Calibration of an astrophysical spectrograph below 1 m/s using a laser frequency comb.

We deployed two wavelength calibrators based on laser frequency combs ("astro-combs") at an astronomical telescope. One astro-comb operated over a 100 nm band in the deep red (∼ 800 nm) and a second operated over a 20 nm band in the blue (∼ 400 nm). We used these red and blue astro-combs to calibrate a high-resolution astrophysical spectrograph integrated with a 1.5 m telescope, and demonstrated calibration precision and stability sufficient to enable detection of changes in stellar radial velocity < 1 m/s.

In-situ determination of astro-comb calibrator lines to better than 10 cm s(-1).

Improved wavelength calibrators for high-resolution astrophysical spectrographs will be essential for precision radial velocity (RV) detection of Earth-like exoplanets and direct observation of cosmological deceleration. The astro-comb is a combination of an octave-spanning femtosecond laser frequency comb and a Fabry-Pérot cavity used to achieve calibrator line spacings that can be resolved by an astrophysical spectrograph. Systematic spectral shifts associated with the cavity can be 0.1-1 MHz, corresponding to RV errors of 10-100 cm/s, due to the dispersive properties of the cavity mirrors over broad spectral widths. Although these systematic shifts are very stable, their correction is crucial to high accuracy astrophysical spectroscopy. Here, we demonstrate an in-situ technique to determine the systematic shifts of astro-comb lines due to finite Fabry-Pérot cavity dispersion. The technique is practical for implementation at a telescope-based spectrograph to enable wavelength calibration accuracy better than 10 cm/s.

Limits on anomalous spin-spin couplings between neutrons.

We report experimental limits on new spin-dependent macroscopic forces between neutrons. We measured the nuclear Zeeman frequencies of a 3He/129Xe maser while modulating the nuclear spin polarization of a nearby 3He ensemble in a separate glass cell. We place limits on the coupling strength of neutron spin-spin interactions mediated by light pseudoscalar particles like the axion [g(p)g(p)/(4pihc)] at the 3 x 10(-7) level for interaction ranges longer than about 40 cm. This limit is about 10(-5) the size of the magnetic dipole-dipole interaction between neutrons.

Optical clocks based on ultranarrow three-photon resonances in alkaline Earth atoms.

A sharp resonance line that appears in three-photon transitions between the 1S0 and 3P0 states of alkaline earth and Yb atoms is proposed as an optical frequency standard. This proposal permits the use of the even isotopes, in which the clock transition is narrower than in proposed clocks using the odd isotopes and the energy interval is not affected by external magnetic fields or the polarization of trapping light. With this method, the width and the rate of the clock transition can, in principle, be continuously adjusted from the MHz level to sub-mHz without loss of signal amplitude by varying the intensities of the three optical beams. Doppler and recoil effects can be eliminated by proper alignment of the three optical beams or by point confinement in a lattice trap. Light-shift effects on the clock accuracy can be limited to below a part in 10(18).

Observation of the 1S0-3P0 transition in atomic ytterbium for optical clocks and qubit arrays.

We report an observation of the weak 6 1S0-6 3P0 transition in (171,173)Yb as an important step to establishing Yb as a primary candidate for future optical frequency standards, and to open up a new approach for qubits using the 1S0 and 3P0 states of Yb atoms in an optical lattice.