Orateur
Description
The research potential of radioactive molecules for both fundamental and applied science has recently been recognized [1,2] and significant progress has been marked at ISOLDE on both the production [3] and the spectroscopy [4-7] of radioactive molecules.
In addition to the first laser spectroscopy of RaF at the collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment [4,5] and its subsequent high-resolution study [6], the CRIS collaboration recently performed the first laser spectroscopy of AcF [8]. AcF has been proposed as a promising system for the first measurement of a nuclear Schiff moment across the nuclear chart, which is a symmetry-violating property that is predicted to be easier to measure in AcF than in RaF, YbF, ThO, and other diatomic molecules that are currently under investigation in the search for an electron electric dipole moment.
Simultaneously, experimental and theoretical progress in the excited electronic states of RaF [7] and the manifestation of nuclear observables in molecular spectra [9] carried out by members of the CRIS collaboration has highlighted the potential of laser spectroscopy of radioactive molecules at radioactive ion beam facilities to probe nuclear and molecular observables that are not easily accessible by other methods and systems.
In this talk, recent results by the CRIS collaboration on the laser spectroscopy of RaF and AcF will be presented, along with the spectroscopy of lighter radioactive molecules that can provide access to nuclear and molecular observables that cannot be studied via other methods. The future directions of laser-spectroscopic studies of radioactive molecules at CRIS will also be discussed.
[1] Opportunities for Fundamental Physics Research with Radioactive Molecules, In preparation (2023)
[2] M. Athanasakis, S. G. Wilkins, G. Neyens, Radioactive molecules at ISOLDE, Letter of Intent to the ISOLDE and n_ToF Committee at CERN. No. CERN-INTC-2021-017 (2021)
[3] M. Au et al., In-target, in-source, and in-trap formation of molecular ions in the actinide mass range at CERN-ISOLDE, Submitted to NIM B (2023)
[4] R. F. Garcia Ruiz et al., Spectroscopy of short-lived radioactive molecules, Nature 581, 396 (2020)
[5] S. M. Udrescu et al., Isotope Shifts of Radium Monofluoride Molecules, Physical Review Letters 127, 033001 (2021)
[6] S. M. Udrescu, S. G. Wilkins et al., Precision spectroscopy and laser cooling scheme of a radium-containing molecule, Under review at Science (2023)
[7] M. Athanasakis-Kaklamanakis, S. G. Wilkins, L. V. Skripnikov et al., Pinning down electron correlations in RaF towards searches for new physics, In preparation (2023)
[8] M. Athanasakis-Kaklamanakis et al., Laser ionization spectroscopy of AcF, Proposal to the ISOLDE and n_ToF Committee at CERN. No. CERN-INTC-2021-053 (2021)
[9] M. Athanasakis-Kaklamanakis, S. G. Wilkins, A. A. Breier, and G. Neyens, King-plot analysis of isotope shifts in simple diatomic molecules, Accepted at Physical Review X (2023)
