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1. Revisiting the Helium Isotope-Shift Puzzle with Improved Uncertainties from Nuclear Structure Corrections

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.032502  

   Li_Muli, Simone Salvatore; Richardson, Thomas R; Bacca, Sonia (January 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   Measurements of the difference between the squared charge radii of the helion ( ${}^3\mathrm{He}$nucleus) and the $\alpha$particle ( ${}^4\mathrm{He}$nucleus) have been characterized by longstanding tensions recently spotlighted in the $3.6\sigma$discrepancy of the extractions from ordinary atoms versus those from muonic atoms [Karsten Schuhmann , ]. Here, we present a novel analysis of uncertainties in nuclear structure corrections that must be supplied by theory to enable the extraction of the difference in radii from spectroscopic experiments. We use modern Bayesian inference techniques to quantify uncertainties stemming from the truncation of the chiral effective field theory expansion of the nuclear force for both muonic and ordinary atoms. With the new nuclear structure input, the helium isotope-shift puzzle cannot be explained, rather, it is reinforced to a $4\sigma$discrepancy. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

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2. Radiative decay of the ${}^{229m}\mathrm{Th}$ nuclear clock isomer in different host materials

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013052  

   Pineda, S V; Chhetri, P; Bara, S; Elskens, Y; Casci, S; Alexandrova, A N; Au, M; Athanasakis-Kaklamanakis, M; Bartokos, M; Beeks, K; et al (January 2025, Physical Review Research)

   A comparative vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy study conducted at ISOLDE-CERN of the radiative decay of the ${}^{229m}\mathrm{Th}$nuclear clock isomer embedded in different host materials is reported. The ratio of the number of radiative decay photons and the number of ${}^{229m}\mathrm{Th}$embedded are determined for single crystalline ${\mathrm{CaF}}_2, {\mathrm{MgF}}_2, {\mathrm{LiSrAlF}}_6$, AlN, and amorphous ${\mathrm{SiO}}_2$. For the latter two materials, no radiative decay signal was observed and an upper limit of the ratio is reported. The radiative decay wavelength was determined in ${\mathrm{LiSrAlF}}_6$and ${\mathrm{CaF}}_2$, reducing its uncertainty by a factor of 2.5 relative to our previous measurement. This value is in agreement with the recently reported improved values from laser excitation. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

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3. Measurement of the Isolated Nuclear Two-Photon Decay in ${}^{72}\mathrm{Ge}$

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.022502  

   Freire-Fernández, D; Korten, W; Chen, R J; Litvinov, S; Litvinov, Yu A; Sanjari, M S; Weick, H; Akinci, F C; Albers, H M; Armstrong, M; et al (July 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   The nuclear two-photon or double-gamma ( $2\gamma$) decay is a second-order electromagnetic process whereby a nucleus in an excited state emits two gamma rays simultaneously. To be able to directly measure the $2\gamma$decay rate in the low-energy regime below the electron-positron pair-creation threshold, we combined the isochronous mode of a storage ring with Schottky resonant cavities. The newly developed technique can be applied to isomers with excitation energies down to $\sim 100\mathrm{keV}$and half-lives as short as $\sim 10\mathrm{ms}$. The half-life for the $2\gamma$decay of the first-excited $0^{+}$state in bare ${}^{72}\mathrm{Ge}$ions was determined to be 23.9(6) ms, which strongly deviates from expectations. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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4. Increased atom-cavity coupling through cooling-induced atomic reorganization

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.L032049  

   Shu, Chi; Colombo, Simone; Li, Zeyang; Adiyatullin, Albert; Mendez, Enrique; Pedrozo-Peñafiel, Edwin; Vuletić, Vladan (September 2024, Physical Review Research)

   The strong coupling of atoms to optical cavities can improve optical lattice clocks as the cavity enables metrologically useful collective atomic entanglement and high-fidelity measurement. To this end, it is necessary to cool the ensemble to suppress motional broadening, and advantageous to maximize and homogenize the atom-cavity coupling. We demonstrate resolved Raman sideband cooling via the cavity as a method that can simultaneously achieve both goals. In 200 ms of Raman sideband cooling, we cool ${}^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$atoms to an average vibration number $\langle n_x\rangle =0.23\left(7\right)$in the tightly binding direction, resulting in $93\%$optical $\pi$-pulse fidelity on the clock transition ${}^{1}S_0\to {}^{3}P_0$. During cooling, the atoms self-organize into locations with maximal atom-cavity coupling, which will improve quantum metrology applications. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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5. High-Statistics Measurement of Collins and Sivers Asymmetries for Transversely Polarized Deuterons

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.101903  

   Alexeev, G D; Alexeev, M G; Alice, C; Amoroso, A; Andrieux, V; Anosov, V; Asatryan, S; Augsten, K; Augustyniak, W; Azevedo, C_D R; et al (September 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   New results are presented on a high-statistics measurement of Collins and Sivers asymmetries of charged hadrons produced in deep inelastic scattering of muons on a transversely polarized ${}^6\mathrm{LiD}$target. The data were taken in 2022 with the COMPASS spectrometer using the 160 GeV muon beam at CERN, statistically balancing the existing data on transversely polarized proton targets. The first results from about two-thirds of the new data have total uncertainties smaller by up to a factor of three compared to the previous deuteron measurements. Using all the COMPASS proton and deuteron results, both the transversity and the Sivers distribution functions of the $u$and $d$quark, as well as the tensor charge in the measured $x$range are extracted. In particular, the accuracy of the $d$quark results is significantly improved. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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