Finding the ultra-narrow ${}^3{P}_2\to {}^3{P}_0$ electric quadrupole transition in Ni${}^{12+}$ ion for an optical clock

Abstract

The Ni${}^{12+}$ ion features an electronic transition with a natural width of only 8 mHz, allowing for a highly stable optical clock. We predict that the energy of this strongly forbidden $3s^{2}3p^4{}^3{P}_2\to 3s^{2}3p^4{}^3{P}_0$ electric quadrupole transition is 20081(10) cm${}^{-1}$. For this, we use both a hybrid approach combining configuration interaction (CI) with coupled-cluster (CC) method and a pure CI calculation for the complete 16-electron system, ensuring convergence. The resulting very small theoretical uncertainty of only 0.05\% allowed us to find the transition experimentally in a few hours, yielding an energy of 20078.984(10) cm${}^{-1}$. This level of agreement for a 16-electron system is unprecedented and qualifies our method for future calculations of many other complex atomic systems. While paving the way for a high-precision optical clock based on Ni${}^{12+}$, our theory and code development will also enable better predictions for other highly charged ions and other complex atomic systems.

6 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables