Parity nonconservation in ytterbium ion

We consider parity nonconservation (PNC) in singly ionized ytterbium (Yb${}^{+}$) arising from the neutral current weak interaction. We calculate the PNC electric dipole transition amplitude ($E{1}_{\mathrm{PNC}}$) and the properties associated with it using relativistic coupled-cluster theory. $E{1}_{\mathrm{PNC}}$ for the $\left[4f^{14}\right]{}^{2}6s\to \left[4f^{14}\right]{}^{2}5d_{3/2}$ transition in Yb${}^{+}$ has been evaluated to within an accuracy of 5%. The improvement of this result is possible. It therefore appears that this ion is a promising candidate for testing the standard model of particle physics.

Figure 1

Schematic of energy levels in Yb${}^{+}$ with transitions shown in red lines and that can be induced by different lasers for measurement of the parity nonconservation effect. Lifetimes of different states are denoted by $\tau$.