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It has been proposed that there could be a mirror copy of the standard model particles, restoring the parity symmetry in the weak interaction on the global level. Oscillations between a neutral standard model particle, such as the neutron, and its mirror counterpart could potentially answer various standing issues in physics today. Astrophysical studies and terrestrial experiments led by ultracold neutron storage measurements have investigated neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations and imposed constraints on the theoretical parameters. Recently, further analysis of these ultracold neutron storage experiments has yielded statistically significant anomalous signals that may be interpreted as neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations, assuming nonzero mirror magnetic fields. The neutron electric dipole moment collaboration performed a dedicated search at the Paul Scherrer Institute and found no evidence of neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations. Thereby, the following new lower limits on the oscillation time were obtained: τnn′>352 s at B′=0 (95% C.L.), τnn′>6s for 0.4μT9s for 5.0μT

We present the result of an experiment to measure the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron at the Paul Scherrer Institute using Ramsey’s method of separated oscillating magnetic fields with ultracold neutrons. Our measurement stands in the long history of EDM experiments probing physics violating time-reversal invariance. The salient features of this experiment were the use of a 199Hg comagnetometer and an array of optically pumped cesium vapor magnetometers to cancel and correct for magnetic-field changes. The statistical analysis was performed on blinded datasets by two separate groups, while the estimation of systematic effects profited from an unprecedented knowledge of the magnetic field. The measured value of the neutron EDM is dn=(0.0±1.1stat±0.2sys)×10−26 e.cm., Physical Review Letters, 124 (8), ISSN:0031-9007, ISSN:1079-7114

We propose a precision method for the in situ calibration of a three axis coil system based on the free induction decay of spin aligned atoms. In addition we present a simple and efficient method for measuring the three vector components of a residual magnetic field. © 2013 Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

We report magnetic resonance experiments with optical detection performed on cesium atoms trapped in a crystalline Hematrix. Multi-photon transitions, i.e., processes in which several radio-frequency photons are absorbed simultaneously in a given hyperfine Zeeman multiplet of the ground state, were the central topic of these studies. The long relaxation times of spin coherences of Cs in solid He allow such transitions to be spectrally resolved in fields as low as 1 mT. We observed all allowed multi-photon transitions up to the ΔM=8 transition in the F=4 state. We compare the experimental spectra with theoretical spectra obtained from numerical solutions of the Liouville equation that include optical pumping and the interaction with the static and oscillating fields. Multi-photon transitions may find applications in magnetometry, suppress systematic effects in EDM experiments, and allow the study of relaxation phenomena in doped He crystals. The demonstration of these features is still hindered by inhomogeneous line broadening.

Laser spectroscopy of atomic dopants can be used as a tool for the investigation of elementary excitations in quantum fluids and solids. Here we present results of a laser-spectroscopic study of transition-metal (Au, Cu) atoms in liquid and solid 4He. In particular we observe transitions of inner shell electrons that have not been studied before. Such transitions are weakly perturbed by the interaction with the helium matrix and display a characteristic structure composed of a sharp zero-phonon line and a relatively broad phonon wing.

We demonstrate optical pumping on the four hyperfine components of the Cs D1 transition by unpolarized (UPL) resonant laser light. The evidence is based on the reduction of the absorption coefficients κ0 with increasing light power P in an uncoated Cs vapor cell with isotropic spin relaxation. For comparison we perform the same quantitative κ0(P) measurements with linearly-polarized light (LPL) and circularly-polarized light (CPL). We find that our previously published algebraic expressions give an excellent description of all experimentally recorded induced transparency signals. Based on this we can make reliable absolute predictions for the power dependence of the spin orientation and alignment produced by pumping with LPL, CPL and UPL.

