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Selected Publications

Simplest Molecules Test Quantum Theory

A high-precision measurement of the properties of a molecular hydrogen ion tests new predictions from fundamental quantum theory and lays a foundation for the improved determination of fundamental constants.

Understanding how the simplest constituents of matter interact with each other is the foundation of modern physics. Comparing quantities that can be both measured and calculated to high precision, enables tests of the most foundational models that describe the universe. The molecular hydrogen ion HD+, a bound system containing just a proton, a deuteron, and a single electron, provides an excellent platform for such tests. In HD+, the spins of the constituents interact with each other, giving rise to what is known as hyperfine structure. Researchers at the ALPHATRAP Penning trap experiment at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) have isolated and trapped a single HD+ ion and were able to precisely investigate its hyperfine structure.

Please read more in the Physical Review Letters article and our press release.

A whisper of nothing: tracking the neutrino mass with ‘cold’ detectors

The ECHo collaboration has determined a new upper limit for the neutrino mass, thereby laying the groundwork for further experiments aimed at refining the mass of these ‘ghost particles’.

  • Determining the neutrino mass is of great importance for fundamental questions in physics, such as the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe
  • Researchers from the ECHo collaboration have succeeded in further refining the upper limit of the neutrino mass
  • This lays the foundation for further measurements with ECHo-LE, with the aim of further improving the world’s most precise neutrino mass measurements

Please read more in the Physical Review Letters article and our press release.

More news

Lists of all publications

of the scientific research results of the "Stored and Cooled Ions" Division.

see also:
PuRe - "Stored and Cooled Ions" Division
(Search term: “Organization” - input “Blaum” → Division Prof. Dr. Klaus Blaum, MPI for Nuclear Physics, Max Planck Society | Genre: “select all” → Start Search)

Further links: