Search

We have developed a microwave spectrometer for a measurement of the 2 S 1 / 2 - 2 P 1 / 2 Lamb shift of antihydrogen atoms towards the determination of the antiproton charge radius. The spectrometer consists of two consecutive apparatuses, of which the first apparatus, Hyperfine Selector (HFS), filters out 2 S 1 / 2 (F = 1) hyperfine states and pre-selects the 2 S 1 / 2 (F = 0) state, and the second apparatus, MicroWave Scanner (MWS), sweeps the frequency around the target transition to obtain the spectrum. We optimized the geometry of the apparatuses by evaluating the S-parameter that represents the ratio of the reflected microwave signal over the input, utilizing microwave simulations based on the finite element method. The HFS was designed to obtain a resonant property at 1.1 GHz for an efficient removal of the 2 S 1 / 2 (F = 1) hyperfine states, and the MWS was designed to realize weak frequency-dependency in the signal reflection. Also, the spatial distributions of microwave electric field were simulated. We report the design of the spectrometer and discuss an expected precision of the first measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lamb shift, one of the most fundamental interactions in atomic physics, arises from the interaction of H atoms with the electromagnetic fluctuations of the quantum vacuum. The energy shift has been computed in a variety of ways. The energy shift, as Feynman, Power, and Milonni demonstrated, equals the change in the vacuum energy in the volume containing the H atoms due to the change in the index of refraction arising from the presence of the H atoms. Using this result and a group theoretical calculation of the contribution to the Lamb shift from each frequency of the vacuum fluctuations, in this paper we obtain an expression for the region of the vacuum energy for each frequency ω around the H atom due to the Lamb shift. This same field plays an essential role in the van der Waals force. We show the ground state atom is surrounded by a region of positive vacuum energy that extends well beyond the atom for low frequencies. This region can be described as a steady state cloud of vacuum fluctuations. For energies E = ℏ ω less than 1 eV, where ℏ is the reduced Planck constant and ω is frequency, the radius of the positive energy region is shown to be approximately 14.4/E Å. For a vacuum fluctuation of wavelength, λ , the radius is (α / 2 π) λ , where α is the fine-structure constant. Thus, for long wavelengths, the region has macroscopic dimensions. The energy–time uncertainty relation predicts a maximum possible radius that is larger than the radius based on the radiative shift calculations by a factor of 1 / 4 α . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an atom, the interaction of a bound electron with the vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field leads to complex shifts in the energy levels of the electron, with the real part of the shift corresponding to a shift in the energy level and the imaginary part to the width of the energy level. The most celebrated radiative shift is the Lamb shift between the 2 s 1 / 2 and the 2 p 1 / 2 levels of the hydrogen atom. The measurement of this shift in 1947 by Willis Lamb Jr. proved that the prediction by Dirac theory that the energy levels were degenerate was incorrect. Hans Bethe's non-relativistic calculation of the shift using second-order perturbation theory demonstrated the renormalization process required to deal with the divergences plaguing the existing theories and led to the understanding that it was essential for theory to include interactions with the zero-point quantum vacuum field. This was the birth of modern quantum electrodynamics (QED). Numerous calculations of the Lamb shift followed including relativistic and covariant calculations, all of which contain a nonrelativistic contribution equal to that computed by Bethe. The semi-quantitative models for the radiative shift of Welton and Power, which were developed in an effort to demonstrate physical mechanisms by which vacuum fluctuations lead to the shift, are also considered here. This paper describes a calculation of the shift using a group theoretical approach which gives the shift as an integral over frequency of a function, which is called the "spectral density of the shift." The energy shift computed by group theory is equivalent to that derived by Bethe yet, unlike in other calculations of the non-relativistic radiative shift, no sum over a complete set of states is required. The spectral density, which is obtained by a relatively simple computation, reveals how different frequencies of vacuum fluctuations contribute to the total energy shift. The analysis shows, for example, that half the radiative shift for the ground state 1S level in H comes from virtual photon energies below 9700 eV, and that the expressions of Power and Welton have the correct high-frequency behavior, but not the correct low-frequency behavior, although they do give approximately the correct value for the total shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser spectroscopy of muonic atoms has been recently used to probe properties of light nuclei with unprecedented precision. We introduce nuclear effects in hydrogen-like atoms, nucleon structure quantities (form factors, structure functions, polarizabilities), and their effects in the Lamb shift and hyperfine splitting (HFS) of muonic hydrogen (μH). Updated theory predictions for the Lamb shift and HFS in μH are presented. We review the challenges of the ongoing effort to measure the ground-state HFS in μH and its impact on our understanding of the nucleon spin structure. To narrow down this search, we present a novel theory prediction obtained by scaling the measured HFS in hydrogen while leveraging radiative corrections. We also summarize recent developments in the spectroscopy of simple atomic and molecular systems and emphasize how they allow for precise determinations of fundamental constants, bound-state QED tests, and New Physics searches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent progress in direct active cooling of the quantum‐electric degrees of freedom in engineered circuits, or quantum‐circuit refrigeration is reviewed. In 2017, the discovery of a quantum‐circuit refrigerator (QCR) based on photon‐assisted tunneling of quasiparticles through normal‐metal–insulator–superconductor junctions inspired a series of experimental studies demonstrating the following main properties: i) the direct‐current (dc) bias voltage of the junction can change the QCR‐induced damping rate of a superconducting microwave resonator by orders of magnitude and give rise to nontrivial Lamb shifts, ii) the damping rate can be controlled in nanosecond time scales, and ii) the dc bias can be replaced by a microwave excitation, the amplitude of which controls the induced damping rate. Theoretically, it is predicted that state‐of‐the‐art superconducting resonators and qubits can be reset with an infidelity lower than 10−4 in tens of nanoseconds using experimentally feasible parameters. A QCR‐equipped resonator has also been demonstrated as an incoherent photon source with an output temperature above 1 K yet operating at millikelvin. This source has been used to calibrate cryogenic amplification chains. In the future, the QCR may be experimentally used to quickly reset superconducting qubits, and hence assist in the great challenge of building a practical quantum computer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensembles of two-level systems interacting with a single-mode electromagnetic field are increasingly being used for the development of quantum information processors and mesoscopic quantum devices. These systems are characterized by a set of energy-level hybridizations, split by Lamb shifts, that occur when the ensemble and field mode interact coherently with high cooperativity. For high dimensions simulating system dynamics while including the complete set of Lamb shifts is generally intractable. We present a compact description of Lamb shift statistics and behavior across all collective angular momentum and excitation subspaces of the ensemble without resorting to overly restrictive approximations of the state space. We also calculate the averaged effective Lamb shift weighted over the degeneracies of these subspaces to connect our results to experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first 6 ionization potentials (IPs) of the uranium atom have been calculated using multireference configuration interaction (MRCI+Q) with extrapolations to the complete basis set limit using new all-electron correlation consistent basis sets. The latter was carried out with the third-order Douglas-Kroll-Hess Hamiltonian. Correlation down through the 5s5p5d electrons has been taken into account, as well as contributions to the IPs due to the Lamb shift. Spin-orbit coupling contributions calculated at the 4-component Kramers restricted configuration interaction level, as well as the Gaunt term computed at the Dirac-Hartree-Fock level, were added to the best scalar relativistic results. The final ionization potentials are expected to be accurate to at least 5 kcal/mol (0.2 eV) and thus more reliable than the current experimental values of IP3 through IP6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum electrodynamics (QED) with self-conjugated equations with spinor wave functions for fermion fields is considered. In the low order of the perturbation theory, matrix elements of some of QED physical processes are calculated. The final results coincide with cross-sections calculated in the standard QED. The self-energy of an electron and amplitudes of processes associated with determination of the anomalous magnetic moment of an electron and Lamb shift are calculated. These results agree with the results in the standard QED. Distinctive feature of the developed theory is the fact that only states with positive energies are present in the intermediate virtual states in the calculations of the electron self-energy, anomalous magnetic moment of an electron and Lamb shift. Besides, in equations, masses of particles and antiparticles have the opposite signs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically investigate resonant dipole-dipole interaction (RDDI) between artificial atoms in a 1D geometry, implemented by N transmon qubits coupled through a transmission line. Similar to the atomic cases, RDDI comes from exchange of virtual photons of the continuous modes, and causes the so-called collective Lamb shift (CLS). To probe the shift, we effectively set one end of the transmission line as a mirror, and examine the reflection spectrum of the probe field from the other end. Our calculation shows that when a qubit is placed at the node of the standing wave formed by the incident and reflected waves, even