Special Physics Seminar

Adventures of a clockmaker:
Keeping time, testing relativity, and engineering atom-light interactions

Christian Sanner

JILA
University of Colorado

State-of-the-art optical atomic clocks enable frequency metrology at the 19th decimal place. Beyond keeping time, optical clocks find applications in low-energy tests of fundamental physics, and quantum engineering their clockwork opens new avenues for next-generation quantum sensors. I will report on a recent test of special relativity with ytterbium ion optical clocks that led to hundredfold improved spacetime anisotropy limits [1]. Then I will focus on experiments that leverage a degenerate Fermi gas optical clock platform to explore new ways to manipulate light scattering properties and spontaneous decay, one of the fundamental decoherence mechanisms affecting optical clock performance [2].

[1]  C. Sanner et al., Nature 567, 204 (2019)
[2]  C. Sanner et al., Science 374, 979 (2021)