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arXiv:0812.3139 · International Conference on Atomic Physics (ICAP)

DETERMINATION OF THE FINE STRUCTURE CONSTANT WITH ATOM INTERFEROMETRY AND BLOCH OSCILLATIONS

Malo Cadoret, Estefania de Mirandés, Pierre Cladé, Catherine Schwob, F. Nez, Lucile Julien, F. Biraben, Saïda Guellati-Khélifa

Published Mar 1, 2009• 0 citations
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Abstract

We use Bloch oscillations to transfer coherently many photon momenta to atoms. Then we can measure accurately the recoil velocity $\hbar k/m$ and deduce the fine structure constant $α$. The velocity variation due to Bloch oscillations is measured using atom interferometry. This method yields to a value of the fine structure constant $α^{-1}= 137.035 999 45 (62)$ with a relative uncertainty of about $4.5 \times 10^{-9}$.

DOI
10.1142/9789814273008_0007

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We use Bloch oscillations to transfer coherently many photon momenta to atoms. Then we can measure accurately the recoil velocity ℏk/m\hbar k/mℏk/m and deduce the fine structure constant ααα. The velocity variation due to Bloch oscillations is measured using atom interferometry. This method yields to a value of the fine structure constant α−1=137.03599945(62)α^{-1}= 137.035 999 45 (62)α−1=137.03599945(62) with a relative uncertainty of about 4.5×10−94.5 \times 10^{-9}4.5×10−9.
We report an accurate measurement of the recoil velocity of 87Rb atoms based on Bloch oscillations in a vertical accelerated optical lattice. We transfer about 900 recoil momenta with an efficiency of 99.97% per recoil. A set of 72 measurements of the recoil velocity, each one with a relative uncertainty of about 33 ppb in 20 min integration time, leads to a determination of the fine structure constant with a statistical relative uncertainty of 4.4 ppb. The detailed analysis of the different systematic errors yields to a relative uncertainty of 6.7 ppb. The deduced value of alpha-1 is 137.035 998 78(91).
In Paris, we are using an atom interferometer to precisely measure the recoil velocity of an atom that absorbs a photon. In order to reach a high sensitivity, many recoils are transferred to atoms using the Bloch oscillations technique. In this lecture, I will present in details this technique and its application to high precision measurement. I will especially describe in details how this method allows us to perform an atom recoil measurement at the level of 1.3×10−91.3 \times 10^{-9}1.3×10−9. This measurement is used in the most precise determination of the fine structure constant that is independent of quantum electrodynamics.
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 87Rb, using velocity-selective Raman transitions to select a subrecoil velocity class and to measure the final accelerated velocity class, we have determined h/m(Rb) 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 setup. This will allow us to measure h/m(Rb) better than 10(-8) and hence the fine structure constant alpha with an uncertainty close to the most accurate value coming from the (g-2) determination.
We show that Bloch oscillations of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice are a strong tool to measure accurately some physical constants. We describe in this paper two experimental approaches using a pure and an accelerated vertical standing waves to perform respectively a determination of the local acceleration of gravity ggg to ppm precision and of the fine structure constant α\alphaα with a relative uncertainty of 6,7 ppb.
The leading experimental determinations of the fine-structure constant α currently rely on atomic photon-recoil measurements from Ramsey-Bordé atom interferometry with large-momentum transfer to provide an absolute mass measurement. We propose an experimental scheme for an intermediate-scale differential atom interferometer to measure the photon recoil of neutral atomic species with a single-photon optical clock transition. We calculate trajectories for our scheme that optimize the recoil phase while nullifying the undesired gravity-gradient phase by considering independently launching two clouds of ultracold atoms with the appropriate initial conditions. For Sr and Yb, we find an atom interferometer of height 3 m to be sufficient for an absolute mass measurement precision of Δ m / m ∼ 1 × 10 − 11 with current technology. Such a precise measurement would halve the current uncertainty in α , an uncertainty that would no longer be limited by an absolute mass measurement. The removal of this limitation would allow the current uncertainty in α to be reduced by a factor of 10 by corresponding improvements in relative mass measurements, thus paving the way for higher-precision tests of the standard model of particle physics. Published by the American Physical Society 2024