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The observation of vibrating pear-shapes in radon nuclei

Butler, P. A. ; Gaffney, L. P. ; Spagnoletti, P. ; Konki, J. ; Scheck, M. ; Smith, J. F. ; Abrahams, K. ; Bowry, M. ; Cederkäll, J. LU and Chupp, T. , et al. (2019) In Nature Communications 10(1).
Abstract

There is a large body of evidence that atomic nuclei can undergo octupole distortion and assume the shape of a pear. This phenomenon is important for measurements of electric-dipole moments of atoms, which would indicate CP violation and hence probe physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Isotopes of both radon and radium have been identified as candidates for such measurements. Here, we observed the low-lying quantum states in 224Rn and 226Rn by accelerating beams of these radioactive nuclei. We show that radon isotopes undergo octupole vibrations but do not possess static pear-shapes in their ground states. We conclude that radon atoms provide less favourable conditions for the enhancement of a... (More)

There is a large body of evidence that atomic nuclei can undergo octupole distortion and assume the shape of a pear. This phenomenon is important for measurements of electric-dipole moments of atoms, which would indicate CP violation and hence probe physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Isotopes of both radon and radium have been identified as candidates for such measurements. Here, we observed the low-lying quantum states in 224Rn and 226Rn by accelerating beams of these radioactive nuclei. We show that radon isotopes undergo octupole vibrations but do not possess static pear-shapes in their ground states. We conclude that radon atoms provide less favourable conditions for the enhancement of a measurable atomic electric-dipole moment.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Communications
volume
10
issue
1
article number
2473
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:31171788
  • scopus:85066953161
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-019-10494-5
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5c416327-e4b0-41cf-a4be-74ae3a7af7fc
date added to LUP
2019-06-17 15:13:32
date last changed
2024-05-01 11:46:34
@article{5c416327-e4b0-41cf-a4be-74ae3a7af7fc,
  abstract     = {{<p>There is a large body of evidence that atomic nuclei can undergo octupole distortion and assume the shape of a pear. This phenomenon is important for measurements of electric-dipole moments of atoms, which would indicate CP violation and hence probe physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Isotopes of both radon and radium have been identified as candidates for such measurements. Here, we observed the low-lying quantum states in <sup>224</sup>Rn and <sup>226</sup>Rn by accelerating beams of these radioactive nuclei. We show that radon isotopes undergo octupole vibrations but do not possess static pear-shapes in their ground states. We conclude that radon atoms provide less favourable conditions for the enhancement of a measurable atomic electric-dipole moment.</p>}},
  author       = {{Butler, P. A. and Gaffney, L. P. and Spagnoletti, P. and Konki, J. and Scheck, M. and Smith, J. F. and Abrahams, K. and Bowry, M. and Cederkäll, J. and Chupp, T. and de Angelis, G. and De Witte, H. and Garrett, P. E. and Goldkuhle, A. and Henrich, C. and Illana, A. and Johnston, K. and Joss, D. T. and Keatings, J. M. and Kelly, N. A. and Komorowska, M. and Kröll, T. and Lozano, M. and Nara Singh, B. S. and O’Donnell, D. and Ojala, J. and Page, R. D. and Pedersen, L. G. and Raison, C. and Reiter, P. and Rodriguez, J. A. and Rosiak, D. and Rothe, S. and Shneidman, T. M. and Siebeck, B. and Seidlitz, M. and Sinclair, J. and Stryjczyk, M. and Van Duppen, P. and Vinals, S. and Virtanen, V. and Warr, N. and Wrzosek-Lipska, K. and Zielinska, M.}},
  issn         = {{2041-1723}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Communications}},
  title        = {{The observation of vibrating pear-shapes in radon nuclei}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10494-5}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41467-019-10494-5}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}