Relativistically prolonged lifetime of the 2 s 2 p 3 P 0 level of zero nuclear-spin beryllium-like ions

The E1M1 transition rate of the line in beryllium-like ions has been calculated within the framework of relativistic second-order perturbation theory. Both multiconfiguration and quantum-electrodynamical computations have been carried out independently to better understand and test for all major electron–electron correlation contributions in the representation of the initial, intermediate and final states. By comparing the results from these methods, which agree well for all ions along the beryllium isoelectronic sequence, the lifetime of the metastable 2 s 2 p 3 P 0 level is found to be longer by about 2–3 orders of magnitude for all medium and heavy elements than was estimated previously. This makes the 3 P 0 level of beryllium-like ions to one of the longest living (low-lying) electronic excitations of a tightly bound system with potential applications for atomic clocks and in astro physics and plasma physics.