Delva P, Lodewyck J, Bilicki S, Bookjans E, Vallet G, Le Targat R, Pottie P-E, Guerlin C, Meynadier F, Le Poncin-Lafitte C, Lopez O, Amy-Klein A, Lee W-K, Quintin N, Lisdat C, Al-Masoudi A, Dörscher S, Grebing C, Grosche G, Kuhl A, Raupach S, Sterr U, Hill I R, Hobson R, Bowden W, Kronjäger J, Marra G, Rolland A, Baynes F N, Margolis H S, Gill P
SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, LNE, 61 avenue de l'Observatoire 75014 Paris, France.
Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, ENS-PSL Research University, CNRS, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités, Collège de France, 75005 Paris, France.
Phys Rev Lett. 2017 Jun 2;118(22):221102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.221102.
Phase compensated optical fiber links enable high accuracy atomic clocks separated by thousands of kilometers to be compared with unprecedented statistical resolution. By searching for a daily variation of the frequency difference between four strontium optical lattice clocks in different locations throughout Europe connected by such links, we improve upon previous tests of time dilation predicted by special relativity. We obtain a constraint on the Robertson-Mansouri-Sexl parameter |α|≲1.1×10^{-8}, quantifying a violation of time dilation, thus improving by a factor of around 2 the best known constraint obtained with Ives-Stilwell type experiments, and by 2 orders of magnitude the best constraint obtained by comparing atomic clocks. This work is the first of a new generation of tests of fundamental physics using optical clocks and fiber links. As clocks improve, and as fiber links are routinely operated, we expect that the tests initiated in this Letter will improve by orders of magnitude in the near future.
相位补偿光纤链路能够以前所未有的统计分辨率对相隔数千公里的高精度原子钟进行比较。通过搜索由此类链路连接的欧洲各地四个锶光晶格钟之间频率差的日变化，我们改进了先前对狭义相对论预测的时间膨胀的测试。我们得到了罗伯逊 - 曼苏里 - 塞克斯尔参数|α|≲1.1×10⁻⁸的约束，量化了对时间膨胀的违反，从而使通过艾夫斯 - 斯蒂尔韦尔型实验获得的最著名约束提高了约2倍，并且使通过比较原子钟获得的最佳约束提高了2个数量级。这项工作是使用光钟和光纤链路进行的新一代基础物理测试中的首个。随着时钟性能的提升以及光纤链路的常规运行，我们预计在本信函中启动的测试在不久的将来将提高几个数量级。
