Physics – Atomic Physics
Scientific paper
2011-05-18
Phys. Rev. A83:062514,2011
Physics
Atomic Physics
8 pages, 1 figure
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevA.83.062514
We identify the molecular ion NH^+ as a potential candidate for probing variations in the fine structure constant alpha and electron-to-proton mass ratio mu. NH^+ has an anomalously low-lying excited Sigma state, being only a few hundred cm^-1 above the ground Pi state. Being a light molecule, this proximity is such that rotational levels of the respective states are highly intermixed for low angular momenta. We find that several low-frequency transitions within the collective rotational spectrum experience enhanced sensitivity to alpha- and mu-variation. This is attributable to the close proximity of the Pi and Sigma states, as well as the ensuing strong spin-orbit coupling between them. Suggestions that NH^+ may exist in interstellar space and recent predictions that trapped-ion precision spectroscopy will be adaptable to molecular ions make NH^+ a promising system for future astrophysical and laboratory studies of alpha- and mu-variation.
Beloy Kyle
Borschevsky Anastasia
Flambaum Victor V.
Hauser Andreas W.
Kozlov MiKhail G.
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