Improved access to the fine-structure constant with the simplest atomic systems

A means to extract the fine-structure constant $α$ from precision spectroscopic data on one-electron ions is presented. We show that in an appropriately weighted difference of the bound-electron $g$ factor and the ground state energy, nuclear structural effects can be effectively suppressed. This method is anticipated to deliver an independent value of $α$ via existing or near-future combined Penning trap and x-ray spectroscopic technology, and enables decreasing the uncertainty of $α$ by orders of magnitude.

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