Hydrogen molecular ions for improved determination of fundamental constants

The possible use of high-resolution rovibrational spectroscopy of the hydrogen molecular ions H + 2 and HD + for an independent determination of several fundamental constants is analyzed. While these molecules had been proposed for metrology of nuclear-to-electron mass ratios, we show that they are also sensitive to the radii of the proton and deuteron and to the Rydberg constant at the level of the current discrepancies colloquially known as the proton size puzzle. The required level of accuracy, in the 10 --12 range, can be reached both by experiments, using Doppler-free two-photon spectroscopy schemes, and by theoretical predictions. It is shown how the measurement of several well-chosen rovibrational transitions may shed new light on the proton-radius puzzle, provide an alternative accurate determination of the Rydberg constant, and yield new values of the proton-to-electron and deuteron-to-proton mass ratios with one order of magnitude higher precision

Measurement of optical to electrical and electrical to optical delays with ps-level uncertainty

We present a new measurement principle to determine the absolute time delay of a waveform from an optical reference plane to an electrical reference plane and vice versa. We demonstrate a method based on this principle with 2 ps uncertainty. This method can be used to perform accurate time delay determinations of optical transceivers used in fibre-optic time-dissemination equipment. As a result the time scales in optical and electrical domain can be related to each other with the same uncertainty. We expect this method to break new grounds in high-accuracy time transfer and absolute calibration of time-transfer equipment

Proton-electron mass ratio from HD+^+ revisited

We present a new derivation of the proton-electron mass ratio from the hydrogen molecular ion, HD$^+$. The derivation entails the adjustment of the mass ratio in highly precise theory so as to reproduce accurately measured ro-vibrational frequencies. This work is motivated by recent improvements of the theory, as well as the more accurate value of the electron mass in the recently published CODATA-14 set of fundamental constants, which justifies using it as input data in the adjustment, rather than the proton mass value as done in previous works. This leads to significantly different sensitivity coefficients and, consequently, a different value and larger uncertainty margin of the proton-electron mass ratio as obtained from HD$^+$

Two-photon spectroscopy of trapped HD+^+ ions in the Lamb-Dicke regime

We study the feasibility of nearly-degenerate two-photon rovibrational spectroscopy in ensembles of trapped, sympathetically cooled hydrogen molecular ions using a resonance-enhanced multiphoton dissociation (REMPD) scheme. Taking advantage of quasi-coincidences in the rovibrational spectrum, the excitation lasers are tuned close to an intermediate level to resonantly enhance two-photon absorption. Realistic simulations of the REMPD signal are obtained using a four-level model that takes into account saturation effects, ion trajectories, laser frequency noise and redistribution of population by blackbody radiation. We show that the use of counterpropagating laser beams enables optical excitation in an effective Lamb-Dicke regime. Sub-Doppler lines having widths in the 100 Hz range can be observed with good signal-to-noise ratio for an optimal choice of laser detunings. Our results indicate the feasibility of molecular spectroscopy at the $10^{-14}$ accuracy level for improved tests of molecular QED, a new determination of the proton-to-electron mass ratio, and studies of the time (in)dependence of the latter.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figure

Precision Spectroscopy of Molecular Hydrogen Ions: Towards Frequency Metrology of Particle Masses

We describe the current status of high-precision ab initio calculations of the spectra of molecular hydrogen ions (H_2^+ and HD^+) and of two experiments for vibrational spectroscopy. The perspectives for a comparison between theory and experiment at a level of 1 ppb are considered.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures, 1 table, to appear in "Precision Physics of Simple Atomic Systems", Lecture Notes in Physics, Springer, 200

Frequency Comparison of Two High-Accuracy Al+ Optical Clocks

We have constructed an optical clock with a fractional frequency inaccuracy of 8.6e-18, based on quantum logic spectroscopy of an Al+ ion. A simultaneously trapped Mg+ ion serves to sympathetically laser-cool the Al+ ion and detect its quantum state. The frequency of the 1S0->3P0 clock transition is compared to that of a previously constructed Al+ optical clock with a statistical measurement uncertainty of 7.0e-18. The two clocks exhibit a relative stability of 2.8e-15/ sqrt(tau), and a fractional frequency difference of -1.8e-17, consistent with the accuracy limit of the older clock.Comment: 4 pages, 2 tables, 3 figure

Bounds on fifth forces from precision measurements on molecules

Highly accurate results from frequency measurements on neutral hydrogen molecules H_2, HD and D_2 as well as the HD^+ ion can be interpreted in terms of constraints on possible fifth-force interactions. Where the hydrogen atom is a probe for yet unknown lepton-hadron interactions, and the helium atom is sensitive for lepton-lepton interactions, molecules open the domain to search for additional long-range hadron-hadron forces. First principles calculations in the framework of quantum electrodynamics have now advanced to the level that hydrogen molecules and hydrogen molecular ions have become calculable systems, making them a search-ground for fifth forces. Following a phenomenological treatment of unknown hadron-hadron interactions written in terms of a Yukawa potential of the form V_5(r)=\beta exp(-r/\lambda)/r current precision measurements on hydrogenic molecules yield a constraint \beta < 1 \times 10^{-7} eV\AA for long-range hadron-hadron interactions at typical force ranges commensurate with separations of a chemical bond, i.e. \lambda ~1 \AA and beyond.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Observation of the 1S0 - 3P0 clock transition in 27Al+

We report for the first time, laser spectroscopy of the 1S0 - 3P0 clock transition in 27Al+. A single aluminum ion and a single beryllium ion are simultaneously confined in a linear Paul trap, coupled by their mutual Coulomb repulsion. This coupling allows the beryllium ion to sympathetically cool the aluminum ion, and also enables transfer of the aluminum's electronic state to the beryllium's hyperfine state, which can be measured with high fidelity. These techniques are applied to a measurement of the clock transition frequency, \nu = 1 121 015 393 207 851(8) Hz. They are also used to measure the lifetime of the metastable clock state, \tau = 20.6 +/- 1.4 s, the ground state 1S0 g-factor, g_S = -0.00079248(14), and the excited state 3P0 g-factor, g_P = -0.00197686(21), in units of the Bohr magneton.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; updated author lis

Prospects for measurement and control of the scattering length of metastable helium using photoassociation techniques

A numerical investigation of two-laser photoassociation (PA) spectroscopy on spin-polarized metastable helium (He*) atoms is presented within the context of experimental observation of the least-bound energy level in the scattering potential and subsequent determination of the s-wave scattering length. Starting out from the model developed by Bohn and Julienne [Phys. Rev. A \textbf{60}, (1999) 414], PA rate coefficients are obtained as a function of the parameters of the two lasers. The rate coefficients are used to simulate one- and two-laser PA spectra. The results demonstrate the feasibility of a spectroscopic determination of the binding energy of the least-bound level. The simulated spectra may be used as a guideline when designing such an experiment, whereas the model may also be employed for fitting experimentally obtained PA spectra. In addition, the prospects for substantial modification of the He* scattering length by means of optical Feshbach resonances are considered. Several experimental issues relating to the numerical investigation presented here are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure