Measurement of the fine-structure constant as a test of the Standard Model

DOI10.1126/SCIENCE.AAP7706zbMATH Open1416.81019arXiv1812.04130OpenAlexW3100673245WikidataQ56271217 ScholiaQ56271217MaRDI QIDQ4967559

Author name not available (Why is that?)

Publication date: 3 July 2019

Published in: (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Measurements of the fine-structure constant alpha require methods from across subfields and are thus powerful tests of the consistency of theory and experiment in physics. Using the recoil frequency of cesium-133 atoms in a matter-wave interferometer, we recorded the most accurate measurement of the fine-structure constant to date: alpha = 1/137.035999046(27) at 2.0 x 10^-10 accuracy. Using multiphoton interactions (Bragg diffraction and Bloch oscillations), we demonstrate the largest phase (12 million radians) of any Ramsey-Borde interferometer and control systematic effects at a level of 0.12 parts per billion. Comparison with Penning trap measurements of the electron gyromagnetic anomaly ge-2 via the Standard Model of particle physics is now limited by the uncertainty in ge-2; a 2.5 sigma tension rejects dark photons as the reason for the unexplained part of the muon's magnetic moment at a 99 percent confidence level. Implications for dark-sector candidates and electron substructure may be a sign of physics beyond the Standard Model that warrants further investigation.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1812.04130

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