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Updated: May 14, 2026

Preparing an Isotopically Pure 229Th Ion Beam for Studies of 229mTh
Published on: May 3, 2019
Magic radio-frequency dressing of nuclear spins in high-accuracy optical clocks
Thomas Zanon-Willette1, Emeric de Clercq, Ennio Arimondo
1UPMC Université Paris 06, UMR 7092, LPMAA, 4 place Jussieu, case 76, 75005 Paris, France. thomas.zanon@upmc.fr
Abstract:
A Zeeman-insensitive optical clock atomic transition is engineered when nuclear spins are dressed by a nonresonant radio-frequency field. For fermionic species as (87)Sr, (171)Yb, and (199)Hg, particular ratios between the radio-frequency driving amplitude and frequency lead to "magic" magnetic values where a net cancelation of the Zeeman clock shift and a complete reduction of first-order magnetic variations are produced within a relative uncertainty below the 10(-18) level. An Autler-Townes continued fraction describing a semiclassical radio-frequency dressed spin is numerically computed and compared to an analytical quantum description including higher-order magnetic field corrections to the dressed energies.
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