1. Measuring Polarizability with an Atom Interferometer
Melissa Revelle
University of Arizona
Dr. Alex Cronin

2. Why Atomic Polarizability?He
0.2 Å3 Na
24.11 Å3 K
43.4 Å3
p=αE
Accepted precision of
αNa = 0.5%
αK = 2%
Our precision =1%
Relates to
Van der Waals forces
Atomic clock precision + + p p + E

3. Our polarizability experiment

4. Original Data We record atom flux vs grating position
Polarizability relates to this phase shift

5. Fitting the Data
Data
Fit Function
Phase Shift [rad]
Distance from HV Cylinder [mm]]
We fit the data to my model of the electric field to determine phase shift

6. Current and Future Progress
αNa = 24.2 ± 0.3 Å3
αK = 42.7 ± 0.5 Å3
Improve the precision of rubidium and strontium polarizability to better than 1%
Measure the polarizability of molecules.

7. Thank You NASA Space Grant Dr. Alex Cronin Will Holmgren Vincent Lonij`

8. Nano - Gratings
100 nm

9. Electric Field Region

10. Beam Velocities
Measured using the diffraction from the first grating.

11. Finding the Equipotential Surfaces and Charge Density
For an ideal wire and an image wire:
Atom beams y0 R g l d z y x