MG12 - Talk detail |
Participant |
Nagel, Moritz | |
Institution |
Humboldt Universitaet zu Berlin, AG QOM - Hausvogteiplatz 5-7 - Berlin - - Germany | |
Session |
Talk |
Abstract |
EG1 |
A Modern Michelson-Morley Experiment using Optical Resonators |
The constancy and isotropy of the speed of light c in vacuum is one of the basic postulates of Einsteins theory of Special Relativity. Here we present an experiment using optical resonators, which can be seen as a modern variant of the classic Michelson-Morley experiment testing the isotropy of light propagation. The measurement compares the resonance frequencies of two cavities, oriented along orthogonal directions and rotating on a turntable once every 45 seconds. An analysis of data recorded within a time span of one year restricts an anisotropy of the speed of light to Δc/c < 10-17. This represents an order of magnitude improvement on our previous such limit and allows to constrain parameters of a Lorentz violating extension of the standard model of particle physics (SME) at the 10-18 level. |