Measurement of the fine structure constant as test of the standard model

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A precise determination of the fine-structure constant α allows for a test of the Standard Model of particle physics. We used matter-wave interferometry with cesium atoms to make the most accurate measurement of α to date, α = 1/137.035999046(27). Determining the value of α to an accuracy of 0.20 parts per billion provides an independent method for testing the accuracy of quantum electrodynamics and the Standard Model. It may also enable searches of the so-called “dark sector” for explanations of dark matter.

Using the recoil frequency of cesium-133 atoms in a matter-wave interferometer with multiphoton interactions (Bragg diffraction and Bloch oscillations), we demonstrate the largest phase (12 million radians) of any Ramsey-Bordé interferometer and control systematic effects at a level of 0.12 part per billion. Comparison with Penning trap measurements of the electron gyromagnetic anomaly ge − 2 via the Standard Model of particle physics is now limited by the uncertainty in ge − 2.