Parity nonconservation effect in resonance recombination of polarized electrons with heavy hydrogenlike ions

TL;DR

This paper investigates the parity nonconservation effect during the resonance recombination of polarized electrons with heavy hydrogenlike ions, focusing on specific ions where the effect is significantly enhanced due to near-degenerate energy levels.

Contribution

It provides a detailed theoretical analysis of PNC effects in resonance recombination involving heavy ions, highlighting conditions for strong enhancement near level crossings.

Findings

PNC effects are significantly enhanced near level crossings in heavy ions.

Calculations performed for thorium and gadolinium show measurable PNC signals.

Resonance conditions amplify the observability of parity violation in atomic processes.

Abstract

Parity nonconservation (PNC) effect in recombination of a polarized electron with a heavy H-like ion in case of resonance with a doubly excited state of the corresponding He-like ion is studied. It is assumed that photons of the energy corresponding to the one-photon decay of the doubly excited state into the $2^1S_0$ or the $2^3P_0$ state are detected at a given angle with respect to the incident electron momentum. Calculations are performed for heliumlike thorium ($Z = 90$) and gadolinium ($Z = 64$), where the $2^1S_0$ and $2^3P_0$ levels are near to cross and, therefore, the PNC effect is strongly enhanced.