Speaker
Thorsten Schumm
(T)
Description
Among the >3000 isotopes, Thorium-229 provides the lowest-energy nuclear first excited state, a so-called isomer state. This isomer state at 8.4 eV is the only nuclear state accessible to laser manipulation and spectroscopy. It’s long >10 minutes lifetimes with a connected narrow transition linewidth, combined with the intrinsic robustness of nuclear transitions, makes it an exciting candidate for a “nuclear clock”.
The talk will report on recent developments in this field, triggered by the first laser excitation of Thorium-229 in 2023. We will report on a prototype solid-state variant of a nuclear clock, optical Mössbauer spectroscopy, CW laser absorption spectroscopy, and first constraints on ultralight dark matter models.
Author
Thorsten Schumm
(T)