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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Test of special relativity in an ion storage ring

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An accurate measurement of the Doppler effect in collinear laser spectroscopy has been performed at the TSR storage ring with electron cooled7Li+ ions atΒ=0.064. This experiment is a sensitive test of theγ=(1−Β2)−1/2 factor(Β=v/c) in the special theory of relativity. The Doppler shifted frequencies of the moving7Li+ ions are compared with calibrated molecular lines at rest. The frequencies at rest for the7Li+ ions are known from independent measurements. The Doppler shifted frequencies in the collinear experiment have been measured with a precision ofδv/v=6×10−9, mainly limited by the signal width of the resonance. A corresponding upper limit of 8×10−7 is deduced for any deviation of the time dilatation factorγ in special theory of relativity. A still higher accuracy is expected with a laser cooled ion beam. If such a beam is simultaneously subjected to RF bunching, the particle velocity and phase are exactly known. With an additional high resolution laser frequency measurement an improvement of at least one order of magnitude may be achieved.