1,472 research outputs found
A Bose-Einstein condensate interferometer with macroscopic arm separation
A Michelson interferometer using Bose-Einstein condensates is demonstrated
with coherence times of up to 44 ms and arm separations up to 0.18 mm. This arm
separation is larger than that observed for any previous atom interferometer.
The device uses atoms weakly confined in a magnetic guide and the atomic motion
is controlled using Bragg interactions with an off-resonant standing wave laser
beam.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Bloch oscillations of ultracold atoms: a tool for a metrological determination of
We use Bloch oscillations in a horizontal moving standing wave to transfer a
large number of photon recoils to atoms with a high efficiency (99.5% per
cycle). By measuring the photon recoil of , using velocity selective
Raman transitions to select a subrecoil velocity class and to measure the final
accelerated velocity class, we have determined with a relative
precision of 0.4 ppm. To exploit the high momentum transfer efficiency of our
method, we are developing a vertical standing wave set-up. This will allow us
to measure better than and hence the fine structure
constant with an uncertainty close to the most accurate value coming
from the () determination
A constraint on antigravity of antimatter from precision spectroscopy of simple atoms
Consideration of antigravity for antiparticles is an attractive target for
various experimental projects. There are a number of theoretical arguments
against it but it is not quite clear what kind of experimental data and
theoretical suggestions are involved. In this paper we present straightforward
arguments against a possibility of antigravity based on a few simple
theoretical suggestions and some experimental data. The data are: astrophysical
data on rotation of the Solar System in respect to the center of our galaxy and
precision spectroscopy data on hydrogen and positronium. The theoretical
suggestions for the case of absence of the gravitational field are: equality of
electron and positron mass and equality of proton and positron charge. We also
assume that QED is correct at the level of accuracy where it is clearly
confirmed experimentally
Improved Term of the Electron Anomalous Magnetic Moment
We report a new value of electron , or , from 891 Feynman diagrams
of order . The FORTRAN codes of 373 diagrams containing closed
electron loops have been verified by at least two independent formulations. For
the remaining 518 diagrams, which have no closed lepton loop, verification by a
second formulation is not yet attempted because of the enormous amount of
additional work required. However, these integrals have structures that allow
extensive cross-checking as well as detailed comparison with lower-order
diagrams through the renormalization procedure. No algebraic error has been
uncovered for them. The numerical evaluation of the entire term by
the integration routine VEGAS gives , where the
uncertainty is obtained by careful examination of error estimates by VEGAS.
This leads to ,
where the uncertainties come from the term, the estimated
uncertainty of term, and the inverse fine structure constant,
, measured by atom interferometry combined
with a frequency comb technique, respectively. The inverse fine structure
constant derived from the theory and the Seattle
measurement of is .Comment: 64 pages and 10 figures. Eq.(16) is corrected. Comments are added
after Eq.(40
High-accuracy Penning trap mass measurements with stored and cooled exotic ions
The technique of Penning trap mass spectrometry is briefly reviewed
particularly in view of precision experiments on unstable nuclei, performed at
different facilities worldwide. Selected examples of recent results emphasize
the importance of high-precision mass measurements in various fields of
physics
Progress towards an accurate determination of the Boltzmann constant by Doppler spectroscopy
In this paper, we present significant progress performed on an experiment
dedicated to the determination of the Boltzmann constant, k, by accurately
measuring the Doppler absorption profile of a line in a gas of ammonia at
thermal equilibrium. This optical method based on the first principles of
statistical mechanics is an alternative to the acoustical method which has led
to the unique determination of k published by the CODATA with a relative
accuracy of 1.7 ppm. We report on the first measurement of the Boltzmann
constant by laser spectroscopy with a statistical uncertainty below 10 ppm,
more specifically 6.4 ppm. This progress results from improvements in the
detection method and in the statistical treatment of the data. In addition, we
have recorded the hyperfine structure of the probed saQ(6,3) rovibrational line
of ammonia by saturation spectroscopy and thus determine very precisely the
induced 4.36 (2) ppm broadening of the absorption linewidth. We also show that,
in our well chosen experimental conditions, saturation effects have a
negligible impact on the linewidth. Finally, we draw the route to future
developments for an absolute determination of with an accuracy of a few ppm.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figure
Reversals in nature and the nature of reversals
The asymmetric shape of reversals of the Earth's magnetic field indicates a
possible connection with relaxation oscillations as they were early discussed
by van der Pol. A simple mean-field dynamo model with a spherically symmetric
coefficient is analysed with view on this similarity, and a comparison
of the time series and the phase space trajectories with those of paleomagnetic
measurements is carried out. For highly supercritical dynamos a very good
agreement with the data is achieved. Deviations of numerical reversal sequences
from Poisson statistics are analysed and compared with paleomagnetic data. The
role of the inner core is discussed in a spectral theoretical context and
arguments and numerical evidence is compiled that the growth of the inner core
might be important for the long term changes of the reversal rate and the
occurrence of superchrons.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figure
Observation of Bs->Ds(*)+Ds(*)- using e+e- collisions and a determination of the Bs-Bsbar width difference \Delta\Gamma_s
We have made the first observation of Bs->Ds(*)+Ds(*)- decays using 23.6 fb-1
of data recorded by the Belle experiment running on the Upsilon(5S) resonance.
The branching fractions are measured to be B(B^0_s\ra D^+_s D^-_s) =
(1.0\,^{+0.4}_{-0.3}\,^{+0.3}_{-0.2})%, B(B^0_s\ra D^{*\pm}_s D^{\mp}_s) =
(2.8\,^{+0.8}_{-0.7}\,\pm 0.7)%, and B(B^0_s\ra D^{*+}_s D^{*-}_s) =
(3.1\,^{+1.2}_{-1.0}\,\pm 0.8)%; the sum is B(B^0_s\ra D^{(*)+}_s D^{(*)-}_s) =
(6.9\,^{+1.5}_{-1.3}\,\pm 1.9)%. Assuming Bs->Ds(*)+Ds(*)- saturates decays to
CP-even final states, the branching fraction determines the ratio
\Delta\Gamma_s/cos(\phi), where \Delta\Gamma_s is the difference in widths
between the two Bs-Bsbar mass eigenstates, and \phi is a CP-violating weak
phase. Taking CP violation to be negligibly small, we obtain
\Delta\Gamma_s/\Gamma_s =
0.147^{+0.036}_{-0.030}(stat.)^{+0.044}_{-0.042}(syst.), where \Gamma_s is the
mean decay width.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables. v2: text added for clarification,
version published in Phys. Rev. Letter
Observation of and Evidence for
We report the first observation of and first
evidence for , which are CP eigenstate decay modes.
These results are obtained from of data collected at
the resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB
collider. We measure the branching fractions with a significance of , and
with a significance of . The last error
listed is due to uncertainty in the number of produced pairs.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, published in PR
The Standard Model Prediction of the Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment
This article reviews and updates the Standard Model prediction of the muon
g-2. QED, electroweak and hadronic contributions are presented, and open
questions discussed. The theoretical prediction deviates from the present
experimental value by 2-3 standard deviations, if e+e- annihilation data are
used to evaluate the leading hadronic term.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures. v2: Updated version to appear in J.Phys.G.
Comments and references added, typo corrected in eq.(17
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