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PreprintCC BY 4.0arXiv

Fock-space relativistic coupled-cluster study of systematic shifts and fine-structure constant sensitivity in {\rm Cf17+}, {\rm Cm15+} and {\rm Bk16+} highly charged ions

  • Palki Gakkhar
  • D. Angom
  • B. K. Mani
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Abstract

Highly charged ions (HCIs) are among the most promising candidates proposed for the development of next-generation optical clocks and the precision tests of fundamental physics. In this work, we investigate the clock-relevant properties of Cf17+, Cm15+ and Bk16+ HCIs using Fock-space relativistic coupled-cluster (FSRCC) theory. The corrections from Breit interaction, QED effects and perturbative triples are incorporated to improve the accuracy of results further. We compute excitation energies, transition amplitudes, lifetimes, hyperfine structure constants, electric quadrupole moments, and electric dipole polarizabilities for low-lying states of these ions. These properties are further used to characterize important clock transitions and estimate key systematic frequency shifts. Our calculations reveal that the proposed clock transitions exhibit strongly suppressed systematic frequency shifts. We also compute the sensitivity coefficients, q, and enhancement factors, Kα, for the proposed clock transition as a probe to variation in the fine-structure constant, α. Our calculations predict exceptionally large Kα of −55.3 and $57.5$ for 5f5/2 → 6p1/2 transition in Cf17+ and 6p1/2 → 5f5/2 transition in Bk16+, respectively. These giant Kαs place the proposed transitions among the most sensitive optical probes for the laboratory searches for α variation. Further, a comparative analysis of proposed transitions in Cm15+ and Bk16+ shows that, 5f5/2 → 5f7/2 transition possess smaller systematic shifts and is therefore attractive for precision frequency metrology, whereas 6p1/2 → 5f5/2 transition exhibit significantly enhanced sensitivity to α variation.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{gakkhar2026fockspace,
  title = {{Fock-space relativistic coupled-cluster study of systematic shifts and fine-structure constant sensitivity in \rm Cf$^17+$, \rm Cm$^15+$ and \rm Bk$^16+$ highly charged ions}},
  author = {Palki Gakkhar and D. Angom and B. K. Mani},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.31231},
  eprint = {2610.31231},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31231},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Fock-space relativistic coupled-cluster study of systematic shifts and fine-structure constant sensitivity in {\rm Cf^17+}, {\rm Cm^15+} and {\rm Bk^16+} highly charged ions
AU  - Palki Gakkhar
AU  - D. Angom
AU  - B. K. Mani
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/22
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.31231
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31231
AB  - Highly charged ions (HCIs) are among the most promising candidates proposed for the development of next-generation optical clocks and the precision tests of fundamental physics. In this work, we investigate the clock-relevant properties of Cf^17+, Cm^15+ and Bk^16+ HCIs using Fock-space relativistic coupled-cluster (FSRCC) theory. The corrections from Breit interaction, QED effects and perturbative triples are incorporated to improve the accuracy of results further. We compute excitation energies, transition amplitudes, lifetimes, hyperfine structure constants, electric quadrupole moments, and electric dipole polarizabilities for low-lying states of these ions. These properties are further used to characterize important clock transitions and estimate key systematic frequency shifts. Our calculations reveal that the proposed clock transitions exhibit strongly suppressed systematic frequency shifts. We also compute the sensitivity coefficients, q, and enhancement factors, K_α, for the proposed clock transition as a probe to variation in the fine-structure constant, α. Our calculations predict exceptionally large K_α of −55.3 and $57.5$ for 5f_5/2 → 6p_1/2 transition in Cf^17+ and 6p_1/2 → 5f_5/2 transition in Bk^16+, respectively. These giant K_αs place the proposed transitions among the most sensitive optical probes for the laboratory searches for α variation. Further, a comparative analysis of proposed transitions in Cm^15+ and Bk^16+ shows that, 5f_5/2 → 5f_7/2 transition possess smaller systematic shifts and is therefore attractive for precision frequency metrology, whereas 6p_1/2 → 5f_5/2 transition exhibit significantly enhanced sensitivity to α variation.
ER  -