Precision Test of Bound-State QED at Intermediate-Z with Kaonic Neon

TL;DR

This study performs precise calculations and measurements of kaonic neon transition energies, confirming the accuracy of bound-state QED predictions and establishing kaonic atoms as effective systems for testing quantum electrodynamics at intermediate atomic numbers.

Contribution

The paper provides the first high-precision test of bound-state QED in intermediate-Z systems using kaonic neon, combining theoretical calculations with experimental data.

Findings

Calculated transition energy closely matches experimental measurement.

QED contribution significantly exceeds experimental uncertainty.

Kaonic atoms are validated as effective systems for QED tests.

Abstract

We report Dirac-Fock calculations of transition energies for kaonic neon (KNe). For the most intense line, the 7-6 transition, the calculated energy is 9450.28 eV, which includes a bound-state QED (BSQED) contribution of 12.66 eV. This is in excellent agreement with the recent SIDDHARTHA-2 measurement at DA$\Phi$NE of 9450.23 $\pm$ 0.37 (stat.) $\pm$ 1.50 (syst.) eV. With the QED shift far exceeding experimental uncertainty, these results establish kaonic atoms as powerful platforms for precision tests of BSQED in intermediate-Z systems.