We have performed quantitative measurements of the variation of the on-resonance absorption coefficients ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{0}$ of the four hyperfine components of the Cs ${D}_{1}$ transition as a function of laser power $P$, for pumping with linearly and with circularly polarized light. Sublevel populations derived from rate equations assuming isotropic population relaxation (at a rate ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{1}$) yield algebraic ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{0}(P)$ dependences that do not reproduce the experimental findings from Cs vapor in a paraffin-coated cell. However, numerical results that consider spin-exchange relaxation (at a rate ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{se}}$) and isotropic relaxation fit the experimental data perfectly well. The fit parameters, viz., the absolute value of ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{0}$, the optical pumping saturation power ${P}_{\mathrm{sat}}$, and the ratio ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{se}}/{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{1}$, are well described by the experimental conditions and yield absolute values for ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{se}}$. The latter is consistent with the previously published Cs-Cs spin-exchange relaxation cross section.

We describe a method for recording the Rabi nutation of nuclear spin polarized 3He by optically pumped cesium magnetometers. The measurement is performed by detecting the time-dependent magnetic field produced by the 3He magnetization. The observed signals are compared to theoretical models and the results are used to precisely trace the evolution of the magnetization. This procedure represents a convenient way to control and measure the Rabi flip angle and the degree of spin polarization in experiments using 3He magnetometers. The method requires only very coarse knowledge of the applied magnetic field’s magnitude.

The neutron gyromagnetic ratio has been measured relative to that of the 199Hg atom with an uncertainty of 0.8 ppm. We employed an apparatus where ultracold neutrons and mercury atoms are stored in the same volume and report the result γn/γHg=3.8424574(30)., Physics Letters B, 739, ISSN:0370-2693, ISSN:0031-9163, ISSN:1873-2445

20 Optically pumped atomic magnetometers measure the Larmor frequency νL at which the bulk magnetization of a spin-polarized alkali metal vapour in a glass cell precesses around the field of interest B → 0. The precession frequency is related to the modulus of the magnetic field by νL=(γ/2π)|B → 0|, where γ/2π≈3.5Hz/nT for 133Cs, so that the magnetic field measurement consists in a frequency measurement. In so-called ODMR magnetometers, νL is determined by Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance using laser radiation. The general principle of an ODMR magnetometer can be understood as follows: A bulk spin polarization is created in the atomic medium through optical pumping, a process introduced in the 1950s, by which angular momentum of polarized light, resonant with an atomic m partial view of sensor array in the 19-channel Fribourg magnetocardiography (MCG) device and (inset) subject positioned for MCG measurements (details in the text). Optically pumped alkali magnetometers for biomedical applications

International audience; We describe the status of the new measurement of the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) to be performed at the strong source of ultra-cold neutrons at the Paul Scherrer Institut. The experimental technique is based on Ramsey's method of separated oscillatory fields, applied to UCN stored in vacuum in a chamber at room temperature. Our approach is performed in three phases: in phase one, new components have been developed and tested at the Institut Laue-Langevin. Phase two is being performed at PSI, where the apparatus was moved in 2009. Here, together with the optimization of the magnetic environment, the prospective UCN density of not, vert, similar 100 cm-3 should enable an improvement of the currently best limit by a factor of five within two years of data taking. In the third phase, a new spectrometer will then gain another order of magnitude in sensitivity. The improvements will be mainly due to (1) much higher UCN intensity, (2) improved magnetometry and magnetic field control, and (3) a double chamber configuration with opposite electric field directions.

The blackbody radiation shift, a manifestation of the Stark effect caused by blackbody radiation, contributes to the systematic uncertainty in Cs-based frequency standards at a level of 1 x 10(-15). Few measurements of the third-order scalar electric polarizability of the Cs ground states, mainly responsible for the ac Stark shift in atomic clocks, have given better than 10% accuracy. We report progress in the development of a fully optical Ramsey pump-probe measurement in a thermal atomic beam, based on coherent population trapping (CPT), for the measurement of the third-order scalar and tensor polarizabilities of the Cs ground states. We give details of the apparatus and measurement techniques as well as our first 500 Hz half-period Ramsey fringes.

International audience; The effort towards a new measurement of the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) at the Paul Scherrer Institut's (PSI) new high intensity source of ultracold neutrons (UCN) is described. The experimental technique relies on Ramsey's method of separated oscillatory fields, using UCN in vacuum with the apparatus at ambient temperature. In the first phase, R&D towards the upgrade of the RAL/Sussex/ILL apparatus is being performed at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL). In the second phase the apparatus, moved from ILL to PSI, will allow an improvement in experimental sensitivity by a factor of 5. In the third phase, a new spectrometer should gain another order of magnitude in sensitivity. The improvements will be mainly due to (1) much higher UCN intensity, (2) improved magnetometry and magnetic field control, and (3) a double chamber configuration with opposite electric field directions.

