Testing local Lorentz and position invariance and variation of fundamental constants by searching the derivative of the comparison frequency between a cryogenic sapphire oscillator and hydrogen maser

Journal Article · Thu Jan 14 23:00:00 EST 2010 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.81.022003· OSTI ID:21409024

Tobar, Michael Edmund ^[1]; Wolf, Peter; Bize, Sebastien; Santarelli, Giorgio ^[2]; Flambaum, Victor ^[3]

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1. School of Physics, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia (Australia)
2. LNE-SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, UPMC, 75014 Paris (France)
3. School of Physics, The University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW (Australia)

The cryogenic sapphire oscillator at the Paris Observatory has been continuously compared to various hydrogen masers since 2001. The early data sets were used to test local Lorentz invariance in the Robertson-Mansouri-Sexl (RMS) framework by searching for sidereal modulations with respect to the cosmic microwave background, and represent the best Kennedy-Thorndike experiment to date. In this work, we present continuous operation over a period of greater than six years from September 2002 to December 2008 and present a more precise way to analyze the data by searching the time derivative of the comparison frequency. Because of the long-term operation we are able to search both sidereal and annual modulations. The results give P{sub KT}={beta}{sub RMS}-{alpha}{sub RMS}-1=-1.7(4.0)x10{sup -8} for the sidereal and -23(10)x10{sup -8} for the annual term, with a weighted mean of -4.8(3.7)x10{sup -8}, a factor of 8 better than previous. Also, we analyze the data with respect to a change in gravitational potential for both diurnal and annual variations. The result gives {beta}{sub H-Maser}-{beta}{sub CSO}=-2.7(1.4)x10{sup -4} for the annual and -6.9(4.0)x10{sup -4} for the diurnal terms, with a weighted mean of -3.2(1.3)x10{sup -4}. This result is 2 orders of magnitude better than other tests that use electromagnetic resonators. With respect to fundamental constants a limit can be provided on the variation with ambient gravitational potential and boost of a combination of the fine structure constant ({alpha}), the normalized quark mass (m{sub q}), and the electron to proton mass ratio (m{sub e}/m{sub p}), setting the first limit on boost dependence of order 10{sup -10}.

• OSTI ID: 21409024
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Journal Name: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 81; ISSN PRVDAQ; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
AMPLIFIERS
ANNUAL VARIATIONS
BARYONS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CORUNDUM
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
EVALUATION
FERMIONS
FINE STRUCTURE
FUNDAMENTAL CONSTANTS
HADRONS
HYDROGEN
INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES
LEPTONS
LORENTZ INVARIANCE
MASERS
MASS
MICROWAVE AMPLIFIERS
MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT
MICROWAVE RADIATION
MINERALS
MODULATION
NONMETALS
NUCLEONS
OSCILLATORS
OXIDE MINERALS
PROTONS
QUARKS
RADIATIONS
RELICT RADIATION
RESONATORS
SAPPHIRE
VARIATIONS