Through the spaceship atom's shield

Part of the science fiction genre is the famous protective shield that spaceships can raise. This is similar for atoms: The electron shell as an electromagnetic shield usually hinders the direct access to its nucleus. It also veils the nucleus’ precise structure, which, for example, makes some nuclei tiny magnets. A team in the group of Klaus Blaum, director at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, has now succeeded in precisely measuring the effect of this magnetic shielding in beryllium atoms. In this process, the nuclear magnetic moment of beryllium-9 could also be measured with 40 times better precision than previously known. This makes it the second most precise measurement of such a nuclear magnetic moment in the world, following the simplest atomic nucleus in hydrogen, the proton. Such precision measurements are not only relevant to fundamental physics. They also help to gain insight into certain applications of nuclear magnetic resonance which are applied in chemistry and for the highly accurate measurements of magnetic fields.

Please read more in the Nature Article and our press release.

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