Invited Paper IPF-TuA2
Probing the Intrinsic Magnetism of the Electron (and Measuring the Fine Structure Constant)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 2:00 pm, Room 602/603
| Session: |
Frontiers in Physics |
| Presenter: |
G. Gabrielse, Harvard University |
| Correspondent: |
email address not available |
A single electron is suspended by itself for months at a time. The electron and apparatus together form an artificial, home-made atom whose energy levels we probe using quantum jump spectroscopy. Much as measurements of the magnetism of the earth reveal something about the inner structure of the earth, measurements of the electron's intrinsic magnetism tells about the inner structure of the simplest of elementary particles. For the first time since 1987 the electron's magnetic moment is measured with a higher accuracy. The new measurement, together with quantum electrodynamics theory, determines the important fine structure constant about ten times more precisely than does any rival method. Many interesting techniques are employed, including the inhibition of spontaneous emission and the a single-particle self-excited oscillator, some of which are now applicable in MRI imaging and for ICR analysis of pharmaceuticals.