Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

SYAU: Guest Country Symposium Austria: SSelected Highlights of AMOP in Austria"

SYAU 1: Selected highlights of AMOP in Austria

SYAU 1.5: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 4, 2026, 12:45–13:15, RW 1

Precision laser spectroscopy of the Thorium-229 nuclear transition — •Thorsten Schumm — Atominstitut, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020 Vienna, Austria

Thorium-229 presents a low-energy excited nuclear level, only 8.4 eV above the ground state. This "isomer" can be manipulated by modern VUV lasers, realizing a bridge between precision laser spectroscopy and nuclear physics.

We will present recent advanced in laser-manipulation and spectroscopy of the Th-229 nucleus, including Mössbauer spectroscopy, and CW excitation. We also discuss the sensitivity of the Th-229 nuclear transition to variations of the fine-structure constant.

Keywords: Nuclear clock; Thorium-229; VUV laser spectroscopy; Fundamental interactions; Mössbauer spectroscopy