A Search for Variations of Fundamental Constants using Atomic Fountain Clocks

Abstract

Over five years we have compared the hyperfine frequencies of 133Cs and 87Rb atoms in their electronic ground state using several laser cooled 133Cs and 87Rb atomic fountains with an accuracy of ~10^{-15}. These measurements set a stringent upper bound to a possible fractional time variation of the ratio between the two frequencies : (d/dt)ln(nu_Rb/nu_Cs)=(0.2 +/- 7.0)*10^{-16} yr^{-1} (1 sigma uncertainty). The same limit applies to a possible variation of the quantity (mu_Rb/mu_Cs)*alpha^{-0.44}, which involves the ratio of nuclear magnetic moments and the fine structure constant.

4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett

References in corpus (10)

• The String Dilaton and a Least Coupling Principle
• Further Evidence for Cosmological Evolution of the Fine Structure Constant
• Runaway dilaton and equivalence principle violations
• The Oklo bound on the time variation of the fine-structure constant revisited
• Calculations of the Relativistic Effects in Many-Electron Atoms and Space-Time Variation of Fundamental Constants
• Absolute Frequency Measurements of the Hg^+ and Ca Optical Clock Transitions with a Femtosecond Laser
• Testing the stability of fundamental constants with the 199Hg+ single-ion optical clock
• The Cosmological Evolution of the Nucleon Mass and the Electroweak Coupling Constants
• Controlling the cold collision shift in high precision atomic interferometry
• Do the Fundamental Constants Vary in the Course of the Cosmological Evolution?

Cited by in corpus (118)