The optical absorption and fluorescence spectra of alkali atoms isolated in liquid and solid He matrices depend on specific macroscopic matrix properties, such as their molar volume and (anisotropic) elasticity constants, and provide thus information about the quantum matrix. We apply optical spectroscopy to investigate the properties of a recently discovered impurity-stabilized doped He4 solid that exists in equilibrium with pressurized superfluid helium close to the solidification∕melting point of pure helium. The difference between the local He density around the implanted atoms obtained in the present experiment and the average density measured earlier suggests that the impurity-stabilized solid He is in fact a porous structure filled with liquid helium.

The studies of defects formed by impurity particles (atoms, molecules, exciplexes, clusters, free electrons, and positive ions) embedded in liquid and solid 4 He are reviewed. The properties of free electrons and neutral particles in condensed helium are described by the electron (atomic) bubble model, whereas for the positive ions a snowball structure is considered. We compare the properties of the defects in condensed helium with those of metal atoms isolated in heavier rare gas matrices.

We report on extensive studies on the intrinsic sensitivity of a combined 3 He/Cs magnetometer. The magnetometer relies on the detection of the free spin precession of nuclear spin polarized 3 He by optically pumped cesium magnetometers. We characterize the relevant processes involved in the detection and quantify their impact on the total sensitivity of the magnetometer. An expression is derived that predicts the sensitivity of this magnetometer scheme and the results are compared to experiments. Excellent agreement is found between theory and experiments, and implications for an application of a 3 He/Cs magnetometer in an experiment searching for a permanent neutron electric dipole moment are discussed.

We describe a spin-echo method for ultracold neutrons (UCNs) confined in a precession chamber and exposed to a $|B_0|=1~\text{\mu T}$ magnetic field. We have demonstrated that the analysis of UCN spin-echo resonance signals in combination with knowledge of the ambient magnetic field provides an excellent method by which to reconstruct the energy spectrum of a confined ensemble of neutrons. The method takes advantage of the relative dephasing of spins arising from a gravitationally induced striation of stored UCN of different energies, and also permits an improved determination of the vertical magnetic-field gradient with an exceptional accuracy of $1.1~\text{pT/cm}$. This novel combination of a well-known nuclear resonance method and gravitationally induced vertical striation is unique in the realm of nuclear and particle physics and should prove to be invaluable for the assessment of systematic effects in precision experiments such as searches for an electric dipole moment of the neutron or the measurement of the neutron lifetime., Comment: 7 pages 5 figures, accepted by PRL, September, 08 2015

A little more than a decade ago our team extended the field of defect spectroscopy in cryocrystals to solid He4 matrices, in both their body-centered cubic (bcc) and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) configurations. In this review paper we survey our pioneering activities in the field and compare our results to those obtained in the related fields of doped superfluid helium and doped helium nanodroplets, domains developed in parallel to our own efforts. We present experimental details of the sample preparation and the different spectroscopic techniques. Experimental results of purely optical spectroscopic studies in atoms, exciplexes, and dimers and their interpretation in terms of the so-called bubble model will be discussed. A large part of the paper is devoted to optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) processes in alkali atoms. The quantum nature of the helium matrix and the highly isotropic shape of the local trapping sites in the bcc phase make solid helium crystals ideal matrices for high-resolutio...

