1,195 research outputs found
Minimizing the Dick Effect in an Optical Lattice Clock
We discuss the minimization of the Dick effect in an optical lattice clock.
We show that optimizing the time sequence of operation of the clock can lead to
a significant reduction of the clock stability degradation by the frequency
noise of the interrogation laser. By using a non-destructive detection of the
atoms, we are able to recycle most of the atoms between cycles and consequently
to strongly reduce the time spent capturing the atoms in each cycle. With
optimized parameters, we expect a fractional Allan deviation better than
2E-16 for the lattice clock.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics,
Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Contro
Ultrastable lasers based on vibration insensitive cavities
We present two ultra-stable lasers based on two vibration insensitive cavity
designs, one with vertical optical axis geometry, the other horizontal.
Ultra-stable cavities are constructed with fused silica mirror substrates,
shown to decrease the thermal noise limit, in order to improve the frequency
stability over previous designs. Vibration sensitivity components measured are
equal to or better than 1.5e-11 per m.s^-2 for each spatial direction, which
shows significant improvement over previous studies. We have tested the very
low dependence on the position of the cavity support points, in order to
establish that our designs eliminate the need for fine tuning to achieve
extremely low vibration sensitivity. Relative frequency measurements show that
at least one of the stabilized lasers has a stability better than 5.6e-16 at 1
second, which is the best result obtained for this length of cavity.Comment: 8 pages 12 figure
INTEGRAL observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud region
We present the preliminary results of the INTEGRAL survey of the Large
Magellanic Cloud. The observations have been carried out in January 2003 (about
10^6 s) and January 2004 (about 4x10^5 s). Here we concentrate on the bright
sources LMC X-1, LMC X-2, LMC X-3 located in our satellite galaxy, and on the
serendipitous detections of the Galactic Low Mass X-ray Binary EXO 0748-676 and
of the Seyfert 2 galaxy IRAS 04575-7537.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures. To be published in the Proceedings of the 5th
INTEGRAL Workshop: "The INTEGRAL Universe", February 16-20, 2004, Munic
Experimenting an optical second with strontium lattice clocks
Progress in realizing the SI second had multiple technological impacts and
enabled to further constraint theoretical models in fundamental physics.
Caesium microwave fountains, realizing best the second according to its current
definition with a relative uncertainty of 2-4x10^(-16), have already been
superseded by atomic clocks referenced to an optical transition, both more
stable and more accurate. Are we ready for a new definition of the second? Here
we present an important step in this direction: our system of five clocks
connects with an unprecedented consistency the optical and the microwave
worlds. For the first time, two state-of-the-art strontium optical lattice
clocks are proven to agree within their accuracy budget, with a total
uncertainty of 1.6x10^(-16). Their comparison with three independent caesium
fountains shows a degree of reproducibility henceforth solely limited at the
level of 3.1x10^(-16) by the best realizations of the microwave-defined second.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 2 table
Radio structure of the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 509
Detailed radio observations of Mkn 509, a Seyfert type I galaxy, have revealed an extended radio feature at 6 and 20 cm at a position angle of −65° and pointing toward the northwest. It is remarkably well-aligned with the direction of polarized Hα emission, a disk of low-ionization narrow-line region and polarized optical to IR continuum indicating that both scattering and synchrotron radiation contribute to the polarized emission. A faint linear structure at 6 cm (length ≈2 kpc), almost parallel to the minor axis of the galaxy is tentatively identified as a 'jet' and needs to be confirmed with higher resolution observations. The 'jet' extends into the narrow-line region and can easily be confined by the narrow-line gas. A plausible geometry of the emission regions is presented
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