Cold Molecule Spectroscopy for Constraining the Evolution of the Fine Structure Constant

Details Cold Molecule Spectroscopy for Constraining the Evolution of the Fine Structure Constant Cold Molecule Spectroscopy for Constraining the Evolution of the Fine Structure Constant

2006-01-09

arxiv.org/abs/physics/0601054v2

Physics

Atomic Physics

This version corrects minor typos in the Zeeman shift discussion

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.143004

We report precise measurements of ground-state, $\lambda$-doublet microwave transitions in the hydroxyl radical molecule (OH). Utilizing slow, cold molecules produced by a Stark decelerator we have improved over the precision of the previous best measurement by twenty-five-fold for the F' = 2 $\to$ F = 2 transition, yielding (1 667 358 996 $\pm$ 4) Hz, and by ten-fold for the F' = 1 $\to$ F = 1 transition, yielding (1 665 401 803 $\pm$ 12) Hz. Comparing these laboratory frequencies to those from OH megamasers in interstellar space will allow a sensitivity of 1 ppm for $\Delta\alpha/\alpha$ over $\sim$$10^{10}$ years.

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