Precise measurement of h/m{sub Rb} using Bloch oscillations in a vertical optical lattice: Determination of the fine-structure constant

Journal Article · Wed Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2006 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.74.052109· OSTI ID:20974688

Clade, Pierre; Mirandes, Estefania de; Cadoret, Malo; Guellati-Khelifa, Saieda; Schwob, Catherine; Nez, Francois; Julien, Lucile; Biraben, Francois ^[1]

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1. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Ecole Normale Superieure, CNRS, UPMC, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05 (France)

Bloch oscillations in a frequency-chirped optical lattice are a powerful tool to transfer coherently many photon momenta to atoms. We have used this method to measure accurately the ratio h/m{sub Rb}. In this paper we detail the experimental procedure and we present a complete analysis of the different systematic effects. They yield a global relative uncertainty of 13 parts per 10{sup 9} (ppb). The measured value of h/m{sub Rb} is 4.591 359 29 (6)x10{sup -9} m{sup 2} s{sup -1}. The deduced value of the fine-structure constant is {alpha}{sup -1}=137.035 998 84 (91) with a relative uncertainty of 6.7 ppb.

• OSTI ID: 20974688
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 74, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.74.052109; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATOMS
BLOCH THEORY
COOLING
FINE STRUCTURE
LASER RADIATION
OPTICS
OSCILLATIONS
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
PHOTONS