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Determination of nuclear moments for many nuclei relies on the computation of hyperfine constants, with theoretical uncertainties directly affecting the resulting uncertainties of the nuclear moments. In this work, we improve the precision of such a method by including for the first time an iterative solution of equations for the core triple cluster amplitudes into the relativistic coupled-cluster method, with large-scale complete basis sets. We carried out calculations of the energies and magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole hyperfine structure constants for the low-lying states of ^{229}Th^{3+} in the framework of such a relativistic coupled-cluster single double triple method. We present a detailed study of various corrections to all calculated properties. Using the theory results and experimental data, we found the nuclear magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moments to be μ=0.366(6)μ_{N} and Q=3.11(2) eb, respectively, and reduce the uncertainty of the quadrupole moment by a factor of 3. The Bohr-Weisskopf effect of the finite nuclear magnetization is investigated, with bounds placed on the deviation of the magnetization distribution from the uniform one.

The isotope ^{229}Th is unique in that it possesses an isomeric state of only a few electron volts above the ground state, suitable for nuclear laser excitation. An optical clock based on this transition is expected to be a very sensitive probe for variations of fundamental constants, but the nuclear properties of both states have to be determined precisely to derive the actual sensitivity. We carry out isotope shift calculations in Th^{+} and Th^{2+} including the specific mass shift, using a combination of configuration interaction and all-order linearized coupled-cluster methods and estimate the uncertainty of this approach. We perform experimental measurements of the hyperfine structure of Th^{2+} and isotopic shift between ^{229}Th^{2+} and ^{232}Th^{2+} to extract the difference in root-mean-square radii as δ⟨r^{2}⟩^{232,229}=0.299(15) fm^{2}. Using the recently measured values of the isomer shift of lines of ^{229m}Th, we derive the value for the mean-square radius change between ^{229}Th and its low-lying isomer ^{229m}Th to be δ⟨r^{2}⟩^{229m,229}=0.0105(13) fm^{2}.

We optically excite the electronic state 3s3p ^{3}P_{0} in ^{24}Mg atoms, laser cooled and trapped in a magic-wavelength lattice. An applied magnetic field enhances the coupling of the light to the otherwise strictly forbidden transition. We determine the magic wavelength, the quadratic magnetic Zeeman shift, and the transition frequency to be 468.46(21) nm, -206.6(2.0) MHz/T^{2}, and 655 058 646 691(101) kHz, respectively. These are compared with theoretical predictions and results from complementary experiments. We also develop a high-precision relativistic structure model for magnesium, give an improved theoretical value for the blackbody radiation shift, and discuss a clock based on bosonic magnesium.

A combined experimental and theoretical study of transition matrix elements of the 6p 2Pj - 8s 2S1/2 transition in atomic Cs is reported. Measurements of the polarization-dependent two-photon excitation spectrum associated with the transition were made in an approximately 200 cm-1 range on the low frequency side of the 6s 2S1/2 - 6p 2P3/2 resonance. The measurements depend parametrically on the relative transition matrix elements, but also are sensitive to far-off-resonance 6s 2S1/2 - np 2Pj - 8s 2S1/2 transitions. In the past, this dependence has yielded a generalized sum rule, the value of which is dependent on sums of relative two-photon transition matrix elements. In the present case, best available determinations from other experiments are combined with theoretical matrix elements to extract the ratio of transition matrix elements for the 6p 2Pj - 8s 2S1/2 (j = 1/2,3/2) transition. The resulting experimental value of 1.423(2) is in excellent agreement with the theoretical value, calculated using a relativistic all-order method, of 1.425(2).

Reduced matrix elements, oscillator strengths, and transition rates are calculated for all allowed and forbidden 1s2l′ 2l′ ′ – 1s 22l electric dipole (E1), magnetic dipole (M1), electric quadrupole (E2), and magnetic quadrupole (M2) transitions in lithiumlike ions with nuclear charges ranging from Z = 6 to 100. Relativistic many-body perturbation theory (RMBPT), including the Breit interaction, is used to evaluate retarded E1, M1, E2, and M2 matrix elements. The calculations start with a Dirac potential and include all possible 1s2l′ 2l′ ′ configurations, leading to seven odd-parity and nine even-parity states. First-order perturbation theory is used to obtain intermediate coupling coefficients. Second-order RMBPT is used to determine the matrix elements, which are evaluated for the 22, 20, 16, and 18 possible E1, M1, E2, and M2 transitions, respectively. A detailed discussion of the various contributions to the energy levels and E1, M1, E2, and M2 matrix elements is given for lithiumlike iron, Z = 26. Th...

SU(N) symmetry can emerge in a quantum system with N single-particle spin states when spin is decoupled from interparticle interactions. Taking advantage of the high measurement precision offered by an ultrastable laser, we report a spectroscopic observation of SU(N ≤ 10) symmetry in (87)Sr. By encoding the electronic orbital degree of freedom in two clock states while keeping the system open to as many as 10 nuclear spin sublevels, we probed the non-equilibrium two-orbital SU(N) magnetism via Ramsey spectroscopy of atoms confined in an array of two-dimensional optical traps; we studied the spin-orbital quantum dynamics and determined the relevant interaction parameters. This study lays the groundwork for using alkaline-earth atoms as testbeds for important orbital models.

A polarization analysis of the fine-structure intervals for the $n=17$ Rydberg states of Mg and the $n=29$ states of ${\mathrm{Si}}^{2+}$ is performed. The coefficients of all terms in the polarization expansion up to ${r}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ were computed using a semiempirical single electron analysis combined with the relativistic all-order single-double method (MBPT-SD) which includes all single-double excitations from the Dirac-Fock wave functions to all orders of perturbation theory. The revised analysis yields dipole polarizabilities of ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{1}=35.04(3)\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{a.u.}$ for ${\mathrm{Mg}}^{+}$ and ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{1}=7.433(25)\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{a.u.}$ for ${\mathrm{Si}}^{3+}$, values only marginally larger than those obtained in a previous analysis [E. L. Snow and S. R. Lundeen, Phys. Rev. A 75, 062512 (2007); E. L. Snow and S. R. Lundeen, Phys. Rev. A77, 052501 (2008)]. The polarizabilities are used to make estimates of the multiplet strength for the resonant transition for both ions. The revised analysis did see significant changes in the slopes of the polarization plots. The dipole polarizabilities from the MBPT-SD calculation, namely $35.05(12)\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{a.u.}$ and $7.419(16)\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{a.u.}$, are within 0.3% of the revised experimental values.

We measure the hyperfine splitting of the 9S_{1/2} level of 210Fr, and find a magnetic dipole hyperfine constant A=622.25(36) MHz. The theoretical value, obtained using the relativistic all-order method from the electronic wave function at the nucleus, allows us to extract a nuclear magnetic moment of 4.38(5)micro_{N} for this isotope, which represents a factor of 2 improvement in precision over previous measurements. The same method can be applied to other rare isotopes and elements.