Absolute and ratio measurements of the polarizability of Na, K, and Rb with an atom interferometer

ORAL

Abstract

We present absolute and ratio measurements of the ground state electric dipole polarizability of sodium, potassium, and rubidium using a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer with an electric field gradient. The uncertainty of each absolute measurement is less than 1.0\% and the uncertainty of each ratio measurement is 0.3\%. Our measurements serve as improved tests of atomic structure calculations.

*This work is supported by the NSF

Authors

  • William Holmgren

    • University of Arizona, Department of Physics
  • Melissa Revelle

    • University of Arizona, Department of Physics
  • Vincent Lonij

    • University of Arizona, Department of Physics
  • Alexander Cronin

    • University of Arizona, Department of Physics