Atomic parity violation in highly charged $^{40,48}$Ca and $^{208}$Pb ions

Abstract

We calculate parity-violation-induced E1 amplitudes for the $1s\rightarrow 2s$ and $1s^2 2s\rightarrow 1s^2 3s$ transitions in H- and Li-like ions of $^{40}$Ca, $^{48}$Ca, and $^{208}$Pb. In our analysis, we account for neutron skin effects and nuclear uncertainties for each nucleus. We consider the spin-independent weak-interaction contribution of the $Z^0$ boson described by standard model, as well as the effects of a hypothetical new $Z'$ boson of varying mass. We conclude that the neutron-skin corrections in the $^{40,48}$Ca isotope pair can mostly be neglected when considering $Z'$ boson effects, which is an advantage for the search for new parity-violating physics. On the other hand, both the neutron skin effect and the sensitivity to hypothetical $Z'$ interactions in $^{208}$Pb is shown to be significant.