Precision Atomic Physics Techniques for Nuclear Physics with Radioactive Beams

TL;DR

This paper reviews advanced atomic physics techniques like Penning-trap, storage-ring mass spectrometry, and laser spectroscopy for precisely measuring properties of radioactive isotopes, which are crucial for nuclear physics and astrophysics.

Contribution

It summarizes recent progress and fundamental principles of atomic physics methods applied to radioactive nuclei, highlighting their impact on nuclear structure and fundamental physics.

Findings

Significant progress in measurement accuracy over the last decade

Enhanced understanding of nuclear structure and fundamental symmetries

Improved data for nucleosynthesis and astrophysical models

Abstract

Atomic physics techniques for the determination of ground-state properties of radioactive isotopes are very sensitive and provide accurate masses, binding energies, Q-values, charge radii, spins, and electromagnetic moments. Many fields in nuclear physics benefit from these highly accurate numbers. They give insight into details of the nuclear structure for a better understanding of the underlying effective interactions, provide important input for studies of fundamental symmetries in physics, and help to understand the nucleosynthesis processes that are responsible for the observed chemical abundances in the Universe. Penning-trap and and storage-ring mass spectrometry as well as laser spectroscopy of radioactive nuclei have now been used for a long time but significant progress has been achieved in these fields within the last decade. The basic principles of laser spectroscopic investigations, Penning-trap and storage-ring mass measurements of short-lived nuclei are summarized and selected physics results are discussed.