We have performed a comparison of laser (LsOPM) and lamp (LpOPM) pumped cesium vapor magnetometers. Although the LsOPM operated 50% above its shot-noise limit we found an intrinsic sensitivity of 15 fT/\sqrt{Hz} and 25 fT/\sqrt{Hz} for the LsOPM and LpOPM respectively. Two modes of operation, viz.,the phase-stabilized and the self-oscillating mode were investigated and found to yield a similar performance. We have compared the performance of the LsOPM and the LpOPM directly by simultaneous measurements of field fluctuations of a 2 microtesla magnetic field inside a multilayer magnetic shield and have used one of the magnetometers for an active field stabilization. In the stabilized mode we found a gradient instability of 25 fT within an integration time of 100 s, which represents an upper limit of the long-term stability of the magnetometers., Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, 1 table

This paper extends our previous work on near-degenerate magnetic resonance transitions in alkali ground states involving the simultaneous absorption of multiple radio-frequency quanta. New experimental results with an improved spectral resolution were obtained with cesium atoms trapped in the cubic phase of a helium crystal. The main objective of the paper is a theoretical study of the influence of stochastic perturbations of given multipole orders on the various multi-photon coherences. Algebraic and numerical results for perturbations of both dipolar and quadrupolar symmetry are presented. The present experimental resolution does not yet allow us to distinguish between these two most likely relaxation mechanisms. Nonetheless, the experimental spectra are very well described when allowing in the calculations for a magnetic field inhomogeneity of 2×10-5.

We present a magnetometer based on optically pumped Cs atoms that measures the magnitude and direction of a 1 μT magnetic field. Multiple circularly polarized laser beams were used to probe the free spin precession of the Cs atoms. The design was optimized for long-time stability and achieves a scalar resolution better than 300 fT for integration times ranging from 80 ms to 1000 s. The best scalar resolution of less than 80 fT was reached with integration times of 1.6 to 6 s. We were able to measure the magnetic field direction with a resolution better than 10 μrad for integration times from 10 s up to 2000 s. ispartof: OPTICS EXPRESS vol:23 issue:17 pages:22108-22115 ispartof: location:United States status: published

We compare the expected effects of so-called gravitationally enhanced depolarization of ultracold neutrons to measurements carried out in a spin-precession chamber exposed to a variety of vertical magnetic-field gradients. In particular, we have investigated the dependence upon these field gradients of spin depolarization rates and also of shifts in the measured neutron Larmor precession frequency. We find excellent qualitative agreement, with gravitationally enhanced depolarization accounting for several previously unexplained features in the data., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Updated: section added about implications for current nEDM limit

We have studied both theoretically and experimentally the optical pumping of Cs atoms trapped in (body-centered-cubic and hexagonal-close-packed) crystalline ${}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ matrices. The theoretical approach is based on rate equations for which time-dependent and asymptotic solutions are obtained in the case of depopulation and repopulation pumping. Comparison with experiments show that repopulation pumping, i.e., a process in which spin polarization in the excited state is not destroyed, is the dominant pumping mechanism in both crystalline phases.

We have studied the magnetic properties of Cs atoms trapped in cubic and hexagonal solid ${}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ matrices. Observations in the cubic phase support the assumption of a highly symmetrical trapping site (spherical bubble), while zero-field magnetic resonance spectra and magnetic dipole-forbidden transitions observed in the hexagonal phase are interpreted in terms of a quadrupolar distortion of the atomic bubbles. From the perturbed hyperfine interaction in the hexagonal phase we infer a bubble deformation of $6%--7%$.

In a weak magnetic field coherent dark resonances in cesium vapor are split into up to 15 resolved components, depending on field direction and laser polarizations. We find that the selection rules are different for vapor cells with and without buffer gas due to a change in multipolarity of the two-photon coupling. At low laser intensities or sufficiently high buffer-gas pressure optical pumping between different dark resonances can be neglected so that a simple model allows one to calculate the relative line strengths, giving complete agreement with the experimental spectra. @S1050-2947~98!00907-X#

We report an experimental investigation of selective reflection spectra using a bichromatic field with a resonant \ensuremath{\Lambda}-type coupling to the ${\mathrm{D}}_{1}$ transition of Rb vapor atoms. The reflection spectra are found to have a more complex structure than equivalent spectra in transmission experiments. This structure is traced back to the effect of wall collisions on velocity selective optical pumping and saturation processes. The spectral line shapes are well described by a theoretical model developed in the text. In addition we report the observation of dark resonances in reflection spectroscopy.

