Neutral and Ionized Radium for Dark Matter Detection

Calvin Leung
ASDRP 2021

1 Context
The precision of modern atomic clocks has formed the foundation of cutting-edge technologies in the 21st
century. Atomic clocks have enabled centimeter-precision GPS, redefined the kilogram, and can pave the
way forward for precision scientific measurements such as the world’s first direct imaging of supermassive
black holes.1 We will develop and mature a Python interface for GRASP 2018, a popular FORTRAN code
that calculates energy levels and oscillator strengths for atomic systems to characterize the properties of
promising future clock systems. We plan to optimize the clock system for specific applications such as the
detection of dark matter through isotope-shift spectroscopy.2

2 Specific aims and objectives

A team of three to four students with interest in computer science or theoretical physics, possibly
under co-supervision with a mentor specializing in computer science, will:

1. Gain an understanding of object-oriented programming in Python and understand how to use GitHub
to do version control.
2. Implement atomic structure calculations in GRASP 20183 , starting with example calculations given in
the manual, 4 using the GRASPy framework, on the ASDRP computer cluster.

3. Reproduce previous results for neutral radium produced by Laasya Babbellapati and Vinay Baid
(ASDRP 2020), and improve the agreement of the previous results with experiment5 by systematically
changing the multireference set.
4. If time permits, perform similar calculations on singly-ionized radium (which turns out to be a partic-
ularly experimentally-accessible clock system).

5. Write a report focusing on the calculations using LATEX. Release code for open-source use on Github.

3 Methods
Students will use Github for version control, and use GRASP 2018 and the GRASPy6 framework to perform
calculations, and will compare the results to that in the NIST database (below). Familiarity with Python
programming is a must, and having taken AP Chemistry is a must.

1 Ludlow, Andrew D., et al. ”Optical atomic clocks.” Reviews of Modern Physics 87.2 (2015): 637.
2 https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.11383
3 https://github.com/compas/grasp
4 https://github.com/compas/grasp2018/releases/download/2018-12-03/GRASP2018-manual.pdf
5 https://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/Handbook/Tables/heliumtable5.htm
6 https://github.com/leungcalvin/graspy