Precise measurement of the 23P0−23P2 fine structure interval in helium

A measurement of the 2³P₀?2³P₂ fine structure interval in the helium has beeen made using the optical microwave atomic beam magnetic resonance technique. The result is 31.908 040 (20) GHz (0.6ppm), which establishes an internal consistency in measurements of the helium fine structure and verifies the theory to order α⁴Ry. When the theory is used together wit our experimental result we obtain a value for the fine structure constant α by α^-1=137.03613(11) (0.8 ppm).     

Precision measurement of the three 2(3)P(J) helium fine structure intervals

The three 2(3)P fine structure intervals of 4H are measured at an improved accuracy that is sufficient to test two-electron QED theory and to determine the fine structure constant alpha to 14 parts in 10(9). The more accurate determination of alpha, to a precision higher than attained with the quantum Hall and Josephson effects, awaits the reconciliation of two inconsistent theoretical calculations now being compared term by term. A low pressure helium discharge presents experimental uncertainties quite different than for earlier measurements and allows direct measurements of light pressure shifts.     

Precision microwave measurement of the 2 3P1-2 3P2 interval in atomic helium

The 2 3P1-to- 2 3P2 interval in atomic helium is measured using a thermal beam of metastable helium atoms excited to the 2 3P state using a 1.08-&mgr;m diode laser. The 2 3P1-to- 2 3P2 transition is driven by 2.29-GHz microwaves in a coaxial transmission line. Our result of 2 291 174.0+/-1.4 kHz is the most precise measurement of helium 2 3P fine structure. This measurement plays a key role in obtaining a new value for the fine-structure constant.     

Precise measurement of hyperfine structure in the 52P1/2 state of Rb

We have measured hyperfine structure in the 5 ²P_1/2 state of Rb using a frequency-stabilized diode laser, which is locked to one hyperfine transition, and an acousto-optic modulator, whose frequency is locked to the interval of interest. We check for optical-pumping errors by repeating the measurement at different values of pump power in the saturated-absorption spectrometer. We obtain precise values of the hyperfine constant: A=120.645(5) MHz for ⁸⁵Rb and A=406.119(7) MHz for ⁸⁷Rb. The values resolve a large discrepancy between two earlier high-accuracy measurements on this state.     

Experimental determination of the lifetime for the 2p3d(1P0) helium doubly excited state

Two recent theoretical studies [C. Liu, Phys. Rev. A 64, 010501 (2001)]; M. Zitnik, ibid. 65, 032520 (2002)]] predict that the fluorescence lifetimes of helium doubly excited states converging to He+ N=2 should be longer than that of the He+ 2p ion state. This effect is caused by the electric field of the outer electron which, through Stark mixing, gives the inner fluorescing electron some series specific, stabilizing 2s character. We have obtained the first experimental evidence that confirms this effect by measuring the lifetime of the 2p3d(1P0) doubly excited state. This was determined to be 190+/-30 ps compared to 100 ps for the He+ 2p ion state. The measurements were performed using short pulses of synchrotron radiation to form doubly excited states and recording the arrival time of photons from fluorescence.     

Experimental determination of the helium 2(3)P(1)-1(1)S0 transition rate

We present the first experimental determination of the 2(3)P(1)-1(1)S0 transition rate in helium and compare this measurement with theoretical quantum-electrodynamic predictions. The experiment exploits the very long (approximately 1 minute) confinement times obtained for atoms magneto-optically trapped in an apparatus used to create a Bose-Einstein condensate of metastable (2(3)S1) helium. The 2(3)P(1)-1(1)S0 transition rate is measured directly from the decay rate of the cold atomic cloud following 1083 nm laser excitation from the 2(3)S1 to the 2(3)P1 state, and from accurate knowledge of the 2(3)P1 population. The value obtained is 177+/-8 s(-1), which agrees very well with theoretical predictions, and has an accuracy that compares favorably with measurements for the same transition in heliumlike ions higher in the isoelectronic sequence.     

