The magic road to precision

TL;DR

This paper predicts specific wavelengths where strontium's excited states exhibit zero polarizability, providing a roadmap for high-precision measurements to improve quantum control and benchmark spectroscopic accuracy.

Contribution

It introduces a method to extract transition matrix elements via frequency measurements and identifies key magic wavelengths for strontium's clock transition.

Findings

Predicted magic-zero wavelengths for Sr excited states.

Identified five magic wavelengths for Sr clock transition.

Provided a framework for benchmarking spectroscopic accuracy.

Abstract

We predict a sequence of magic-zero wavelengths for the Sr excited $5s5p~ ^3P_0$ state, and provide a general roadmap for extracting transition matrix elements using precise frequency measurements. We demonstrate that such measurements can serve as a best global benchmark of the spectroscopic accuracy that is required for the development of high-precision predictive methods. These magic-zero wavelengths are also needed for state-selective atom manipulation for implementation of quantum logic operations. We also identify five magic wavelengths of the $5s^2\ ^1S_0 - 5s5p\ ^3P_0$ Sr clock transition between 350 nm and 500 nm which can also serve as precision benchmarks.