Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) has been observed in a dilute gas of sodium atoms. A Bose-Einstein condensate consists of a macroscopic population of the ground state of the system, and is a coherent state of matter. In an ideal gas, this phase transition is purely quantum-statistical. The study of BEC in weakly interacting systems which can be controlled and observed with precision holds the promise of revealing new macroscopic quantum phenomena that can be understood from first principles.

Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms

This paper gives the 2010 self-consistent set of values of the basic constants and conversion factors of physics and chemistry recommended by the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) for international use. The 2010 adjustment takes into account the data considered in the 2006 adjustment as well as the data that became available from 1 January 2007, after the closing date of that adjustment, until 31 December 2010, the closing date of the new adjustment. Further, it describes in detail the adjustment of the values of the constants, including the selection of the final set of input data based on the results of least-squares analyses. The 2010 set replaces the previously recommended 2006 CODATA set and may also be found on the World Wide Web at physics.nist.gov/constants.

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CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 2006

Advances in atomic physics, such as cooling and trapping of atoms and molecules and developments in frequency metrology, have added orders of magnitude to the precision of atom-based clocks and sensors. Applications extend beyond atomic physics and this article reviews using these new techniques to address important challenges in physics and to look for variations in the fundamental constants, search for interactions beyond the standard model of particle physics, and test the principles of general relativity.

Search for New Physics with Atoms and Molecules

Substantial effort has been placed on developing semiconducting carbon nanotubes and nanowires as building blocks for electronic devices--such as field-effect transistors--that could replace conventional silicon transistors in hybrid electronics or lead to stand-alone nanosystems. Attaching electric contacts to individual devices is a first step towards integration, and this step has been addressed using lithographically defined metal electrodes. Yet, these metal contacts define a size scale that is much larger than the nanometre-scale building blocks, thus limiting many potential advantages. Here we report an integrated contact and interconnection solution that overcomes this size constraint through selective transformation of silicon nanowires into metallic nickel silicide (NiSi) nanowires. Electrical measurements show that the single crystal nickel silicide nanowires have ideal resistivities of about 10 microOmega cm and remarkably high failure-current densities, >10(8) A cm(-2). In addition, we demonstrate the fabrication of nickel silicide/silicon (NiSi/Si) nanowire heterostructures with atomically sharp metal-semiconductor interfaces. We produce field-effect transistors based on those heterostructures in which the source-drain contacts are defined by the metallic NiSi nanowire regions. Our approach is fully compatible with conventional planar silicon electronics and extendable to the 10-nm scale using a crossed-nanowire architecture.

Single-crystal metallic nanowires and metal/semiconductor nanowire heterostructures

Quantum computing with trapped ions

We present a new experimental value for the magnetic moment of the electron bound in hydrogenlike carbon (12C5+): g(exp) = 2.001 041 596 (5). This is the most precise determination of an atomic g(J) factor so far. The experiment was carried out on a single 12C5+ ion stored in a Penning trap. The high accuracy was made possible by spatially separating the induction of spin flips and the analysis of the spin direction. The current theoretical value amounts to g(th) = 2.001 041 591 (7). Together experiment and theory test the bound-state QED contributions to the g(J) factor of a bound electron to a precision of 1%.

High-Accuracy Measurement of the Magnetic Moment Anomaly of the Electron Bound in Hydrogenlike Carbon

A new independent value for the electron's mass in units of the atomic mass unit is presented, ${m}_{e}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}0.0005485799092(4)\mathrm{u}$. The value is obtained from our recent measurement of the $g$ factor of the electron in ${}^{12}{\mathrm{C}}^{5+}$ in combination with the most recent quantum electrodynamical (QED) predictions. In the QED corrections, terms of order ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}^{2}$ were included by a perturbation expansion in $Z\ensuremath{\alpha}$. Our total precision is three times better than that of the accepted value for the electron's mass.

New Determination of the Electron’s Mass

Invariance under the charge, parity, time-reversal (CPT) transformation is one of the fundamental symmetries of the standard model of particle physics. This CPT invariance implies that the fundamental properties of antiparticles and their matter-conjugates are identical, apart from signs. There is a deep link between CPT invariance and Lorentz symmetry--that is, the laws of nature seem to be invariant under the symmetry transformation of spacetime--although it is model dependent. A number of high-precision CPT and Lorentz invariance tests--using a co-magnetometer, a torsion pendulum and a maser, among others--have been performed, but only a few direct high-precision CPT tests that compare the fundamental properties of matter and antimatter are available. Here we report high-precision cyclotron frequency comparisons of a single antiproton and a negatively charged hydrogen ion (H(-)) carried out in a Penning trap system. From 13,000 frequency measurements we compare the charge-to-mass ratio for the antiproton (q/m)p- to that for the proton (q/m)p and obtain (q/m)p-/(q/m)p − 1 =1(69) × 10(-12). The measurements were performed at cyclotron frequencies of 29.6 megahertz, so our result shows that the CPT theorem holds at the atto-electronvolt scale. Our precision of 69 parts per trillion exceeds the energy resolution of previous antiproton-to-proton mass comparisons as well as the respective figure of merit of the standard model extension by a factor of four. In addition, we give a limit on sidereal variations in the measured ratio of <720 parts per trillion. By following the arguments of ref. 11, our result can be interpreted as a stringent test of the weak equivalence principle of general relativity using baryonic antimatter, and it sets a new limit on the gravitational anomaly parameter of |α − 1| < 8.7 × 10(-7).

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High-precision comparison of the antiproton-to-proton charge-to-mass ratio.

We determined the experimental value of the $g$ factor of the electron bound in hydrogenlike $^{28}\mathrm{Si}^{13+}$ by using a single ion confined in a cylindrical Penning trap. From the ratio of the ion's cyclotron frequency and the induced spin flip frequency, we obtain $g=1.995\text{ }348\text{ }958\text{ }7(5)(3)(8)$. It is in excellent agreement with the state-of-the-art theoretical value of 1.995 348 958 0(17), which includes QED contributions up to the two-loop level of the order of $(Z\ensuremath{\alpha}{)}^{2}$ and $(Z\ensuremath{\alpha}{)}^{4}$ and represents a stringent test of bound-state quantum electrodynamics calculations.

g Factor of Hydrogenlike 28Si13

We present a detailed description of an experiment to determine the magnetic moment of an electron bound in hydrogen-like carbon. This forms a high-accuracy test of bound-state quantum electrodynamics. Special emphasis is given to the discussion of systematic uncertainties which limit our present accuracy. The described experimental setup may also be used for the determination of g factors in other highly charged ions.

Wolfgang Quint

Papers

High-Accuracy Measurement of the Magnetic Moment Anomaly of the Electron Bound in Hydrogenlike Carbon

New Determination of the Electron’s Mass

High-precision comparison of the antiproton-to-proton charge-to-mass ratio.

g Factor of Hydrogenlike 28Si13

Double Penning trap technique for precise g factor determinations in highly charged ions