Combination of Bloch Oscillations with a Ramsey-Borde Interferometer: New Determination of the Fine Structure Constant

Journal Article · Fri Dec 05 00:00:00 EST 2008 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.101.230801· OSTI ID:21179954

Cadoret, Malo; Mirandes, Estefania de; Clade, Pierre; Schwob, Catherine; Nez, Francois; Julien, Lucile; Biraben, Francois ^[1]; Guellati-Khelifa, Saieda ^[2]

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1. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Ecole Normale Superieure, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05 (France)
2. Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, 292 rue Saint Martin, 75141 Paris Cedex 03 (France)

We report a new experimental scheme which combines atom interferometry with Bloch oscillations to provide a new measurement of the ratio h/m{sub Rb}. By using Bloch oscillations, we impart to the atoms up to 1600 recoil momenta and thus we improve the accuracy on the recoil velocity measurement. The deduced value of h/m{sub Rb} leads to a new determination of the fine structure constant {alpha}{sup -1}=137.035 999 45 (62) with a relative uncertainty of 4.6x10{sup -9}. The comparison of this result with the value deduced from the measurement of the electron anomaly provides the most stringent test of QED.

• OSTI ID: 21179954
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 101, Issue 23; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.230801; (c) 2008 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ELECTRONS
FINE STRUCTURE
INTERFEROMETERS
INTERFEROMETRY
OSCILLATIONS
QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS