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The observation of vibrating pear-shapes in radon nuclei

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

There is a large body of evidence that atomic nuclei can undergo octupole distortion and assume the shape of a pear. This phenomenon is important for measurements of electric-dipole moments of atoms, which would indicate CP violation and hence probe physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Isotopes of both radon and radium have been identified as candidates for such measurements. Here, we observed the low-lying quantum states in 224Rn and 226Rn by accelerating beams of these radioactive nuclei. We show that radon isotopes undergo octupole vibrations but do not possess static pear-shapes in their ground states. We conclude that radon atoms provide less favourable conditions for the enhancement of a measurable atomic electric-dipole moment.
Journal: Nature Communications
ISSN: 2041-1723
Issue: 1
Volume: 10
Pages: 2473 - 2473
Publication year:2019
BOF-keylabel:yes
IOF-keylabel:yes
BOF-publication weight:6
CSS-citation score:2
Authors:International
Authors from:Higher Education
Accessibility:Open