Thursday, March 24, 2022, 16:00
online only
(for the zoom link contact michael.spira@psi.ch, johannes.schlenk@psi.ch or
antonio.coutinho@psi.ch)
Stephan Malbrunot-Ettenauer, CERN & TRIUMF & University of Toronto
Abstract:
Ion traps have long been recognised as superb precision tools for
fundamental physics research. In contemporary nuclear physics, for
instance, they are widely employed to prepare, control and study
short-lived radionuclides with high precision and accuracy.
As a novel application of ion-trap systems, we have developed the Multi Ion Reflection Apparatus for Collinear Laser Spectroscopy (MIRACLS). In this approach, a fast ion beam of exotic radionuclides is bouncing back and forth between the two electrostatic mirrors of a so-called Multi-Reflection Time-of-Flight (MR-ToF) device. Thus, the trapped ions are probed by a spectroscopy laser during each revolution. This boosts the experimental sensitivity by a factor of 30-600 compared to conventional, single-pass collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS). MIRACLS will hence provide access to 'exotic' radionuclides with very low production yields at radioactive ion beam facilities. While our initial work is focused on highly sensitive CLS for nuclear structure research, the novel experimental techniques developed within MIRACLS also open opportunities for searches for new physics beyond the standard model of particle physics in radioactive molecules. The latter have recently been identified as unexplored, yet highly sensitive probes for fundamental physics such as hitherto undiscovered permanent electric dipole moments.
This talk will describe the MIRACLS concept, recent highlights as well
as its potential for novel precision studies with radioactive molecules
in the context of searches for new physics.