Improved Test of Time Dilation in Special Relativity
Abstract
An improved test of time dilation in special relativity has been performed using laser spectroscopy on fast ions at the heavy-ion storage-ring TSR in Heidelberg. The Doppler-shifted frequencies of a two-level transition in $^{7}\mathrm{L}\mathrm{i}^{+}$ ions at $v=0.064c$ have been measured in the forward and backward direction to an accuracy of $\ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\nu}/\ensuremath{\nu}=1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ using collinear saturation spectroscopy. The result confirms the relativistic Doppler formula and sets a new limit of $2.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}$ for deviations from the time dilation factor ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{S}\mathrm{R}}=(1\ensuremath{-}{v}^{2}/{c}^{2}{)}^{\ensuremath{-}1/2}$.
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The lithium storage-ring results have been reinterpreted in the mSME to give approximate bounds for the electron/proton sector.
“Recently, the results of [249] have been reinterpreted in the context of the mSME. For the electron/proton sector the approximate bounds are [197] 69 70 71 72”
From Modern Tests of Lorentz Invariance (2005) · cites this paper as [249]
The best test of the RMS parameter αRMS to date comes from spectroscopy of lithium ions in a storage ring and gives |αRMS| < 2 × 10−7.
“The best test to date comes from spectroscopy of lithium ions in a storage ring [249]. In this experiment, 7Li+ ions are trapped in a storage ring at a velocity of 0.064 c. The transition frequencies of the boosted ions are then measured and compared to the transition frequencies at rest, providing a bound on the deviation from the special relativistic Doppler shift of |αRMS| < 2 × 10−7 in the RMS”
From Modern Tests of Lorentz Invariance (2005) · cites this paper as [249]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Saathoff, G., Karpuk, S., Eisenbarth, U., Huber, G., Krohn, S., Horta, R. M., Reinhardt, S., Schwalm, D., Wolf, A., & Gwinner, G.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Venue
- Physical Review Letters
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Published
- 2003-11-04
- Volume
- 91
- Issue
- 19
- Pages
- 190403-190403
- ISSN
- 0031-9007 (ISSN-L)
- 1079-7114
- OpenAlex
- W1992937449
- Cited by
- 142
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 5 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 9.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Physical Review Letters (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Advanced Frequency and Time Standards
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Relativity and Gravitational Theory
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Atomic and Molecular Physics
- Keywords
- time dilation, special relativity, relativistic Doppler effect, laser spectroscopy, fast ions, heavy-ion storage ring, lithium ions, Lorentz invariance
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