arXiv subjects

Jeroen C. J. Koelemeij

Publications and source records attributed to Jeroen C. J. Koelemeij.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Optically Derived Radio-Frequency Benchmark in Methanol: A Sub-kHz Reference for Astrophysical Tests of Fundamental Physics

Methanol radio lines observed in space provide sensitive probes of whether the proton-to-electron mass ratio has changed over cosmic time, but such tests require laboratory rest frequencies with very high accuracy. Here we determine the frequency of the astrophysically important 12.2 GHz $3_{-1}$E -- $2_{0}$E transition of CH$_3$OH by measuring near-infrared rovibrational transitions rather than the microwave line directly. Using wavelength-modulated NICE-OHMS locked to an ultra-stable optical frequency comb and referenced via a fiber link to a hydrogen-maser frequency standard, we measure Lamb-dip frequencies near 1.4 $μ$m (216 THz) with 10 Hz statistical reproducibility and absolute uncertainties as low as 130 Hz. Pairs of optical transitions sharing common upper levels form a triangulation scheme that yields the ground-state rotational combination difference. We obtain 12 178 596.415(135) kHz, improving on earlier molecular-beam microwave spectroscopy by a factor of 20 and agreeing with a recent free-induction-decay measurement. This result establishes a sub-kHz laboratory benchmark for a key radio-astronomical methanol line and demonstrates that optical triangulation can be extended to non-chiral molecules with internal rotation.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2024

Ultrastable optical frequency dissemination over a branching passive optical network using CDMA

We demonstrate a technique for ultrastable optical frequency dissemination in a branching passive optical network using code-division multiple access (CDMA). In our protocol, each network user employs a unique pseudo-random sequence to rapidly change the optical frequency among many distinct frequencies. After transmission through the optical network, each user correlates the received sequence with the transmitted one, thus establishing a frequency-hopping spread spectrum technique that helps reject optical signals transmitted by other users in the network. Our method, which builds on the work by Schediwy et al. [Opt. Lett. {\bf 38}, 2893 (2013)], improves the frequency distribution network's capacity, helps reject phase noise caused by intermediate optical back scattering, and simplifies the operational requirements. Using this protocol, we show that a frequency instability better than ~$10^{-18}$ while having more than 100 users operating in the network should be possible. Finally, we theoretically explore the limits of this protocol and show that the demonstrated stability does not suffer from any fundamental limitation. In the future, the CDMA method presented here could be used in complex time-frequency distribution networks, allowing more users while, at the same time, reducing the network's complexity.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Extraction of spin-averaged rovibrational transition frequencies in HD$^+$ for the determination of fundamental constants

We present a comprehensive analysis of all currently available high-accuracy frequency measurements of rotational and rovibrational transitions in the hydrogen molecular ion HD$^+$. Our analysis utilises the theoretically calculated hyperfine structure to extract the values of three spin-averaged transition frequencies through a global linear least-squares adjustment that takes into account theory-induced correlations between the different transitions. We subsequently use the three spin-averaged transition frequencies as input data in a second adjustment which employs precise theoretical expressions for the transition frequencies, written as a function of the proton, deuteron and electron relative atomic masses, the Rydberg constant, and the proton and deuteron charge radii. Our analysis shows that the HD$^+$ data may significantly improve the value of the electron relative atomic mass and the proton-electron mass ratio, in particular if combined with recent high-precision measurements of particle atomic masses and mass ratios obtained from Penning traps.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2022

Self-consistent extraction of spectroscopic bounds on light new physics

Fundamental physical constants are determined from a collection of precision measurements of elementary particles, atoms and molecules. This is usually done under the assumption of the Standard Model~(SM) of particle physics. Allowing for light new physics~(NP) beyond the SM modifies the extraction of fundamental physical constants. Consequently, setting NP bounds using these data, and at the same time assuming the CODATA recommended values for the fundamental physical constants, is not reliable. As we show in this Letter, both SM and NP parameters can be simultaneously determined in a consistent way from a global fit. For light vectors with QED-like couplings, such as the dark photon, we provide a prescription that recovers the degeneracy with the photon in the massless limit, and requires calculations only at leading order in the small new physics couplings. At present, the data show tensions partially related to the proton charge radius determination. We show that these can be alleviated by including contributions from a light scalar with flavor non-universal couplings.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Physics beyond the Standard Model from hydrogen spectroscopy

