title: Laser spectroscopic determination of the 6He nuclear charge radius.
abstract: We have performed precision laser spectroscopy on individual 6He (t(1/2)=0.8 s) atoms confined and cooled in a magneto-optical trap, and measured the isotope shift between 6He and 4He to be 43 194.772+/-0.056 MHz for the 2(3)S1-3(3)P2 transition. Based on this measurement and atomic theory, the nuclear charge radius of 6He is determined for the first time in a method independent of nuclear models to be 2.054+/-0.014 fm. The result is compared with the values predicted by a number of nuclear structure calculations and tests their ability to characterize this loosely bound halo nucleus.
authors.affiliation: Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA.
authors.forename: L-B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: G W F
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: R V F
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Janssens
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Z-T
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Pardo
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Rehm
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Schiffer
authors.forename: X D
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Tang