Probing the Atomic Higgs Force
Résumé
We propose an approach to probe new fundamental interactions using isotopeshift spectroscopy in atomic clock transitions. As an example we focus on theHiggs boson couplings to the building blocks of matter: the electron and the upand down quarks. We show that the attractive Higgs force between nuclei andtheir bound electrons, that is poorly constrained, might induce effects thatare larger than the current experimental sensitivities. We discuss how newinteractions between the electron and the neutrons may lead to measurablenon-linearities in a King plot comparison between isotope shifts of twodifferent transitions. Given state-of-the-art accuracy in frequency comparison,isotope shifts have the potential of being measured with sub-Hz accuracy, thuspotentially enabling the improvement of current limits on new fundamentalinteractions. Candidate atomic system for this measurement require twodifferent clock transitions and four zero nuclear spin isotopes. We identifyseveral systems that satisfy this requirement and also briefly discuss existingmeasurements. We consider the size of the effect related to the Higgs force andthe requirements for it to produce an observable signal.