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The nuclear charge radius of 13C

Author

Listed:
  • Patrick Müller

    (Technische Universität Darmstadt
    University of California Los Angeles)

  • Matthias Heinz

    (Technische Universität Darmstadt
    GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH
    Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik
    Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

  • Phillip Imgram

    (Technische Universität Darmstadt
    KU Leuven)

  • Kristian König

    (Technische Universität Darmstadt
    GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung)

  • Bernhard Maass

    (Technische Universität Darmstadt
    Argonne National Laboratory)

  • Takayuki Miyagi

    (Technische Universität Darmstadt
    GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH
    Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik
    University of Tsukuba)

  • Wilfried Nörtershäuser

    (Technische Universität Darmstadt
    GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung)

  • Robert Roth

    (Technische Universität Darmstadt
    GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung)

  • Achim Schwenk

    (Technische Universität Darmstadt
    GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH
    Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik)

Abstract

The size is a key property of a nucleus. Accurate nuclear radii are extracted from elastic electron scattering, laser spectroscopy, and muonic atom spectroscopy. The results are not always compatible, as the proton-radius puzzle has shown most dramatically. Beyond helium, precision data from muonic and electronic sources are scarce in the light-mass region. The stable isotopes of carbon are an exception. We present a laser spectroscopic measurement of the root-mean-square (rms) charge radius of 13C and compare this with ab initio nuclear structure calculations. Measuring all hyperfine components of the 2 3S $${\to}$$ → 2 3P fine-structure triplet in 13C4+ ions referenced to a frequency comb allows us to determine its center-of-gravity with accuracy better than 2 MHz although second-order hyperfine-structure effects shift individual lines by several GHz. We improved the uncertainty of Rc(13C) determined with electrons by a factor of 6 and found a 3σ discrepancy with the muonic atom result of similar accuracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick Müller & Matthias Heinz & Phillip Imgram & Kristian König & Bernhard Maass & Takayuki Miyagi & Wilfried Nörtershäuser & Robert Roth & Achim Schwenk, 2025. "The nuclear charge radius of 13C," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-60280-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60280-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Julian J. Krauth & Karsten Schuhmann & Marwan Abdou Ahmed & Fernando D. Amaro & Pedro Amaro & François Biraben & Tzu-Ling Chen & Daniel S. Covita & Andreas J. Dax & Marc Diepold & Luis M. P. Fernandes, 2021. "Measuring the α-particle charge radius with muonic helium-4 ions," Nature, Nature, vol. 589(7843), pages 527-531, January.
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    3. Shilun Jin & Luke F. Roberts & Sam M. Austin & Hendrik Schatz, 2020. "Enhanced triple-α reaction reduces proton-rich nucleosynthesis in supernovae," Nature, Nature, vol. 588(7836), pages 57-60, December.
    4. Serdar Elhatisari & Lukas Bovermann & Yuan-Zhuo Ma & Evgeny Epelbaum & Dillon Frame & Fabian Hildenbrand & Myungkuk Kim & Youngman Kim & Hermann Krebs & Timo A. Lähde & Dean Lee & Ning Li & Bing-Nan L, 2024. "Wavefunction matching for solving quantum many-body problems," Nature, Nature, vol. 630(8015), pages 59-63, June.
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