Hulet, Randall G.2009-06-042009-06-041995McAlexander, William Ian. "Precise determination of the 2P radiative atomic lifetime of lithium using photoassociative spectroscopy." (1995) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/13974">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/13974</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/13974Spectroscopy of the high-lying vibrational levels of the $1\sp3\Sigma\sbsp{g}{+}$ and $1\sp1\Sigma\sbsp{u}{+}$ states of both $\rm\sp6Li\sb2$ and $\rm\sp7Li\sb2$ has been accomplished via photoassociation of ultracold atomic lithium confined in a magneto-optical trap. Both these molecular states correlate to $2S\sb{1/2}$ plus $2P\sb{1/2}$ free atomic states. The long range part of these molecular potentials depends on the 2P atomic radiative lifetime. Accurate models were constructed for both the $1\sp3\Sigma\sbsp{g}{+}$ and $1\sp1\Sigma\sbsp{u}{+}$ potentials. By fitting these models to the experimentally measured vibrational levels observed in $\rm\sp6Li\sb2$ and $\rm\sp7Li\sb2$, we have been able to extract a value for the 2P lifetime of lithium. Fitting to the absolute values of the data gives a value of 26.99 $\pm$ 0.16 ns whereas fitting to differences in the spectral features gives a value of 27.04 $\pm$ 0.18 ns. While both values agree with previous work, improvements made in the potential models would enable this analysis to resolve the current discrepancy between experiment and theory.85 p.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Atomic physicsThesisTHESIS PHYS. 1995 MCALEXANDER