NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
[Probing Planck-scale Physics with a Ne-21/He-3 Zeeman Maser]The Ne-21/He-3 Zeeman maser is a recently developed device which employs co-located ensembles of Ne-21 and He-3 atoms to provide sensitive differential measurements of the noble gas nuclear Zeeman splittings as a function of time, thereby greatly attenuating common-mode systematic effects such as uniform magnetic field variations. The Ne-21 maser will serve as a precision magnetometer to stabilize the system's static magnetic field, while the He-3 maser is used as a sensitive probe for violations of CPT and Lorentz symmetry by searching for small variations in the 3He maser frequency as the spatial orientation of the apparatus changes due to the rotation of the Earth (or placement on a rotating table). In the context of a general extension of the Standard Model of particle physics, the Ne-21/He-3 maser will provide the most sensitive search to date for CPT and Lorentz violation of the neutron: better than 10(exp -32) GeV, an improvement of more than an order of magnitude over past experiments. This exceptional precision will offer a rare opportunity to probe physics at the Planck scale. A future space-based Ne-21/He-3 maser or related device could provide even greater sensitivity to violations of CPT and Lorentz symmetry, and hence to Planck-scale physics, because of isolation from dominant systematic effects associated with ground-based operation, and because of access to different positions in space-time.
Document ID
20030064050
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Contractor or Grantee Report
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
June 1, 2003
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG8-1784
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
Document Inquiry

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available