Hyperfine splitting in simple ions for the search of the variation of fundamental constants

Abstract

Numerous few-electron atomic systems are considered which can be used effectively for observing a potential variation of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ and the electron-proton mass ratio $m_e/m_p$. We examine optical magnetic dipole transitions between hyperfine-structure components in heavy highly charged H-like and Li-like ions with observably high sensitivity to a variation of $\alpha$ and $m_e/m_p$. The experimental spectra of the proposed systems consist of a strong single line, which simplifies significantly the data analysis and shortens the necessary measurement time. Furthermore, we propose systems for an experimental test of the variation of quark masses and discuss the expected level of accuracy in assessing its limitations. Finally, we establish which constraints on the variation of these fundamental constants could be provided by measurements with a hyperfine-structure highly-charged-ion clock and some reference clock, showing that a significant improvement of the current limitations can be reached.

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Highly charged ions: optical clocks and applications in fundamental physics
• The Heidelberg compact electron beam ion traps
• Skyrme-type nuclear interaction as a tool for calculating the finite nuclear size correction to atomic energy levels and the bound-electron $g$ factor
• Finite-nuclear-size effect in hydrogen-like ions with relativistic nuclear structure
• Pr10+ as a candidate for a high-accuracy optical clock for tests of fundamental physics
• Cold highly charged ions in a radio-frequency trap with superconducting magnetic shielding
• Finite-nuclear-size effect for hydrogenlike ions under high external pressure