Excitation and probing of low-energy nuclear states at high-energy storage rings

Understand

$^{229}$Th with a low-lying nuclear isomeric state is an essential candidate for a nuclear clock as well as many other applications.

• Laser excitation of the isomeric state has been a long-standing goal.
• With relativistic $^{229}$Th ions in storage rings, high-power lasers with wavelengths in the visible range or longer can be used to achieve high excitation rates of $^{229}$Th isomers.
• This can be realized through direct resonant excitation, or excitation via an intermediate nuclear or electronic state, facilitated by the tunability of both the laser-beam and ion-bunch parameters.