though it is considered to be decoupled from the field, it results in large energy splitting in the spectral profile of a resonant qubit located at an antinode. This directly implies the interplay of virtual photon processes and explicitly signals the CLS. We further derive a master equation to describe the system, which can take into account mismatch of participating qubits and dephasing effects. Our calculation also demonstrates the superradiant and subradiant nature of the atomic states, and how the CLS scales when more qubits are involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surprising discrepancy between results from different methods for measuring the proton charge radius is referred to as the proton radius puzzle. In particular, measurements using electrons seem to lead to a different radius compared with those using muons. Here, a direct measurement of the n = 2 Lamb shift of atomic hydrogen is presented. Our measurement determines the proton radius to be rp = 0.833 femtometers, with an uncertainty of ±0.010 femtometers. This electron-based measurement of rp agrees with that obtained from the analogous muon-based Lamb shift measurement but is not consistent with the larger radius that was obtained from the averaging of previous electron-based measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We provide an up to date summary of the theory contributions to the 2S → 2P Lamb shift and the fine structure of the 2P state in the muonic helium ion (μ 4 He) +. This summary serves as the basis for the extraction of the alpha particle charge radius from the muonic helium Lamb shift measurements at the Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland. Individual theory contributions needed for a charge radius extraction are compared and compiled into a consistent summary. The influence of the alpha particle charge distribution on the elastic two-photon exchange is studied to take into account possible model-dependencies of the energy levels on the electric form factor of the nucleus. We also discuss the theory uncertainty which enters the extraction of the 3He–4He isotope shift from the muonic measurements. The theory uncertainty of the extraction is much smaller than a present discrepancy between previous isotope shift measurements. This work completes our series of n = 2 theory compilations in light muonic atoms which we have performed already for muonic hydrogen, deuterium, and helium-3 ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Winter Colloquium on the Physics of Quantum Electronics (PQE) has been a seminal force in quantum optics and related areas since 1971. It is rather mind-boggling to recognize how the concepts presented at these conferences have transformed scientific understanding and human society. In January 2017, the participants of PQE were asked to consider the equally important prospects for the future, and to formulate a set of questions representing some of the greatest aspirations in this broad field. The result is this multi-authored paper, in which many of the world’s leading experts address the following fundamental questions: (1) What is the future of gravitational wave astronomy? (2) Are there new quantum phases of matter away from equilibrium that can be found and exploited - such as the time crystal? (3) Quantum theory in uncharted territory: What can we learn? (4) What are the ultimate limits for laser photon energies? (5) What are the ultimate limits to temporal, spatial and optical resolution? (6) What novel roles will atoms play in technology? (7) What applications lie ahead for nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond? (8) What is the future of quantum coherence, squeezing and entanglement for enhanced super-resolution and sensing? (9) How can we solve (some of) humanity’s biggest problems through new quantum technologies? (10) What new understanding of materials and biological molecules will result from their dynamical characterization with free-electron lasers? (11) What new technologies and fundamental discoveries might quantum optics achieve by the end of this century? (12) What novel topological structures can be created and employed in quantum optics? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate spectroscopy of highly-charged high-Z ions in a storage ring is demonstrated to be feasible by the use of specially adapted crystal optics. The method has been applied for the measurement of the 1s Lamb shift in hydrogen-like gold (Au+78) in a storage ring through spectroscopy of the Lyman x-rays. This measurement represents the first result obtained for a high-Z element using high-resolution wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy in the hard x-ray regime, paving the way for sensitivity to higherorderQEDeffects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the 1S-2S transition and the ground state hyperfine spectrum have been observed in trapped antihydrogen. The former constitutes the first observation of resonant interaction of light with an anti-atom, and the latter is the first detailed measurement of a spectral feature in antihydrogen. Owing to the narrow intrinsic linewidth of the 1S-2S transition and use of two-photon laser excitation, the transition energy can be precisely determined in both hydrogen and antihydrogen, allowing a direct comparison as a test of fundamental symmetry. The result is consistent with CPT invariance at a relative precision of around 