The experimental group of Prof. Nicola Poli is looking for candidates for 18 Months Post-Doc position at the Physics Department in Sesto Fiorentino (Florence) to work on Precision isotopic shift measurements to test physics beyond the Standard Model in the frame of the PRIN Project ISOTOP. 

Project Description: Precision metrology utilizing atomic and molecular systems offers a fruitful avenue toward probing the frontiers of existing physical theories and searching for new physics. While high-energy experiments often have direct access to the range of energy/mass where new particles can be directly observed, low-energy but ultra-high precision measurements instead try to search for signatures of new interactions and particles indirectly, in a completely different energy regime. Being smaller in size and less complex than high-energy accelerators, precision measurements with experiments in atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics are nowadays gaining the interest of several groups, to the extent that entire new centers of research have been created and devoted to fundamental physics tests with table-top experiments. Experiments in this vein have been performed which test the temporal constancy of fundamental constants, coupling to dark matter, and measurements of the electric dipole moment, amongst others. Here we propose to use the technology developed at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Florence (UNIFI) and at the Italian National Institute of Metrology (INRIM) to perform absolute frequency measurements of optical transitions of cadmium atoms. This atom possesses both narrow and ultra-narrow intercombination transitions and multiple spineless stable isotopes, making them ideal for these comparative, high-precision measurements. This approach has recently been applied to calcium and ytterbium ions where the first evidence of non-linear isotopic shift behavior indicates the possible presence of a new light boson. In this respect, measurements performed on the intercombination transitions of the six spin-less cadmium isotopes have the potential to provide additional and timely evidence for this important observation.

We offer a gross salary of 26700 EUR yearly, with minimal taxes for people coming from other countries. 

Applications are open until 27/02/2024 at the following link (the call in English language can be found at the bottom of the page): https://titulus.unifi.it/albo/viewer?view=files%2F005390027-UNFICLE-4eb2cef5-be97-4443-8bc7-d3987f369785-000.pdf

For any further information please contact Nicola Poli at the following address: nicola.poli@unifi.it