Description:

Title: Improving the Tick-Tock of an Atomic Clock:
Optical Lattice Clocks for Next-Generation Timekeeping

Speaker: Andrew Ludlow, NIST, Boulder

Abstract: Powered by atomic clocks in the modern era, time can be measured more precisely than any other physical quantity. Precision timekeeping lies at the heart of many everyday technologies, such as global positioning systems and communication networks. When time is measured at state-of-the-art levels, it can be leveraged as a sensitive probe into the fundamental laws of science, including tests of relativity, an exploration of physics beyond the Standard Model, and searches for dark matter. What’s more, next-generation atomic clocks hold promise for new measurement capabilities, like sensing earth’s gravity for geodetic applications. The most advanced atomic clocks being developed today are optical clocks. One type of optical clock, the optical lattice clock, probes thousands of ultracold atoms confined in a periodic laser trap. These clock systems exploit spin-forbidden transitions in two-valence-electron atoms to generate a highly-precise optical timebase. The optical lattice clock has seen rapid progress since its birth nearly one decade ago and is being researched vigorously worldwide. These clocks will be broadly discussed, including recent efforts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology towards operating such a clock at the quantum-mechanical limit.

Host: Brian Odom

Keywords: Physics, Astronomy, AMO