High precision atomic physics

Abstract

Accurate atomic collision and structure data are an essential ingredient for a wide range of research fields as well as for major technological applications. Areas from laboratory physics to quantum processing, from plasma research applications in nuclear fusion to lighting research, as well as astrophysics and cosmology, depend critically on such data. But many data still exhibit inconsistencies and inaccuracies, so that significant efforts are continuing to improve the data quality. Additionally, a substantial body of much-needed data is absent from the published literature and from databases. Appreciable progress is being made, aided by greatly improved, or even entirely new, laboratory equipment and by vastly expanded computer power, which has made possible the development of greatly refined atomic structure codes. Thus in recent years, atomic data have not only become more accurate, but the body of data has also greatly increased, highly ionized species and complex heavy atoms have been addressed, fully relativistic treatments have been developed, and new energy and frequency ranges have been explored.This special issue focuses on many of these new sophisticated theoretical and experimental approaches that have made high precision atomic physics a reality.On the experimental side, several contributions cover the area of highly charged ions, where accurate measurements have become possible mainly due to the availability of electron beam ion traps (EBITs) and the utilization of storage rings. Studies of QED effects in Li-like ions, determinations of atomic lifetimes and precision wavelength measurements of highly charged ions are discussed. Furthermore, two contributions illustrate the extremely high precision of spectroscopic measurements for heavy ions and atoms, and two fundamental investigations address a new search for the electric dipole moment of the electron and measurements of the anapole moment in Fr and Rb.On the theoretical side, the contributions demonstrate that new, expanded and refinedatomic structure and electron-impact collision codes are successfully applied to complexatomic systems, such as highly charged ions and heavy atoms, using increasingly full relativistic treatments.