Configuration interaction calculation for the isotope shift in Mg I

We present an ab initio method of calculation of isotope shift in atoms with a few valence electrons, based on the configuration-interaction calculation of energy. The main motivation for developing the method comes from the need to analyze whether differences in isotope abundance in early universe can contribute to the observed anomalies in quasar absorption spectra. The current best explanation for these anomalies is the assumption that the fine structure constant, alpha, was smaller at early epoch. We show that we can calculate the isotope shift in magnesium with good accuracy.