Results of a new test of local Lorentz invariance: A search for mass anisotropy in 21Ne
Abstract
We have performed a test of Lorentz invariance by searching for a time-dependent quadrupole splitting of Zeeman levels in 21Ne. A component of the splitting at a twice the Earth's sidereal frequency (ΩS) would suggest a preferred direction which affects the local physics of the 21Ne nucleus. The technique employs polarized 21Ne and 3He gases produced by spin exchange with laser optically pumped Rb. Both species are contained in the same glass cell, the 3He providing magnetometry and a monitor of systematic effects. Data from two runs produce an upper limit at the 1σ confidence level of 2×10-21 eV (0.45×10-6 Hz) on the Lorentz-invariance violating contribution to the binding energy. This result is comparable to that of the most precise previous experiment.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- October 1989
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.63.1541
- Bibcode:
- 1989PhRvL..63.1541C
- Keywords:
-
- 04.80.+z;
- 07.58.+g;
- 32.60.+i;
- Zeeman and Stark effects