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arXiv · 1804.02096

Nuclear-spin comagnetometer based on a liquid of identical molecules

Teng Wu·John W. Blanchard·Derek F. Jackson Kimball·Min Jiang·Dmitry Budker
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Abstract

Atomic comagnetometers are used in searches for anomalous spin-dependent interactions. Magnetic field gradients are one of the major sources of systematic errors in such experiments. Here we describe a comagnetometer based on the nuclear spins within an ensemble of identical molecules. The dependence of the measured spin-precession frequency ratio on the first-order magnetic field gradient is suppressed by over an order of magnitude compared to a comagnetometer based on overlapping ensembles of different molecules. Our single-species comagnetometer is shown to be capable of measuring the hypothetical spin-dependent gravitational energy of nuclei at the $10^{-17}$ eV level, comparable to the most stringent existing constraints. Combined with techniques for enhancing the signal such as parahydrogen-induced polarization, this method of comagnetometry offers the potential to improve constraints on spin-gravity coupling of nucleons by several orders of magnitude.

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Teng Wu, John W. Blanchard, Derek F. Jackson Kimball, Min Jiang, Dmitry Budker. 2018-04-06. Nuclear-spin comagnetometer based on a liquid of identical molecules. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.121.023202

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