Single-photon large-momentum-transfer atom interferometry scheme for Sr or Yb atoms with application to determining the fine-structure constant
J. Schelfhout, T. M. Hird, Kenneth M. Hughes +1 more
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
arXiv:2403.10225•Physical Review A•Nov 12, 2024•10 citations