Precise measurement of hyperfine structure in the state of Rb

We demonstrate a technique to measure hyperfine structure using a frequency-stabilized diode laser and an acousto-optic modulator locked to the frequency difference between two hyperfine peaks. We use this technique to measure hyperfine intervals in the 5 P _3/2 state of ⁸⁵Rb and obtain a precision of 20 kHz. We extract values for the magnetic-dipole coupling constant A = 25.038(5) MHz and the electric-quadrupole coupling constant B = 26.011(22) MHz. These values are a significant improvement over previous results. Received 6 March 2003 Published online 15 April 2003     

Isotopic shift measurement of the 3P1-3P0 fine structure transition of 24Mg and 26Mg

The isotopic frequency shift for the ³P₁-³P₀Δm_j=0 fine structure transition in the first metastable triplet of ²⁴Mg and ²⁶Mg is reported. The transitions corresponding to the two even isotopes of Mg have been observed via the fluorescence emission at 4571 Å of the intercombination line ³P₁-¹P₀ in a metastable atomic beam. The center frequencies have been measured with an uncertainty of 7×10^-9; the isotopic shift turned out to be 1706 ± 2 kHz.     

Lifetime measurement of the 23p state of helium

The lifetime of the 2³p state of He has been determined experimentally to be 125±7 nsec. The measurement was made using delayed coincidence with an invertron as the excitation chamber. A simple tunnel-diode preamplifier was designed to extend the usefulness of single photon counting photomultipliers into the infra-red.     

Polarization effects in theP 3/2→P 1/2 fine structure transition cross section forK(4P)-He collisions

Taking the energy dependence of theP _3/2→P _1/2 fine structure transition cross section ofK(4P) colliding with He as an example, theoretical and experimental studies have been made to illustrate the large possibilities opened by the combination of beam experiments with laser excitation in the investigation of the atomic collisional processes. Explicit calculations, experimentally confirmed, show a strong dependence of the above process on the laser excitation schema for producing the excited stateK(4² P _3/2).     

A measurement of the 3P1 metastable state in Ca

A dye-laser excitation technique has been used to measure the lifetime of the ³P₁ metastable state in Ca. The lifetime is 0.39±0.04 msec.     

Quantum electrodynamical corrections to the fine structure of helium

Order α⁶mc² corrections to the fine structure splitting of the deepest triplet P state (2³P_0,1,2) of the He⁴ atom have been investigated. The investigation is based on the covariant Bethe-Salpeter equation including external potential to take account of the nuclear Coulomb field. All order α⁶mc² corrections which arise from Feynman diagrams involving the exchange of one, two, and three photons, as well as radiative corrections to the electron magnetic moment have been found. The results are presented in a form suitable for computerized numerical evaluation.     

Improved measurement of the 1s2s 1S0-1s2p 3P1 interval in heliumlike silicon

Using colinear fast-beam laser spectroscopy with copropagating and counter-propagating beams we have measured the 1s2s 1S0-1s2p 3P1 intercombination interval in 28Si12+ with the result 7230.585(6) cm{-1}. The experiment made use of a dual-wavelength, high-finesse, power build-up cavity excited by single-frequency lasers at 1319 and 1450 nm. The result will provide a precision test of ab initio relativistic many-body atomic theory at moderate Z.     

Precise measurement of electronic gJ value of helium,gJ(4He,23S1)

We report the measurement of $\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{J}}\text{(}{}^4\text{He,2}{}^3\text{S}{}_1\text{)}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{J}}\text{(}{}^{85}\text{Rb}\text{,5}{}^2\text{S}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}$ by the atomic beam magnetic reson ance method using separated oscillating fields, and hence the determination $\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{J}}\text{(}{}^4\text{He,2}{}^3\text{S}{}_1\text{)}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{J}}\text{(H,1}{}^2\text{S}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}\text{? 1? (23.19±0.07) × 10}{}^{\mathrm{?6}}$, which agrees with theory and with other less precise recent measurements.