We present a combined theoretical and experimental study of magnetic resonance transitions induced by polarization-modulated light in cesium vapor exposed to a transverse magnetic field. Signals are obtained by phase-sensitive analysis of the light power traversing the vapor cell at six harmonics of the polarization modulation frequency. Resonances appear whenever the Larmor frequency matches an integer multiple of the modulation frequency. We have further investigated the modifications of the spectra when varying the modulation duty cycle. The resonance amplitudes of both in-phase and quadrature components are well described in terms of the Fourier coefficients of the modulation function. The background-free signals generated by the polarization modulation scheme have a high application potential in atomic magnetometry., 5 pages, 3 figures

We report the results of electron-spin-resonance studies of Cs atoms trapped in the body-centered-cubic phase of a solid {sup 4}He matrix. Free-induction-decay times longer than 100 ms have been measured in spin-transient experiments. In optical-rf double-resonance experiments we have obtained linewidths of less than 20 Hz (full width at half maximum). The magnetometric sensitivity of our sample is 26 nG/{radical}Hz. We have also demonstrated that magnetic resonance in such samples can be detected with high sensitivity using forward-scattered optical radiation. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}

In recent years diode laser sources have become widespread and reliable tools in magneto-optical spectroscopy. In particular, laser-driven atomic magnetometers have found a wide range of practical applications. More recently, so-called magnetically silent variants of atomic magnetometers have been developed. While in conventional magnetometers the magnetic resonance transitions between atomic sublevels are phase-coherently driven by a weak oscillating magnetic field, silent magnetometers use schemes in which either the frequency (FM) or the amplitude (AM) of the light beam is modulated. Here we present a theoretical model that yields algebraic expressions for the parameters of the multiple resonances that occur when either amplitude-, frequency- or polarization-modulated light of circular polarization is used to drive the magnetic resonance transition in a transverse magnetic field. The relative magnitudes of the resonances that are observed in the transmitted light intensity at harmonic m of the Larmor frequency \omega_L (either by DC or phase sensitive detection at harmonics q of the modulation frequency \omega_mod) of the transmitted light are expressed in terms of the Fourier coefficients of the modulation function. Our approach is based on an atomic multipole moment representation that is valid for spin-oriented atomic states with arbitrary angular momentum F in the low light power limit. We find excellent quantitative agreement with an experimental case study using (square-wave) amplitude-modulated (AM) light., Comment: 17 pages 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. A

We have observed optical pumping signals from Cs atoms trapped in solid 4 He. While the longitudinal electronic spin relaxation time T 1 is found to be in the range of 1-2 s, the transverse relaxation time T 2 , as inferred from magnetic resonance linewidths has a lower bound of 150 μs, and is determined by magnetic field inhomogeneities. We present a quantitative discussion of how paramagnetic species trapped in solid He might be used in a highly sensitive search for permanent atomic electric dipole moments.

We show that for atoms trapped in a liquid He matrix the excitation and emission spectra can be quantitatively described by the bubble model which treats the matrix as an incompressible continuous medium. Comparison with experimental results shows that the model also holds for a solid matrix. The model is only valid in the case where the attractive He−He interaction dominates the attractive part of the foreign atom-helium interaction. Its failure in the case of implanted Na atoms is discussed.

We have investigated the phase shift caused by a static electric field on a beam of Rb atoms carrying alignment (but no orientation) using an all optical technique with spatially separated pump and probe regions. Quantitative measurements of the phase shift agree with theoretical predictions to within 1.4%. An experimental demonstration of the velocity independence of the effect based on time-resolved measurements is given.

We have detected the ground state F = 4 → F = 3 hyperfine transition of cesium atoms implanted in a b.c.c. matrix of solid 4He using a microwave-optical double-resonance technique. The transition frequency is blue-shifted by ~ 197 MHz (2.1%) with respect to the free atomic transition and grows with increasing pressure at a rate of ~ 1.4 MHz/bar.

