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

Malo Cadoret, Estefania de Mirandes, Pierre Cladé, Saïda Guellati-Khélifa, Catherine Schwob, François Nez, Lucile Julien, and François Biraben
Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 230801 – Published 3 December 2008

Abstract

We report a new experimental scheme which combines atom interferometry with Bloch oscillations to provide a new measurement of the ratio h/mRb. 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/mRb leads to a new determination of the fine structure constant α1=137.03599945(62) with a relative uncertainty of 4.6×109. The comparison of this result with the value deduced from the measurement of the electron anomaly provides the most stringent test of QED.

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  • Received 19 June 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.230801

©2008 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Malo Cadoret1, Estefania de Mirandes1, Pierre Cladé1, Saïda Guellati-Khélifa2, Catherine Schwob1, François Nez1, Lucile Julien1, and François Biraben1

  • 1Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
  • 2Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, 292 rue Saint Martin, 75141 Paris Cedex 03, France

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Vol. 101, Iss. 23 — 5 December 2008

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