Enhanced Sensitivity to Variation of m(e)/m(p) in molecular spectra

We propose new experiments with high sensitivity to a possible variation of the electron-to-proton mass ratio mu identical with m(e)/m(p). We consider a nearly degenerate pair of molecular vibrational levels, each associated with a different electronic potential. With respect to a change in mu, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2008-02, Vol.100 (4), p.043202-043202
Main Authors: DeMille, D, Sainis, S, Sage, J, Bergeman, T, Kotochigova, S, Tiesinga, E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CESIUM
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
ELECTRONS
MASS
PROTONS
SPECTRA
VARIATIONS
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Summary:We propose new experiments with high sensitivity to a possible variation of the electron-to-proton mass ratio mu identical with m(e)/m(p). We consider a nearly degenerate pair of molecular vibrational levels, each associated with a different electronic potential. With respect to a change in mu, the change in the splitting between such levels can be large both on an absolute scale and relative to the splitting. We demonstrate the existence of such pairs of states in Cs2, where the narrow spectral lines achievable with ultracold molecules make the system promising for future searches for small variations in mu.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.043202