Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 230801 (2008) [4 pages]Combination of Bloch Oscillations with a Ramsey-Bordé Interferometer: New Determination of the Fine Structure ConstantReceived 19 June 2008; published 3 December 2008 We report a new experimental scheme which combines atom interferometry with Bloch oscillations to provide a new measurement of the ratio h/mRb. By using Bloch oscillations, we impart to the atoms up to 1600 recoil momenta and thus we improve the accuracy on the recoil velocity measurement. The deduced value of h/mRb leads to a new determination of the fine structure constant α-1=137.035 999 45 (62) with a relative uncertainty of 4.6×10-9. The comparison of this result with the value deduced from the measurement of the electron anomaly provides the most stringent test of QED. © 2008 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.230801
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.230801
PACS:
06.20.Jr, 37.10.Jk, 37.25.+k
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