Enhanced effect of temporal variation of the fine structure constant and strong interaction in 229Th

Abstract

The relative effects of variation of the fine structure constant alpha=e^2/hc and dimensionless strong interaction parameter m_q/Lambda_{QCD} are enhanced 5-6 orders of magnitude in very narrow ultraviolet transition between the ground and first excited state in 229Th nucleus (energy (3.5 +/- 1) eV). Corresponding experiment has potential of improving sensitivity to the variation of the fundamental constants by 7-10 orders of magnitude (up to 10^{-23} per year).

Comments: 3 pages, reference [13] added to v2