将放射性分子带到实验台上

A compact source of radioactive molecules could enable new tests of fundamental physics Luke Caldwell Atoms and molecules can serve as exquisite sensors of the atomic nucleus, potentially revealing hidden laws of physics. When electron orbitals overlap with the nucleus, the atomic or molecular energy levels are shifted by small amounts depending on the size and shape of the nucleus. The effects of such interactions are often amplified in radioactive molecules, making them unusually sensitive probes of nuclear physics (1). Yet radioactive molecules have typically been produced at specialized facilities, far from the laboratory environments where the most precise measurements can be performed. On page 319 of this issue, Conn et al. …