Related papers: Proposal for a Nuclear Light Source
A new approach to observe the radiative decay of the $^{229}$Th nuclear isomer, and to determine its energy and radiative lifetime, is presented. Situated at a uniquely low excitation energy, this nuclear state might be a key ingredient for…
We investigate the process of nuclear excitation via a two-photon electron transition (NETP) for the case of the doubly charged thorium. The theory of the NETP process has been devised originally for heavy helium-like ions. In this work, we…
Low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs), which exist in a large fraction of galaxies, may be the least luminous manifestation of quasar activity. The nature of LINERs has, however, remained controversial because an AGN-like…
The flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) 4C +21.35 (PKS 1222+216) displays prominent nuclear infrared emission from ~1200 K dust. A 70 -- 400 GeV flare with ~10 min variations during half an hour of observations was found by the MAGIC…
Excitation of the anomalously low lying nuclear isomer $^{229m}$Th$(3/2^+, 8.28 \pm 0.17$ eV) in the process of inelastic electron scattering is studied theoretically in the framework of the perturbation theory for the quantum…
Transformation of a table-top electron beam sustained 2.45 GHz RF discharge in rare gases into a self burning discharge has been observed for increasing RF-amplitude. Thereby, the emission spectrum undergoes significant changes in a wide…
We present a comprehensive theoretical investigation of hyperfine-resolved excitation and detection of the low-energy isomeric state of $^{229}$Th in trapped $^{229}\mathrm{Th}^{3+}$ ions. Using a quantum master equation approach, we…
We describe a novel approach to directly measure the energy of the narrow, low-lying isomeric state in $^{229}$Th. Since nuclear transitions are far less sensitive to environmental conditions than atomic transitions, we argue that the…
Laser excitation of thorium-229 nuclei in doped wide bandgap crystals has been demonstrated recently, opening the possibility of developing ultrastable solid-state clocks and sensitive searches for new physics. We develop a quantitative…
Mono-energetic gamma-beams ($\Delta\sim 10$ eV) based on thermal neutron capture, in a nuclear reactor, using the V(n, $\gamma$) and Fe(n,$\gamma$) reactions, were utilized for generating fast neutron sources from lead and thallium…
We conducted measurements on the photo- and radio-luminescence of thin ThF$_4$ films in both the UV and visible ranges. In the UV range, we found that both luminescences are at a similar level as the internal dark counting noise of the…
Photon-induced nuclear excitation (i.e. photo-excitation) can be used for production of nuclear isomers, which have potential applications in astrophysics, energy storing, and medical diagnosis and treatment. This paper presents a…
Source imaging of solar radio bursts can be used to track energetic electrons and associated magnetic structures. Here we present a combined analysis of data at different wavelengths for an eruption associated with a moving type-IV (t-IVm)…
The recent demonstration of laser excitation of the $\approx 8$ eV isomeric state of Thorium-229 is a significant step towards a nuclear clock. The low excitation energy likely results from a cancellation between electromagnetic and strong…
Ultralight dark matter is expected to induce oscillations of nuclear parameters. These oscillations are characterized by extremely weak couplings or high suppression scales, with the Planck scale - the characteristic scale of quantum…
We present a novel method to construct particle accelerators targeting light atoms and nuclei using high-power femtosecond laser pulses. Initially, we confine light atoms within the laser pulse envelope due to longitudinal polarization…
The impact of coherent light propagation on the excitation and fluorescence of thorium nuclei in a crystal lattice environment is investigated theoretically. We find that in the forward direction the fluorescence signal exhibits…
In the whole landscape of atomic nuclei, $^{229}$Th is currently the only known nucleus which could allow for the development of a nuclear-based frequency standard, as it possesses an isomeric state of just 7.6 eV energy above the ground…
Using resonant two-step laser excitation of trapped 232Th+ ions, we observe 43 previously unknown energy levels within the energy range from 7.3 to 8.3 eV. The high density of states promises a strongly enhanced electronic bridge excitation…
The nuclear isomeric state $^{229m}$Th with an exceptionally low excitation energy makes the $^{229}$Th isotope a crucial candidate for nuclear clocks and many other applications. Efficient and controllable production of $^{229m}$Th is…