Atomic Parameters for the $2p^53p~^2[3/2]_2 - 2p^53s~^2[3/2]^o_2$ Transition of Ne I relevant in nuclear physics

TL;DR

This study calculates hyperfine constants, isotope shifts, and nuclear quadrupole moments for specific neon I transitions using advanced relativistic methods, providing improved data and suggesting alternative transitions for nuclear charge radius measurements.

Contribution

It offers new theoretical calculations of hyperfine and isotope shift parameters for Ne I, improving nuclear quadrupole moment estimates and proposing better transitions for nuclear charge radius studies.

Findings

Calculated hyperfine constants and electric field gradients for Ne I levels.

Extracted nuclear quadrupole moments for $^{20}$Ne and $^{23}$Ne with reduced uncertainty.

Identified alternative transitions with more favorable isotope shift characteristics.

Abstract

We calculated the magnetic dipole hyperfine interaction constants and the electric field gradients of $2p^53p~^2[3/2]_2$ and $2p^53s~^2[3/2]^o_2$ levels of Ne I by using the multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock method. The electronic factors contributing to the isotope shifts were also estimated for the $\lambda = 614.5$ nm transition connecting these two states. Electron correlation and relativistic effects including the Breit interaction were investigated in details. Combining with recent measurements, we extracted the nuclear quadrupole moment values for $^{20}$Ne and $^{23}$Ne with a smaller uncertainty than the current available data. Isotope shifts in the $2p^53p~^2[3/2]_2 - 2p^53s~^2[3/2]^o_2$ transition based on the present calculated field- and mass-shift parameters are in good agreement with the experimental values. However, the field shifts in this transition are two or three orders of magnitude smaller than the mass shifts, making rather difficult to deduce changes in nuclear charge mean square radii. According to our theoretical predictions, we suggest to use instead transitions connecting levels arising from the $2p^53s$ configuration to the ground state, for which the normal mass shift and specific mass shift contributions counteract each other, producing relatively small mass shifts that are only one order of magnitude larger than relatively large field shifts, especially for the $2p^53s~^2[1/2]^o_1 - 2p^6~^1S_0$ transition.