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Colloquium | Physics

Ion Traps for Precision Experiments in Nuclear and Atomic Physics at TITAN

Physics Colloquium

Abstract: Ion traps have long been used in atomic physics for high-precision and -accuracy experiments. They have since been adapted at radioactive-ion-beam (RIB) facilities. Originally for Penning trap mass spectrometry, their applications have grown as exemplified at TRIUMF’s Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN), where five ion traps have been deployed. The textbook-like conditions are exploited to manipulate a single ion or a cloud of charged particles for beam preparation and high-precision measurements. TITAN is best known for atomic mass measurements, which have been used to investigate the evolution of the N=32 subshell closure, to test the unitarity of quark-mixing matrix, and to understand nucleosynthesis. Recent highlights will be presented as well as techniques useful at RIB facilities.