Relativistic coupled-cluster calculation of hyperfine-structure constants of $^{229}$Th$^{3+}$ and evaluation of the electromagnetic nuclear moments of $^{229}$Th

TL;DR

This study uses relativistic coupled-cluster calculations to determine hyperfine-structure constants of $^{229}$Th$^{3+}$, providing refined nuclear electromagnetic moments crucial for nuclear clock development and new physics searches.

Contribution

It presents the first relativistic coupled-cluster calculation of hyperfine constants for $^{229}$Th$^{3+}$ and refines nuclear electromagnetic moments, highlighting the importance of non-linear excitation terms.

Findings

Magnetic dipole moment $bc=0.359(9)$ matches previous estimates.

Electric quadrupole moment $Q=2.95(7)$ is about 5 ext% smaller than prior values.

Non-linear excitation terms are essential for accurate quadrupole moment calculations.

Abstract

$^{229}$Th is a promising candidate for developing a nuclear optical clock and searching the new physics beyond the standard model. Accurate knowledge of the nuclear properties of $^{229}$Th is very important. In this work, we calculate hyperfine-structure constants for the first four states of $^{229}$Th$^{3+}$ using the relativistic coupled-cluster method based on the Gauss basis set. The no-pair Dirac-Coulomb-Breit Hamiltonian with the lowest-order quantum electrodynamics (QED) correction is the starting point, together with all linear and non-linear terms of single and double excitations are included in coupled-cluster calculation. With the measured value of the hyperfine-structure constants [Phys. Rev. Lett. 106. 223001(2011)], we get the magnetic dipole moment, $\mu=0.359(9)$, and the electric quadrupole moment, $Q=2.95(7)$, of the $^{229}$Th nucleus. Our magnetic dipole moment is perfectly consistent with the recommended values, $\mu=0.360(7)$, from the all-order calculation by Safronova \textit{et. al.}[Phys.Rev.A 88, 060501 (2013)], but our electric quadrupole moment is smaller than their recommended value, $Q=3.11(6)$, about 5\%. Our results show that the non-linear terms of single and double excitations, which were not included in the all-order calculation by Safronova \textit{et. al.}, are very crucial to produce a precise $Q$ value of $^{229}$Th. Additionally, we also present magnetic octupole hyperfine-structure constants and some important non-diagonal hyperfine transition matrix elements, which are required for further extracting the magnetic octupole moment $\Omega$ of $^{229}$Th nucleus.