Jena 2013 – scientific programme
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GR: Fachverband Gravitation und Relativitätstheorie
GR 5: Experimente
GR 5.3: Talk
Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 17:00–17:15, HS 6
Testing the Theory of Relativity Using Ultra-stable Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillators — •Moritz Nagel1, Stephen Parker2, Katharina Möhle1, Klaus Döringshoff1, Sylvia Schikora1, Paul Stanwix2, Eugene Ivanov2, Evgeny Kovalchuk1, Mike Tobar2, and Achim Peters1 — 1Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Physik, AG Optische Metrologie, Newtonstr. 15, 12489 Berlin — 2School of Physics, The University Of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia
Modern Michelson-Morley-type experiments compare the electromagnetic eigenfrequencies of ultra-stable resonators to scrutinize one of the most fundamental principles of modern physics: Lorentz invariance.
We present details on our currently running Michelson-Morley-type experiment that utilizes two orthogonally aligned cryogenic sapphire microwave oscillators which have a fractional frequency stability in the 10−16 regime for integration times from 1 - 100 seconds. The oscillators are being actively rotated on a high-precision air-bearing turntable in the laboratory. This setup will have a sensitivity for signals of Lorentz invariance violations in the 10−18 to 10−19 regime after one year of continuous operation, representing a 100-fold improvement in such type of experiments.
In a next step we plan to combine these microwave oscillators with a set of ultra-stable cryogenic optical resonators currently being developed to perform an advanced Michelson-Morley-type experiment to investigate simultaneously a multitude of possible Lorentz invariance violations in the 10−20 regime.