Astrophysics, atomic clocks and fundamental constants

Abstract

Abstract. The paper gives a brief introduction to the special topic volume.Since the end of the 19th century our understanding of natural laws has greatly advanced and has reached a quite deep fundamental level, involving quantum effects, special and general relativity, quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theories of other interactions. Approaching quantum gravity is a remaining experimental and theoretical challenge.

Neutral Atom Frequency Reference in the Deep Ultraviolet withFractional Uncertainty=5.7×10−15

“…Optical clock technology is still relatively young; yet four atomic species have demonstrated line-center frequency uncertainties at or below 10 −16 [2][3][4], with the potential of several more to follow [5][6][7][8]. This will enable further precision in tests searching for new physics in the low energy regime [9][10][11].…”

Scale-invariant dynamics in the Solar system

“…For much heavier elements, the expected shift is not exactly the same due to special relativistic corrections that become more important for atoms orbiting a more charged nucleus. This allowed Karshenboim & Peik (2008) to place stringent constraints on possible time evolution of the Rydberg constant, completely ruling out the possibility that it grows ∝ t.…”

Statistical uncertainty of 2.5×10−16for the199HgYang1, Mejri2, Zhang3 et al. 2014Phys. Rev. A14050View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…Tests of fundamental physics also drive their development; for example, atomic frequency references have been used to search for tenable temporal changes in fundamental constants [3][4][5]. As their accuracy has improved, tighter constraints have been placed on the drift rate of the electron-to-proton mass ratio [6,7] and the fine-structure constant [5,7,8].…”