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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Measurement of Ultrafast Vibrational Coherences in Polyatomic Radical Cations with Strong-Field Adiabatic Ionization
Published on: August 6, 2018
High precision wavelength measurements of QED-sensitive forbidden transitions in highly charged argon ions
I Draganić1, J R Crespo López-Urrutia, R DuBois
1Max-Planck Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany. draganic@vin.bg.ac.yu
Abstract:
We present the results of an experimental study of magnetic dipole (M1) transitions in highly charged argon ions (Ar X, Ar XI, Ar XIV, Ar XV) in the visible spectral range using an electron beam ion trap. Their wavelengths were determined with, for highly charged ions, unprecedented accuracy up to the sub-ppm level and compared with theoretical calculations. The QED contributions, calculated in this Letter, are found to be 4 orders of magnitude larger than the experimental error and are absolutely indispensable to bring theory and experiment to a good agreement. This method shows great potential for the study of QED effects in relativistic few-electron systems.
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