Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 271-276). / We report on a search for an annual variation of a daily sidereal modulation of the frequency difference between co-located ¹²⁹Xe and ³He Zeeman masers that sets a stringent limit on boost-dependent Lorentz and CPT violation involving the neutron, consistent with no effect at the level of 150 nHz. In the framework of the general Standard-Model Extension, our result provides the first clean test for the fermion sector of the symmetry of spacetime under boost transformations at a level of 10-27 GeV [1]. We also report progress on the optimization and operation of the Harvard-Smithsonian ¹²⁹Xe/³He dual noble gas maser. The ¹²⁹Xe/³He maser is the first device to sustain simultaneous active maser oscillations on distinct transitions in two intermingled atomic species, and it allows sensitive differential measurement of the ¹²⁹Xe and ³He nuclear spin-1/2 Zeeman transition frequencies [2, 3, 4]. The optimized ¹²⁹Xe /³He maser will be used for highly sensitive tests of Lorentz and CPT symmetry. / by Federico Canè. / Ph.D.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34648 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Canè, Federico |
| Contributors | Ronald L. Walsworth and Daniel Kleppner., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics. |
| Publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 276 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/34648, http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
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