Searches for Lorentz violation in 3He/129Xe clock comparison experiments

• Published in: Hyperfine interactions Vol. 215; no. 1-3; pp. 15 - 23
• Main Authors: Allmendinger, F., Burghoff, M., Heil, W., Karpuk, S., Kilian, W., Knappe-Grüneberg, S., Müller, W., Schmidt, U., Schnabel, A., Seifert, F., Sobolev, Yu, Trahms, L., Tullney, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.03.2013
• Subjects: Atomic; Condensed Matter Physics; Hadrons; Heavy Ions; Molecular; Nuclear Physics; Optical and Plasma Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thin Films; Lorentz-violation; Free spin precession; Clock comparison; Nuclear polarisation
• ISSN: 0304-3843; 1572-9540
• DOI: 10.1007/s10751-013-0785-x

We discuss the design and performance of a very sensitive low-field magnetometer based on the detection of free spin precession of gaseous, nuclear polarized 3 He or 129 Xe samples with a SQUID as magnetic flux detector. Characteristic spin precession times of up to 115 h were measured in low magnetic fields (about 1 μT) and in the regime of motional narrowing. With the detection of the free precession of co-located 3 He/ 129 Xe nuclear spins (clock comparison), the device can be used as ultra-sensitive probe for non-magnetic spin interactions, since the magnetic dipole interaction (Zeeman-term) drops out in the weighted frequency difference, i.e., Δ ω  =  ω He  −  γ He / γ Xe · ω Xe . We report on searches for Lorentz violating signatures by monitoring the Larmor frequencies of co-located 3 He/ 129 Xe spin samples as the laboratory reference frame rotates with respect to distant stars (sidereal modulation).