laser spectroscopy
• A VUV detection system for the direct photonic identification of the first excited isomeric state of ${}^{229}$Th