We present a theoretical and experimental study of the resonant circularly-polarized-light-induced Hanle effect in the ground state of Cs vapor atoms in a paraffin-coated cell. The effect manifests itself as a narrow resonance (centered at $B=0$) in the dependence of the optical transmission coefficient of the vapor on the magnitude of an external magnetic field $\stackrel{P\vec}{B}$. We develop a theoretical model that yields an algebraic expression for the shape of these resonances for arbitrary field orientations and arbitrary angular momenta of the states coupled by the exciting light, provided that the light power is kept sufficiently small. An experimental procedure for assessing the range of validity of the model is given. Experiments were carried out on the laser-driven Cs ${D}_{1}$ transition both in longitudinal and transverse field geometries, and the observed line shapes of the corresponding bright and dark resonances give an excellent confirmation of the model predictions. The method is applied for determining the intrinsic longitudinal and transverse relaxation rates of the vector magnetization in the vapor and their dependence on light power.

We present an experimental study of the laser-induced fluorescence spectra of Cu atoms in bulk liquid and solid helium matrices as well as in the dense plasma created by the laser ablation of copper in liquid helium. We observe transitions of the valence electron and of inner-shell electrons. The former produce structureless line shapes, a large broadening, and a blueshift. The latter practically are not shifted with respect to the free atom and possess a substructure consisting of a zero-phonon line and phonon wings. We suggest a qualitative interpretation of the observed spectra based on the atomic bubble model that takes the lifting of the $|{M}_{J}|$ degeneracy due to the bubble deformation and matrix-phonon interactions into account.

We present an exhaustive overview of optical absorption and laser-induced fluorescence lines of Ba atoms in liquid and solid helium matrices in visible and near-infrared spectral ranges. Due to the increased density of isolated atoms, we have found a large number of spectral lines that were not observed in condensed helium matrices before. We have also measured the lifetimes of metastable states. The lowest ${}^{3}{D}_{1}$ metastable state has lifetime of 2.6 s and can be used as an intermediate state in two-step excitations of high-lying states. Various matrix-induced radiationless population transfer channels have been identified.

We report progress in measuring the third order electric polarizability of the Cs ground states using a Ramsey pump-probe experiment on coherent population trapped (CPT) atoms in a thermal atomic beam. We give a short description of the apparatus as well as the Fourier transform method used to monitor the phase and frequency of the Ramsey signal. Analysis of a typical data set is shown, proving the consistency of the method. We show that the motional magnetic field phase shift can be used to test the reliability of the electric field modeling. Finally, we give a preliminary value for the Cs ground state polarizability and compare it to previous published values of the DC Stark shift.

Large densities together with long trapping times have been observed for atoms immersed in He II. The feasibility of experiments searching for permanent electric dipole moments (PEDM) of paramagnetic atoms in He II is discussed.

We extend our previous discussion of the resonant nonlinear Faraday effect in terms of the precession of an induced quadrupole moment to the realistic experimental situations where depopulation, repopulation, and hyperfine optical pumping contribute. We derive, to lowest order in the light intensity, an analytical expression for the magnetorotation angle near an electric-dipole resonance in an atomic medium of arbitrary spins. We find excellent quantitative agreement with absolute measurements performed on the Cs ${\mathit{D}}_{2}$ line.

We present comparative experimental and theoretical studies of the absorption and fluorescence spectra of the alkali-metal dimer molecules Cs(2) and RbCs immersed in a solid helium matrix, thereby extending our recent observations of Rb(2) in solid (4)He. The laser-excited molecular states are mostly quenched by the interaction with the He matrix. The quenching efficiently populates the second lowest excited state of the molecule, i.e., (1) (3)Π((u)) that is metastable in the homonuclear dimers. Molecular excitation and emission bands are modeled by calculating Franck-Condon factors that give a reasonable agreement with the experimental findings.

Optical magnetic resonance tomography uses optical pumping and the paramagnetic Faraday effect to image spin density distributions in optically thin media. In this paper we present an apparatus that allows to measure the distribution of spin-polarized Cs atoms, which we applied to study the diffusion of Cs in Ne buffer gas by time-resolved 2D-mapping of the evolution of an initial inhomogeneous spin distribution. The diffusion constant D0 for Cs in a Ne buffer gas of 1013 mbar is determined as 0.20(1) cm2/s.

We have observed bulk solidification of $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ induced by nucleation on positive alkali ions in pressurized superfluid helium. The ions are extracted into the liquid from alkali-doped solid He by a static electric field. The experiments prove the existence of charged particles in a solid structure composed of doped He that was recently shown to coexist with superfluid helium below the He solidification pressure. This supports our earlier suggestion that the Coulomb interaction of positive ions surrounded by a solid He shell (snowballs) and electrons trapped in spherical cavities (electron bubbles), together with surface tension, is responsible for the stability of that structure against melting. We have determined the density of charges in the sample by two independent methods.

