Astrophysics

We have used molecular hydrogen transitions in high quality spectra of quasars Q0403-443, Q0347-383 and Q0528-250, to search for a change in the proton-to-electron mass ratio, mu. Our improvement on previous works is twofold. Firstly, we use an improved technique to calibrate the wavelength scale of the VLT/UVES data, which reduces systematics. Secondly, we model all the hydrogen Lyman alpha transitions in the vicinity of each molecular hydrogen transition. The motivation for doing so is to reduce systematic effects associated with the use of low order polynomial continuum approximations near the molecular hydrogen transitions. We find a fractional change, delta(mu)/mu of (+2.6 ± 3.0) x 10^(-6). Our measurement error is a factor of two improvement over Reinhold et al [PRL 96, 151101 (2006)] who find a 4-sigma detection of (+24 +/- 6) x 10^(-6). The new result we present in this paper, coupled with the previous results on varying alpha, appear inconsistent with generic predictions from Grand Unified Theories, suggesting either the latter are invalid, or the varying alpha results wrong.

High precision measurements in atomic and molecular systems have reached unprecedented accuracy owing to the state-of-the-art quantum control of both light and matter. We have recently completed an evaluation of the uncertainty of our 87Sr optical lattice clock at the 1x10e-16 fractional level, surpassing the best current evaluations of Cs primary standards. By analyzing worldwide measurements of the absolute frequency of the clock transitions in Sr, we constrain temporal variations of fundamental physical constants as well as their possible couplings to the gravitational potential. We will report the latest results on our 87Sr optical atomic clock, as well as the use of the Sr system to constrain variations of the fine-structure constant.

We present recent and ongoing work that uses precision frequency generation and phase measurement to test the constancy of the speed of light Local Position Invariance (LPI) and the Lorentz Invariance (LI) of the photon with respect to the Standard Model of Particle Physics under the frame work of the Standard Model Extension (SME). The first experiment consists of a pair of orthogonally orientated single crystal sapphire resonators cooled to cryogenic temperatures and configured as stable oscillators operating in Whispering Gallery Mode (Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator). The experiment is continuously rotated at a period of about 20 seconds, and modulations are searched for with respect to an absolute frame of reference. Our experiment has confirmed Lorentz Invariance at sensitivity better than one order of magnitude than previous tests. The experiment is now being upgraded and has the potential to improve this result by further one and a half orders of magnitude. The second experiment consists of a Mach-Zender Interferometer with a magnetic material in one arm. This experiment allows us to measure odd parity and scalar Lorentz violating parameters predicted in the SME, in which the cavity experiment either exhibit suppressed or no sensitivity to. The experiment has been in continuous operation since September 2007 and has put a limit of order 10^-7 on the scalar Lorentz violating parameter, we show that an upgraded experiment can improve this result by a few more orders of magnitude. The final experiment measures over seven years the frequency comparison of a Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator and a Hydrogen maser at the Paris Observatory. Amongst the data we search for signals correlated with the changing gravitational potential (test of LPI) and reference frame velocity (test of LI), with first results to be presented.

Optical frequency standards based on forbidden transitions of trapped and laser-cooled ions have now achieved significantly higher stability and greater accuracy than primary cesium clocks. At PTB we investigate an optical clock based on the electric quadrupole transition S1/2 – D3/2 at 688 THz in the 171Yb+ ion and have shown that the frequencies realized in two independent ion traps agree to within a few parts in 1016. Results from a sequence of precise measurements of the transition frequency are now available that cover a period of seven years. Combined with data obtained at NIST on the quadrupole transition in Hg+, this allows to derive a model-independent limit for a temporal drift of the fine structure constant. We prepare to observe two more optical transitions that will provide increased sensitivity to alpha variations: The electric-octupole transition S1/2 - F7/2of Yb+ at 642 THz offers a sub-hertz frequency resolution. The ratio of the 688 THz and 642 THz frequencies in Yb+ can be measured as a dimensionless number with a femtosecond laser frequency comb. Repeated measurements of this quantity permit to search for temporal variations of alpha with a sensitivity factor ≈7, the highest in any of the available combinations of optical frequency standards. Much higher sensitivity (of order 104) may be obtained in the study of the 7.6 eV nuclear transition between the two lowest states of Th-229. We have developed a concept for a highly accurate nuclear clock based on this transition and describe first steps towards the experimental realization. This work is supported by DFG, FQXi and QUEST.

At present a number of current or proposed experiments are directed towards a search for a `new physics\' by detecting variations of fundamental physical constants or violations of certain basic symmetries. Various problems related to the phenomenology of such experiments will be considered.

I will present a brief introduction to Big Bang Nucleosynthesis theory and observation. I will then discuss BBN as a probe of hadronic mass variation in the very early universe, including comparison with the observed Li7 discrepancy. Finally I want to explore the possibility of overproducing Li6 by three orders of magnitude in order to match reported observations.