A Search for Variations of Fundamental Constants using Atomic Fountain Clocks

H. Marion , F. Pereira dos Santos , Michel Abgrall , S. Zhang , Yvan R. P. Sortais , S. Bize , I. Maksimovic , D. Calonico , J. Gruenert , C. Mandache , P. Lemonde , G. Santarelli , Ph. Laurent , A. Clairon , C. Salomon (1)

1 LKB (Lhomond) - Laboratoire Kastler Brossel

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.

Domaines: Physique Atomique [physics.atom-ph]

H. Marion, F. Pereira dos Santos, Michel Abgrall, S. Zhang, Yvan R. P. Sortais, et al.. A Search for Variations of Fundamental Constants using Atomic Fountain Clocks. Physical Review Letters, 2003, 90, pp.150801. ⟨hal-00002552⟩