93 research outputs found
Compact solid-state laser source for 1S-2S spectroscopy in atomic hydrogen
We demonstrate a novel compact solid-state laser source for high-resolution
two-photon spectroscopy of the transition in atomic hydrogen. The
source emits up to 20 mW at 243 nm and consists of a 972 nm diode laser, a
tapered amplifier, and two doubling stages. The diode laser is actively
stabilized to a high-finesse cavity. We compare the new source to the stable
486 nm dye laser used in previous experiments and record 1S-2S spectra using
both systems. With the solid-state laser system we demonstrate a resolution of
the hydrogen spectrometer of 6 \times 10^{11} which is promising for a number
of high-precision measurements in hydrogen-like systems
Climate and society in long-term perspective: opportunities and pitfalls in the use of historical datasets
Recent advances in palaeoclimatology and the growing digital availability of large historical datasets on human activity have created new opportunities to investigate long-term interactions between climate and society. However, noncritical use of historical datasets can create pitfalls, resulting in misleading findings that may become entrenched as accepted knowledge. We demonstrate pitfalls in the content, use and interpretation of historical datasets in research into climate and society interaction through a systematic review of recent studies on the link between climate and (a) conflict incidence, (b) plague outbreaks and (c) agricultural productivity changes. We propose three sets of interventions to overcome these pitfalls, which involve a more critical and multidisciplinary collection and construction of historical datasets, increased specificity and transparency about uncertainty or biases, and replacing inductive with deductive approaches to causality. This will improve the validity and robustness of interpretations on the long-term relationship between climate and society
Cold Collision Frequency Shift of the 1S-2S Transition in Hydrogen
We have observed the cold collision frequency shift of the 1S-2S transition
in trapped spin-polarized atomic hydrogen. We find , where is the sample density. From this
we derive the 1S-2S s-wave triplet scattering length, nm,
which is in fair agreement with a recent calculation. The shift provides a
valuable probe of the distribution of densities in a trapped sample.Comment: Accepted for publication in PRL, 9 pages, 4 PostScript figures,
ReVTeX. Updated connection of our measurement to theoretical wor
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
Muonic hydrogen cascade time and lifetime of the short-lived state
Metastable muonic-hydrogen atoms undergo collisional -quenching,
with rates which depend strongly on whether the kinetic energy is above
or below the energy threshold. Above threshold, collisional
excitation followed by fast radiative
deexcitation is allowed. The corresponding short-lived component
was measured at 0.6 hPa room temperature gas pressure, with
lifetime ns (i.e.,
at liquid-hydrogen density) and population
% (per atom). In
addition, a value of the cascade time, ns, was found.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Maxwell Duality, Lorentz Invariance, and Topological Phase
We discuss the Maxwell electromagnetic duality relations between the
Aharonov-Bohm, Aharonov-Casher, and He-McKellar-Wilkens topological phases,
which allows a unified description of all three phenomena. We also elucidate
Lorentz transformations that allow these effects to be understood in an
intuitive fashion in the rest frame of the moving quantum particle. Finally, we
propose two experimental schemes for measuring the He-McKellar-Wilkens phase.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
Towards a test of the weak equivalence principle of gravity using anti-hydrogen at CERN
International audienceThe aim of the GBAR (Gravitational Behavior of Antimatter at Rest) experiment is to measure the free fall acceleration of an antihydrogen atom, in the terrestrial gravitational field at CERN and therefore test the Weak Equivalence Principle with antimatter. The aim is to measure the local gravity with a 1% uncertainty which can be reduced to few parts of 10-3
The next generation of laser spectroscopy experiments using light muonic atoms
Precision spectroscopy of light muonic atoms provides unique information
about the atomic and nuclear structure of these systems and thus represents a
way to access fundamental interactions, properties and constants. One
application comprises the determination of absolute nuclear charge radii with
unprecedented accuracy from measurements of the 2S-2P Lamb shift. Here,
we review recent results of nuclear charge radii extracted from muonic hydrogen
and helium spectroscopy and present experiment proposals to access light muonic
atoms with . In addition, our approaches towards a precise
measurement of the Zemach radii in muonic hydrogen (p) and helium
(He) are discussed. These results will provide new tests of
bound-state quantum-electrodynamics in hydrogen-like systems and can be used as
benchmarks for nuclear structure theories.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure
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