2 × 10-10. This constitutes the most precise measurement of a property of antihydrogen. The hyperfine spectrum of antihydrogen is determined to a relative uncertainty of 4 × 10-4. The excited state and the hyperfine spectroscopy techniques currently both show sensitivity at the few 100 kHz level on the absolute scale. Here, the most recent work of the ALPHA collaboration on precision spectroscopy of antihydrogen is presented together with an outlook on improving the precision of measurements involving lasers and microwave radiation. Prospects of measuring the Lamb shift and determining the antiproton charge radius in trapped antihydrogen in the ALPHA apparatus are presented. Future perspectives of precision measurements of trapped antihydrogen in the ALPHA apparatus when the ELENA facility becomes available to experiments at CERN are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To shed light on the deuteron radius puzzle we analyze the theoretical uncertainties of the nuclear structure corrections to the Lamb shift in muonic deuterium. We find that the discrepancy between the calculated two-photon exchange correction and the corresponding experimentally inferred value by Pohl et al. [1] remain. The present result is consistent with our previous estimate, although the discrepancy is reduced from 2.6 σ to about 2 σ . The error analysis includes statistic as well as systematic uncertainties stemming from the use of nucleon–nucleon interactions derived from chiral effective field theory at various orders. We therefore conclude that nuclear theory uncertainty is more likely not the source of the discrepancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spectral line widths, the Lamb shift and the Casimir effect are generally accepted to be observable consequences of the zero-point electromagnetic (ZPEM) fields. A new class of observable consequences of ZPEM field at the mesoscopic scale were recently proposed and observed. Here, we extend this class of observable effects and predict that mesoscopic water layers should have a high value for its solid-liquid phase transition temperature, as illustrated by water inside a single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT). For this case, our analysis predicts that the phase transition temperature scales inversely with the square of the effective radius available for the water flow within the CNT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of quasipotential method in quantum electrodynamics we calculate nuclear finite size radiative corrections of order α ( Z α ) 5 to the Lamb shift in muonic hydrogen and helium. To construct the interaction potential of particles, which gives the necessary contributions to the energy spectrum, we use the method of projection operators to states with a definite spin. Separate analytic expressions for the contributions of the muon self-energy, the muon vertex operator and the amplitude with spanning photon are obtained. We present also numerical results for these contributions using modern experimental data on the electromagnetic form factors of light nuclei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We give a brief overview of the recent progress in the computation of QED radiative corrections for various processes involving bound states. Precision measurements of bound state properties, such as the Lamb shift of hydrogen atom and g-factor of a bound electron, and searches for rare transitions, such as Bs → μ+μ− or muon–electron coherent conversion, allow for a precise tests of the Standard Model. A comparison between the theory and the experiment cannot be done without the knowledge of the higher order effects, which sometimes receive unexpected enhancement factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive the relativistic Hamiltonian of hydrogen atom in dynamical non-commutative spaces (DNCS or τ-space). Using this Hamiltonian we calculate the energy shift of the ground state as well the 2 P , 2 S levels. In all the cases, the energy shift depends on the dynamical non-commutative parameter τ. Using the accuracy of the energy measurement, we obtain an upper bound for τ. We also study the Lamb shift in DNCS. Both 2 P and 2 S levels receive corrections due to dynamical non-commutativity of space which is in contrast with the non-dynamical non-commutative spaces (NDNCS or 휃-space) in which the 2 S level receives no correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of two-meson electromagnetic bound states and free meson pairs $ \pi^+\pi^-$ , $ K^+K^-$ , $ \pi^+K^{\mp}$ in relativistic collisions has been considered. It is shown that using of exact Coulomb wave functions for dimeson atom (DMA) allows one to calculate the yield of discrete states with the desired accuracy. The relative probabilities of production of DMA and meson pairs in the free state are estimated. The amplitude of DMA transition from 1 S to 2 P state, which is essential for the pionium Lamb shift measurements, has been obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A summary is presented of articles published in the same issue of the journal and in other periodicals, including an article on the development of microspectrometers using nanowires and the measurement of the Lamb shift in electronic hydrogen to measure the size of the proton, both published in the same issue, and an article in a 2019 issue of "Nature Medicine" on the role of microbiota on the aging process.

This paper gives a review of the experiments performed since the 1980s at the Laboratoire Kastler Brossel in Paris on two-photon spectroscopy of atomic hydrogen. Firstly devoted to the 2S- nS and 2S- nD transitions, they are currently running on the 1S-3S transition at 205 nm. During all that time, they were inspired by the plentiful ideas proposed by Ted Hänsch and were complementary with the measurements developed in parallel in his groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present calculations of the nuclear structure corrections to the Lamb shift in light muonic atoms, using state-of-the-art nuclear potentials. We outline updated results on finite nucleon size contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a complete superradiant and subradiant states that can be manipulated and prepared in a three-dimensional atomic array. These subradiant states can be realized by absorbing a single photon and imprinting the spatially-dependent phases on the atomic system. We find that the collective decay rates and associated cooperative Lamb shifts are highly dependent on the phases we manage to imprint, and the subradiant state of long lifetime can be found for various lattice spacings and atom numbers. We also investigate both optically thin and thick atomic arrays, which can serve for systematic studies of super- and sub-radiance. Our proposal offers an alternative scheme for quantum memory of light in a three-dimensional array of two-level atoms, which is applicable and potentially advantageous in quantum information processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we develop a self-consistent approach for calculation of the Purcell factor and Lamb shift in highly dispersive hyperbolic metamaterial accounting for the effective dipole frequency shift. Also we theoretically predict the possi- bility of spontaneous topological transition, which occurs not due to the external change of the system parameters but only due to the Lamb shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the expansion in the eigenmodes of 1-D Lienard-Wiechert kernel, the temporal and spectral profiles of the radiation emitted by a fully inverted collection of two-level atoms in a sub-wavelength slab geometry are computed. The initial number of amplifying modes determine the specific regime of radiation. In particular, the temporal profile of the field intensity is oscillatory and the spectral profile is non-Lorentzian with two unequal height peaks in a narrow band centered at the slab thickness value at which the real parts of the lowest order odd and even eigenvalues are equal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hadronic deuteron polarizability correction to the Lamb shift of muonic deuterium is calculated on the basis of unitary isobar model and modern experimental data on the structure functions of deep inelastic lepton-deuteron scattering and their parametrizations in the resonance and nonresonance regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the normal modes and quasi-normal modes (QNMs) in circular dielectric microcavities through non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, which come from the modifications due to system–environment coupling. Differences between the two types of modes are studied in detail, including the existence of resonances tails. Numerical calculations of the eigenvalues reveal the Lamb shift in the microcavity due to its interaction with the environment. We also investigate relations between the Lamb shift and quantized angular momentum of the whispering gallery mode as well as the refractive index of the microcavity. For the latter, we make use of the similarity between the Helmholtz equation and the Schrödinger equation, in which the refractive index can be treated as a control parameter of effective potential. Our result can be generalized to other open quantum systems with a potential term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring the 2S–2P Lamb shift in a hydrogen-like muonic atom allows one to extract its nuclear charge radius with a high precision that is limited by the uncertainty in the nuclear structure corrections. The charge radius of the proton thus extracted was found to be 7 σ away from the CODATA value, in what has become the yet unsolved “proton radius puzzle”. Further experiments currently aim at the isotopes of hydrogen and helium: the precise extraction of their radii may provide a hint at the solution of the puzzle. We present the first ab initio calculation of nuclear structure corrections, including the nuclear polarization correction, to the 2S–2P transition in μ He + 3 and μ H 3 , and assess solid theoretical error bars. Our predictions reduce the uncertainty in the nuclear structure corrections to the level of a few percent and will be instrumental to the on-going μ He + 3 experiment. We also support the mirror μ H 3 system as a candidate for further probing of the nucleon polarizabilities and shedding more light on the puzzle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We systematically investigate the far-zone fluorescence from a number of laser-driven two-level atoms with the cooperative effects stemming from the virtual exchange of photons between identical atoms. Due to the large interaction-induced energy level shifts, i.e. the collective Lamb shifts, both atomic excitation and photon emission do not maximize at the resonant light-atom coupling. In addition, the long-range dissipative interactions among atoms lead to the disproportion between the atomic excitation and the photon emission. Moreover, we discuss the temporal properties of the far-field fluorescence light from the atomic ensemble. The first-order correlation function indicates a damped light-atom dynamics combined with a strong background of the elastic photon scattering. The second-order correlation function illustrates that in the weak-excitation limit the scattered light exhibits the nonclassical photon antibunching behavior, while the bunched photons arrive at the photodetector in the saturated-excitation limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present knowledge of Lamb shift, fine- and hyperfine structure of the 2S and 2P states in muonic deuterium is reviewed in anticipation of the results of a first measurement of several 2S −2P transition frequencies in muonic deuterium ( μ d). A term-by-term comparison of all available sources reveals reliable values and uncertainties of the QED and nuclear structure-dependent contributions to the Lamb shift, which are essential for a determination of the deuteron rms charge radius from μ d. Apparent discrepancies between different sources are resolved, in particular for the difficult two-photon exchange contributions. Problematic single-sourced terms are identified which require independent recalculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report high-precision calculations of the nuclear recoil effect to the Lamb shift of hydrogenlike atoms to the first order in the electron-nucleus mass ratio and to all orders in the nuclear binding strength parameter Zα. The results are in excellent agreement with the known terms of the Zα expansion and allow an accurate identification of the nonperturbative higher-order remainder. For hydrogen, the higher-order remainder was found to be much larger than anticipated. This result resolves the long-standing disagreement between the numerical all-order and analytical Zα-expansion approaches to the recoil effect and completely removes the second-largest theoretical uncertainty in the hydrogen Lamb shift of the 15 and 2S states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]