Precision Spectroscopy of Cold Hydrogen Atoms Referenced to an Optical Clock

Description of the granted funding

We propose optical precision spectroscopy of ultra-cold atomic hydrogen referenced to an optical atomic clock. H atoms will be trapped and cooled in the magnetic trap recently built at UTU. Evaporative cooling will be used to produce H gas with velocities of <50 cm/s. At these conditions, two-photon 1S-2S spectroscopy of the atoms will provide an unprecedented level of precision. The UV laser system for these experiments will be constructed at UTU and characterized by VTT. The laser will be stabilized to an ultra-stable Fabry-Perot resonator and referenced to the optical clock at VTT utilizing a coherent 160-km fiber link between UTU (Turku) and VTT (Espoo). The efforts on improvement of H spectroscopy together with the traceability to the best optical clocks will contribute to research in physics beyond the standard model, search for dark matter, and verification of the stability of fundamental constants.
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Starting year

2026

End year

2030

Granted funding

Thomas Lindvall Orcid -palvelun logo
499 995 €


Role in consortium of the Academy of Finland

Partner

Other consortium parties

Leader
University of Turku (374999)
499 180 €

Funder

Research Council of Finland

Funding instrument

Academy projects

Decision maker

Scientific Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering
09.06.2026

Other information

Funding decision number

375000

Fields of science

Physical sciences

Research fields

Atomi- ja molekyylifysiikka