Cold Atom Clocks, Precision Oscillators and Fundamental Tests

S. Bize (1) , P. Wolf (1) , Michel Abgrall (1) , L. Cacciapuoti (1) , A. Clairon (1) , J. Gruenert (1) , Ph. Laurent (1) , P. Lemonde (1) , I. Maksimovic (1) , C. Mandache (1) , H. Marion (1) , F. Pereira Dos Santos (1) , P. Rosenbusch (1) , G. Santarelli , Yvan R. P. Sortais (1) , C. Vian (1) , S. Zhang (1) , C. Salomon (2) , A. N. Luiten , M. E. Tobar

1 SYRTE - Systèmes de Référence Temps Espace
2 LKB (Lhomond) - Laboratoire Kastler Brossel

We describe two experimental tests of the Equivalence Principle that are based on frequency measurements between precision oscillators and/or highly accurate atomic frequency standards. Based on comparisons between the hyperfine frequencies of 87Rb and 133Cs in atomic fountains, the first experiment constrains the stability of fundamental constants. The second experiment is based on a comparison between a cryogenic sapphire oscillator and a hydrogen maser. It tests Local Lorentz Invariance. In both cases, we report recent results which improve significantly over previous experiments.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]

S. Bize, P. Wolf, Michel Abgrall, L. Cacciapuoti, A. Clairon, et al.. Cold Atom Clocks, Precision Oscillators and Fundamental Tests. Lecture Notes in Physics, 2004, 648, pp.189-207. ⟨hal-00009470⟩