Excitation of Multipolar Transitions in Nuclei by Twisted Photons

Abstract

An explicit expression for the probability of twisted-photon absorption by an atomic nucleus is obtained. It is found that photoabsorption by nuclei lying in the vicinity of the axis along which a twisted photon propagates obeys the selection rule $$j\geqslant|m_{\gamma}|$$ , where $$m_{\gamma}$$ is the projection of the photon total angular momentum and $$j$$ is the multipolarity of the nuclear transition. In the long-wavelength limit, the $$j=|m_{\gamma}|$$ multipole transition makes a dominant contribution to the probability for twisted-photon absorption. The absorption coefficient for twisted photons is found for a target that consists of many nuclei.

Topics & Concepts