Precision Laser Spectroscopy of the Ground State Hyperfine Splitting of HydrogenlikeBi82+209

The first direct observation of a hyperfine splitting in the optical regime is reported. The wavelength of the $M1$ transition between the $F=4$ and $F=5$ hyperfine levels of the ground state of hydrogenlike $^{209}\mathrm{Bi}^{82+}$ was measured to be ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{0}=243.87(4)$ nm by detection of laser induced fluorescence at the heavy-ion storage ring ESR at GSI. In addition, the lifetime of the laser excited $F=5$ sublevel was determined to be ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{0}=0.351(16)$ ms. The method can be applied to a number of other nuclei and should allow a novel test of QED corrections in the previously unexplored combination of strong magnetic and electric fields in highly cha…