Measurement of the electric polarizability of lithium by atom interferometry
Alain Miffre, Marion Jacquey, M Büchner +2 more
We have built an atom interferometer and, by applying an electric field on one of the two interfering beams, we have measured the static electric polarizability of lithium $\ensuremath{\alpha}=(24.33\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.16)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}30}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{m}}^{3}$ with a 0.66% uncertainty. Our experiment is similar to an experiment done on sodium in 1995 by Pritchard and co-workers, with several improvements: the electric field can be calculated analytically and the interference signals have a large intensity and a high visibility, resulting in accurate phase measurements. This experiment illustrates the extreme sensitivity of atom interferometry: when the atom enters the electric field, its velocity increases and the fractional change, equal to $4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ for our largest field, is measured with a ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ accuracy.
arXiv:quant-ph/0506106•Physical Review A•Jan 30, 2006•63 citations