New test of local Lorentz invariance using a Ne21-Rb-K comagnetometer

M. Smiciklas, J. M. Brown, L. W. Cheuk, S. J. Smullin, M. V. Romalis

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242 Scopus citations

Abstract

We develop a new comagnetometer using Ne21 atoms with nuclear spin I=3/2 and Rb atoms polarized by spin exchange with K atoms to search for tensor interactions that violate local Lorentz invariance. We frequently reverse the orientation of the experiment and search for signals at the first and second harmonics of the sidereal frequency. We constrain 4 of the 5 spatial Lorentz-violating coefficients cjkn that parametrize anisotropy of the maximum attainable velocity of a neutron at a level of 10-29, improving previous limits by 2 to 4 orders of magnitude and placing the most stringent constraint on deviations from local Lorentz invariance.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number171604
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume107
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 21 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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