Quantum Electrodynamics in Strong Electric Fields: The Ground-State Lamb Shift in Hydrogenlike Uranium

Abstract

X-ray spectra following radiative recombination of free electrons with bare uranium ions (U92+) were measured at the electron cooler of the ESR storage ring. The most intense lines observed in the spectra can be attributed to the characteristic Lyman ground-state transitions and to the recombination of free electrons into the K shell of the ions. Our experiment was carried out by utilizing the deceleration technique which leads to a considerable reduction of the uncertainties associated with Doppler corrections. This, in combination with the 0 degree observation geometry, allowed us to determine the ground-state Lamb shift in hydrogenlike uranium (U91+) from the observed x-ray lines with an accuracy of 1%. The present result is about 3 times more precise than the most accurate value available up to now and provides the most stringent test of bound-state quantum electrodynamics for one-electron systems in the strong-field regime.