3:30–4:30 pm Maria Goeppert-Mayer Lecture Hall
New atom interferometers for fundamental physics
Holger Müller, Berkeley
Precision measurements of fundamental quantities test the standard model of particle physics and may even be used to search for new particles and interactions. We will report on our measurement of the fine-structure constant to an accuracy of 0.20 parts per billion (ppb), its implications for fundamental physics, and how we plan to improve the accuracy further to a level of 0.02 ppb. Building a new setup, we will take the spatial mode quality of the laser beam to an unprecedented level. We will also report on "lattice interferometry," in which we have interfered quantum states after storing them at spatially separated locations for as long as 25 seconds, and how we plan to use them for new gravitational experiments with matter waves.