Spectroscopy of hydrogen can be used for a search into physics beyond the Standard Model. Differences between the absorption spectra of H$_2$ as observed at high redshift and those measured in the laboratory can be interpreted in terms of possible variations of the proton-electron mass ratio. Investigation of some ten of such absorbers in the redshift range $z= 2.0-4.2$ yields a constraint of $|Δμ/μ|< 5 \times 10^{-6}$ at 3$σ$. Observation of H$_2$ from the photospheres of white dwarf stars inside our Galaxy delivers a constraint of similar magnitude on a dependence of $μ$ on a gravitational potential $10^4$ times as strong as on the Earth's surface. Laser-based precision measurements of dissociation energies, vibrational splittings and rotational level energies in H$_2$ molecules and their deuterated isotopomers HD and D$_2$ produce values for the rovibrational binding energies fully consistent with quantum ab initio calculations including relativistic and quantum electrodynamical (QED) effects. Similarly, precision measurements of high-overtone vibrational transitions of HD$^+$ ions, captured in ion traps and sympathetically cooled to mK temperatures, also result in transition frequencies fully consistent with calculations including QED corrections. Precision measurements of inter-Rydberg transitions in H$_2$ can be extrapolated to yield accurate values for level splittings in the H$_2^+$-ion. These comprehensive results of laboratory precision measurements on neutral and ionic hydrogen molecules can be interpreted to set bounds on the existence of possible fifth forces and of higher dimensions, phenomena describing physics beyond the Standard Model.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2015

Test of the theoretical hyperfine structure of the molecular hydrogen ion at the 1-ppm level

We revisit the $m α^6 (m/M)$ order corrections to the hyperfine splitting in the H$_2^+$ ion, and find a hitherto unrecognized second-order relativistic contribution associated with the vibrational motion of the nuclei. Inclusion of this correction term produces theoretical predictions which are in excellent agreement with experimental data [K. B. Jefferts, Phys.\ Rev.\ Lett.\ \textbf{23}, 1476 (1969)], thereby concluding a nearly fifty years long theoretical quest to explain the experimental results within their 1-ppm error. The agreement between theory and experiment corroborates the proton structural properties as derived from the hyperfine structure of atomic hydrogen. Our work furthermore indicates that for future improvements, a full three-body evaluation of the $m α^6 (m/M)$ correction term will be mandatory.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2013

Two-photon spectroscopy of trapped HD$^+$ ions in the Lamb-Dicke regime

We study the feasibility of nearly-degenerate two-photon rovibrational spectroscopy in ensembles of trapped, sympathetically cooled hydrogen molecular ions using a resonance-enhanced multiphoton dissociation (REMPD) scheme. Taking advantage of quasi-coincidences in the rovibrational spectrum, the excitation lasers are tuned close to an intermediate level to resonantly enhance two-photon absorption. Realistic simulations of the REMPD signal are obtained using a four-level model that takes into account saturation effects, ion trajectories, laser frequency noise and redistribution of population by blackbody radiation. We show that the use of counterpropagating laser beams enables optical excitation in an effective Lamb-Dicke regime. Sub-Doppler lines having widths in the 100 Hz range can be observed with good signal-to-noise ratio for an optimal choice of laser detunings. Our results indicate the feasibility of molecular spectroscopy at the $10^{-14}$ accuracy level for improved tests of molecular QED, a new determination of the proton-to-electron mass ratio, and studies of the time (in)dependence of the latter.

physics.atom-ph↗