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Measurement of a magic-zero wavelength

Atomic Physics 2012-08-24 v1

Abstract

Light at a magic-zero wavelength causes zero energy shift for an atom. We measured the longest magic-zero wavelength for ground state potassium atoms to be λzero=768.971(1)\lambda_\textrm{zero}=768.971(1) nm, and we show how this provides an improved experimental benchmark for atomic structure calculations. This λzero\lambda_\textrm{zero} measurement determines the ratio of the potassium atom D1 and D2 line strengths with record precision. It also demonstrates a new application for atom interferometry, and we discuss how decoherence will fundamentally limit future measurements of magic-zero wavelengths.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1208.4653,
  title  = {Measurement of a magic-zero wavelength},
  author = {William F. Holmgren and Raisa Trubko and Ivan Hromada and Alexander D. Cronin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1208.4653},
  year   = {2012}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-21T21:54:16.161Z