Manipulating nuclei with laser light: the quest of Thorium-229 (Prof. T. Schumm)
- Date: Jun 27, 2017
- Time: 02:30 PM - 03:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Prof. Dr. Thorsten Schumm
- Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ), Austria
- Room: Herbert Walther Lecture Hall
- Host: MPQ
The radio isotope Thorium-229 is expected to present a remarkably low-energy excited (isomer) state of the nucleus which is expected around 7.8(5) eV.
It might
hence be possible to directly excite the atomic nucleus with UV (laser)
radiation, creating a bridge between atomic and nuclear physics. The (expected)
narrow line width of the transition and the intrinsic robustness of nuclear
transitions to external fields makes it a promising candidate for a new
frequency standard. In this presentation
we will review the current state of knowledge on the low-energy nuclear
transition in Thorium-229 and the ongoing quest to measure it’s exact energy.