• Dynamics of dark energy
• The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
• CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 2010
• The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
• Varying constants, Gravitation and Cosmology
• The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
• Further evidence for a variable fine-structure constant from Keck/HIRES QSO absorption spectra
• New Limits to the Drift of Fundamental Constants from Laboratory Measurements
• Testing General Relativity with Atom Interferometry
• Matter-gravity couplings and Lorentz violation
• New Limits on Coupling of Fundamental Constants to Gravity Using ${}^{87}$Sr Optical Lattice Clocks
• New limit on the present temporal variation of the fine structure constant
• Progress in Atomic Fountains at LNE-SYRTE
• Enhanced effect of temporal variation of the fine structure constant in diatomic molecules
• Testing the stability of fundamental constants with the 199Hg+ single-ion optical clock
• Cold atom Clocks and Applications
• Enhanced sensitivity to variation of the fine structure constant and m_p/m_e in diatomic molecules
• Stability of the proton-to-electron mass ratio
• General Relativistic Effects in Atom Interferometry
• Enhanced sensitivity to variation of $m_e/m_p$ in molecular spectra
• Ultra-low noise microwave generation with fiber-based optical frequency comb and application to atomic fountain clock
• Experimental Tests of General Relativity
• Dependence of nuclear magnetic moments on quark masses and limits on temporal variation of fundamental constants from atomic clock experiments
• Spectroscopy of the ${}^1{S}_0-{}^3{P}_0$ Clock Transition of ${}^{87}$Sr in an Optical Lattice
• Long-distance frequency dissemination with a resolution of 10-17
• The absolute frequency of the 87Sr optical clock transition
• Limits on the temporal variation of the fine structure constant, quark masses and strong interaction from quasar absorption spectra and atomic clock experiments
• Local and Global Variations of The Fine Structure Constant
• Improved tests of Local Position Invariance using 87Rb and 133Cs fountains
• An accurate optical lattice clock with 87Sr atoms
• Experimental Tests of General Relativity: Recent Progress and Future Directions
• One decade of quantum optimal control in the chopped random basis
• Relativistic effects in two valence electron atoms and ions and the search for variation of the fine structure constant
• The Feasibility of a Fully Miniaturized Magneto-Optical Trap for Portable Ultracold Quantum Technology
• Keck telescope constraint on cosmological variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio
• On the variation of the fine-structure constant: Very high resolution spectrum of QSO HE 0515-4414
• Models of quintessence coupled to the electromagnetic field and the cosmological evolution of alpha
• Time Variation of the Fine Structure Constant Driven by Quintessence
• Was Einstein Right? Testing Relativity at the Centenary
• Doppler-free spectroscopy of the 1S0-3P0 optical clock transition in laser-cooled fermionic isotopes of neutral mercury
• The Constancy of the Constants of Nature: Updates
• Limit on the Temporal Variation of the Fine-Structure Constant Using Atomic Dysprosium
• Measuring $\alpha$ in the Early Universe: CMB Polarization, Reionization and the Fisher Matrix Analysis
• WMAP Constraints on varying $\alpha$ and the Promise of Reionization
• A clock transition for a future optical frequency standard with trapped atoms
• Cryogenic sapphire oscillator with exceptionally high long-term frequency stability
• Breaking of the equivalence principle in the electromagnetic sector and its cosmological signatures
• Reconstructing the dark energy equation of state with varying couplings
• Enhancement of variation of fundamental constants in ultracold atom and molecule systems near Feshbach resonances
• Variation of fundamental constants: theory and observations
• Demonstration of a Dual Alkali Rb/Cs Atomic Fountain Clock
• Development of compact cold-atom sensors for inertial navigation
• State-insensitive trapping of Rb atoms: linearly versus circularly polarized lights
• Influence of lasers propagation delay on the sensitivity of atom interferometers
• Search for a Variation of the Fine Structure around the Supermassive Black Hole in Our Galactic Center
• Lorentz invariance violation and charge (non--)conservation: A general theoretical frame for extensions of the Maxwell equations
• Late-time cosmology of scalar-tensor theories with universal multiplicative coupling between the scalar field and the matter Lagrangian
• Probing variations in fundamental constants with radio and optical quasar absorption-line observations
• Varying Constants
• Testing General Relativity with Atomic Clocks
• The unit of time: present and future directions
• Towards a sensitive search for variation of the fine structure constant using radio-frequency E1 transitions in atomic dysprosium
• Fundamental Physical Constants: Looking from Different Angles
• The sensitivity of hyperfine structure to nuclear radius and quark mass variation
• Primordial Nucleosynthesis with varying fundamental constants: A semi-analytical approach
• Space-based research in fundamental physics and quantum technologies
• Investigation of the Gravitational Potential Dependence of the Fine-Structure Constant Using Atomic Dysprosium
• Early Universe Constraints on Time Variation of Fundamental Constants
• Measurement of fundamental thermal noise limit in a cryogenic sapphire frequency standard using bimodal maser oscillations
• CMB constraints on the fine structure constant
• Linearized Bekenstein Varying Alpha Models
• Varying Couplings in Electroweak Theory
• Cosmological evolution of Alpha driven by a general coupling with Quintessence
• The Fine-structure Constant as a Probe of Chemical Evolution and AGB Nucleosynthesis in Damped Lyman-alpha Systems
• Measurement of the Blackbody Radiation Shift of the 133Cs Hyperfine Transition in an Atomic Fountain
• Testing the Stability of the Fine Structure Constant in the Laboratory
• Blackbody radiation shift in 87Rb frequency standard
• Measuring Changes in the Fundamental Constants with Redshifted Radio Absorption Lines
• Possible variations of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ and their metrological significance
• Coulomb energy contribution to the excitation energy in ${}^{229}$Th and enhanced effect of $\alpha$ variation
• Searching for New Physics Through AMO Precision Measurements
• Time Evolution of the Fine Structure Constant in a Two-Field Quintessence Model
• Cosmological Variation of the Fine Structure Constant from an Ultra-Light Scalar Field: The Effects of Mass
• Time variation of the fine structure constant in the early universe and the Bekenstein model
• Relativistic and Radiative Corrections to the Mollow Spectrum
• Search for Possible Variation of the Fine Structure Constant
• Bouncing Anisotropic Universes with Varying Constants
• A linear Stark shift in dressed atoms as a signal to measure a nuclear anapole moment with a cold atom fountain or interferometer
• Sensitivity to alpha-variation in ultracold atomic-scattering experiments
• Evolution of the fine-structure constant in the non-linear regime
• Hunting dark energy with pressure-dependent photon-photon scattering
• Photoassociation of ultracold molecules near a Feshbach resonance as a probe of the electron-proton mass ratio variation
• The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: constraints on the time variation of fundamental constants from the large-scale two-point correlation function
• Varying Alpha Monopoles
• Variations of nuclear binding with quark masses
• Cosmic strings in Bekenstein-type models
• Recent Experimental Tests of Special Relativity
• Variation of the fine-structure constant: an update of statistical analyses with recent data
• Collisional perturbation of radio-frequency E1 transitions in an atomic beam of dysprosium
• Compact, robust, and spectrally pure diode-laser system with a filtered output and a tunable copy for absolute referencing
• Manifestations of dark matter and variations of fundamental constants in atoms and astrophysical phenomena
• Constraints on Field Theoretical Models for Variation of the Fine Structure Constant
• Variation of fundamental constants and white dwarfs
• Wavefront Curvature in Optical Atomic Beam Clocks
• The time variation of the fine structure constant: A statistical analysis of astronomical data
• Magnetic contributions in Bekenstein type models
• Variations of the Fine Structure Constant in Space and Time
• Using Atom Interferometery to Search for New Forces
• Time Variation of the Fine Structure Constant in the Spacetime of a Domain Wall
• Quantum Sensing Using Atomic Clocks for Nuclear and Particle Physics
• Single barium ion spectroscopy: light shifts, hyperfine structure, and progress on an optical frequency standard and atomic parity violation
• A relativistic unitary coupled-cluster study of electric quadrupole moment and magnetic dipole hyperfine constants of ^{199}Hg^{+}
• Variation of the fine structure constant in QSO spectra from coherent dark matter oscillations
• Gravitational Effects of Varying Alpha Strings
• Cosmological Consequences of Topological Defects: Dark Energy and Varying Fundamental Constants
• Time variation of the fine structure constant in decrumpling or TVSD model
• Solar System and Atomic Clock Bounds on Locally Coupled Swampland Scalars
• Future Dark Energy Constraints from Atomic Clocks