RESUMEN
Molecules containing short-lived, radioactive nuclei are uniquely positioned to enable a wide range of scientific discoveries in the areas of fundamental symmetries, astrophysics, nuclear structure, and chemistry. Recent advances in the ability to create, cool, and control complex molecules down to the quantum level, along with recent and upcoming advances in radioactive species production at several facilities around the world, create a compelling opportunity to coordinate and combine these efforts to bring precision measurement and control to molecules containing extreme nuclei. In this manuscript, we review the scientific case for studying radioactive molecules, discuss recent atomic, molecular, nuclear, astrophysical, and chemical advances which provide the foundation for their study, describe the facilities where these species are and will be produced, and provide an outlook for the future of this nascent field.
RESUMEN
Relativistic coupled-cluster calculations of the ionization potential, dissociation energy, and excited electronic states under 35 000 cm-1 are presented for the actinium monofluoride (AcF) molecule. The ionization potential is calculated to be IPe = 48 866 cm-1, and the ground state is confirmed to be a closed-shell singlet and thus strongly sensitive to the T,P-violating nuclear Schiff moment of the Ac nucleus. Radiative properties and transition dipole moments from the ground state are identified for several excited states, achieving a mean uncertainty estimate of â¼450 cm-1 for the excitation energies. For higher-lying states that are not directly accessible from the ground state, possible two-step excitation pathways are proposed. The calculated branching ratios and Franck-Condon factors are used to investigate the suitability of AcF for direct laser cooling. The lifetime of the metastable (1)3Δ1 state, which can be used in experimental searches of the electric dipole moment of the electron, is estimated to be of order 1 ms.