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Limits on Violations of Lorentz Symmetry and the Einstein Equivalence Principle using Radio-Frequency Spectroscopy of Atomic Dysprosium

M. A. Hohensee, N. Leefer, D. Budker, C. Harabati, V. A. Dzuba, and V. V. Flambaum
Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 050401 – Published 29 July 2013
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Abstract

We report a joint test of local Lorentz invariance and the Einstein equivalence principle for electrons, using long-term measurements of the transition frequency between two nearly degenerate states of atomic dysprosium. We present many-body calculations which demonstrate that the energy splitting of these states is particularly sensitive to violations of both special and general relativity. We limit Lorentz violation for electrons at the level of 1017, matching or improving the best laboratory and astrophysical limits by up to a factor of 10, and improve bounds on gravitational redshift anomalies for electrons by 2 orders of magnitude, to 108. With some enhancements, our experiment may be sensitive to Lorentz violation at the level of 9×1020.

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  • Received 14 March 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.050401

© 2013 American Physical Society

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Testing Relativity Using Earth’s Motion

Published 29 July 2013

An experiment that searched for violations of relativity with unprecedented precision may lead to new probes of phenomena beyond standard physics theories.

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Authors & Affiliations

M. A. Hohensee*, N. Leefer, and D. Budker

  • Physics Department, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA

C. Harabati, V. A. Dzuba, and V. V. Flambaum

  • School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia

  • *hohensee@berkeley.edu

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Vol. 111, Iss. 5 — 2 August 2013

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