A clock comparison experiment, analyzing the ratio of spin precession frequencies of stored ultracold neutrons and $^{199}$Hg atoms is reported. %57 No daily variation of this ratio could be found, from which is set an upper limit on the Lorentz invariance violating cosmic anisotropy field $b_{\bot} < 2 \times 10^{-20} {\rm eV}$ (95% C.L.). This is the first limit for the free neutron. This result is also interpreted as a direct limit on the gravitational dipole moment of the neutron $|g_n| < 0.3 $eV/$c^2$ m from a spin-dependent interaction with the Sun. Analyzing the gravitational interaction with the Earth, based on previous data, yields a more stringent limit $|g_n| < 3 \times 10^{-4} $eV/$c^2 $m., 4 pages, 3 figures accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

We present time-resolved measurements of the laser-induced fluorescence from Cs atoms and ${\mathrm{Cs}}^{*}{\mathrm{He}}_{N}$ exciplexes in a solid $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ matrix. The linear ${\mathrm{Cs}}^{*}{\mathrm{He}}_{N=2}$ exciplex is strongly quenched by a radiationless transformation into a ring-shaped ${\mathrm{Cs}}^{*}{\mathrm{He}}_{N=6,7}$ exciplex, which decays radiatively with a lifetime of $88\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ns}$. The analysis of this lifetime provides information on the formation rate of ${\mathrm{Cs}}^{*}{\mathrm{He}}_{N=6,7}$ and on perturbations of the electronic states of the Cs atom by the bound helium atoms.

We present an experimental study of the spectra produced by optical/radio-frequency double resonance in which resonant linearly polarized laser light is used in the optical pumping and detection processes. We show that the experimental spectra obtained for cesium are in excellent agreement with a very general theoretical model developed in our group and we investigate the limitations of this model. Finally, the results are discussed in view of their use in the study of relaxation processes in aligned alkali vapors., Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. A. Related to physics/0605234

We give a detailed account on our semiempirical calculations of the forbidden electric tensor polarizability ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{2}^{(3)}$ of the ground state of free Cs atoms and of Cs atoms implanted in a solid $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ matrix. The results are compared with measurements of ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{2}^{(3)}$ in the free atoms [Europhys. Lett. 76, 1074 (2006)] and in He-trapped atoms [Phys. Rev. A 75, 042505 (2007)]. Features with respect to calculations by other authors are the inclusion of off-diagonal hyperfine interactions and an analysis of contributions from continuum states, which turn out to be negligible. For both samples the results of the calculations are in good agreement with the experimental values, thereby settling a long-standing discrepancy.

International audience; A new nanocell has been elaborated, where the thickness of the atomic vapor column varies smoothly in the range L = 350–5100 nm. The cell allows studying the behavior of the resonance absorption at the D1 line of cesium atoms by varying the thickness from L = λ / 2 to L = 5 λ with the step λ / 2 (λ being the resonant wavelength of the laser, 894 nm) and the laser intensity. It is shown that at low laser intensities a narrowing of the resonance absorption spectrum is observed for L = (2n + 1)λ/2 (with an integer n) up to L = (7/2)λ, whereas for L = nλ the spectrum broadens. The developed theoretical model well describes the experiment.

We present a new theoretical analysis of the strongly suppressed F- and M-dependent Stark shifts of the Cs ground state hyperfine structure. Our treatment uses third order perturbation theory including off-diagonal hyperfine interactions not considered in earlier treatments. A numerical evaluation of the perturbation sum using bound states up to n=200 yields ground state tensor polarizabilities which are in good agreement with experimental values, thereby bridging the 40-year-old gap between experiments and theory. We have further found that the tensor polarizabilities of the two ground state hyperfine manifolds have opposite signs, in disagreement with an earlier derivation. This sign error has a direct implication for the precise evaluation of the blackbody radiation shift in primary frequency standards., 7 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Europhysics Letters