Nuclear Excitation by Near-Resonant Electron Transition in $^{229}$Th$^{39+}$ Ions

TL;DR

This paper explores the theoretical possibility of exciting the $^{229}$Th nuclear isomer via near-resonant electron transitions in highly charged thorium ions, which could enable precise nuclear studies and isomer production.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of nuclear excitation in $^{229}$Th$^{39+}$ ions near the 8 eV energy level, highlighting the potential for high excitation rates and experimental feasibility.

Findings

Estimated atomic energy level at 8.308 eV close to nuclear isomer energy

Maximum excitation rate of $1.27×10^{16}$ s$^{-1}$ at resonance

Possible isomer production rates up to $7×10^{19}$ per second

Abstract

Theoretical considerations are made for the nuclear excitation from the ground state to the 8 eV $^{229m}$Th isomer via near-resonant electron transitions in Sb-like ($q=39+$) thorium ions. The energy of the first excited atomic state ($J=7/2$) in the $^{229}$Th$^{39+}$ ion is estimated to be 8.308$\pm$0.069 eV, which is very close to the new reference value for the $^{229m}$Th nuclear isomer energy, 8.356 eV [Zhang et al., Nature 633, 63 (2024)]. Therefore, the $^{229}$Th$^{39+}$ ion provides a unique opportunity to study the nuclear excitation by electron transition process under well-defined atomic conditions in the regime of extremely low nuclear excitation energy. Our results indicate that the upper theoretical limit for the $^{229m}$Th isomer excitation rate reaches an enormous value of $1.27\times10^{16}$ s$^{-1}$ at resonance ($\Delta=0$ meV), but drops many orders of magnitude for the value of electronic transition energy within its uncertainty interval. Additionally, it was shown that using an electron beam ion trap, the production of the $^{229}$Th isomer can reach rates ranging from a few to approximately $7\times10^{19}$ $^{-1}$.