In pursuit of highly accurate atomic lifetime measurements of multiply charged ions

Abstract

Accurate atomic lifetime data are useful for terrestrial and astrophysical plasma diagnostics. At accuracies higher than those required for these applications, lifetime measurements test atomic structure theory in ways complementary to spectroscopic energy determinations. At the highest level of accuracy, the question arises whether such tests reach the limits of modern theory, a combination of quantum mechanics and QED, and possibly point to physics beyond the standard model. If high-precision atomic lifetime measurements, especially on multiply charged ions, have not quite reached this high accuracy yet, then what is necessary to attain this goal?