Improved bounds on Lorentz violation from composite pulse Ramsey spectroscopy in a trapped ion

authored by
Laura S. Dreissen, Chih-Han Yeh, Henning A. Fuerst, Kai C. Grensemann, Tanja Mehlstäubler
Abstract

In attempts to unify the four known fundamental forces in a single quantum-consistent theory, it is suggested that Lorentz symmetry may be broken at the Planck scale. Here we search for Lorentz violation at the low-energy limit by comparing orthogonally oriented atomic orbitals in a Michelson-Morley-type experiment. We apply a robust radiofrequency composite pulse sequence in the

2F

7/2 manifold of an Yb

+ ion, extending the coherence time from 200 μs to more than 1 s. In this manner, we fully exploit the high intrinsic susceptibility of the

2F

7/2 state and take advantage of its exceptionally long lifetime. We match the stability of the previous best Lorentz symmetry test nearly an order of magnitude faster and improve the constraints on the symmetry breaking coefficients to the 10

−21 level. These results represent the most stringent test of this type of Lorentz violation. The demonstrated method can be further extended to ion Coulomb crystals.

Organisation(s)
Institute of Quantum Optics
CRC 1227 Designed Quantum States of Matter (DQ-mat)
External Organisation(s)
National Metrology Institute of Germany (PTB)
Type
Article
Journal
Nature Communications
Volume
13
ISSN
2041-1723
Publication date
27.11.2022
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34818-0 (Access: Open)