Precision Microwave Spectroscopy of the Positronium $2\text{ }{^{3}\mathrm{S}}_{1}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2\text{ }{^{3}\mathrm{P}}_{2}$ Interval

Open Access

Precision Microwave Spectroscopy of the Positronium $2 {{}^{3}S}_{1} \to 2 {{}^{3}P}_{2}$ Interval

R. E. Sheldon, T. J. Babij, S. H. Reeder, S. D. Hogan, and D. B. Cassidy

Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 043001 – Published 27 July 2023

Abstract

We report the results of a new measurement of the positronium $2 {{}^{3}S}_{1} \to 2 {{}^{3}P}_{2}$ ( $ν_{2}$ ) interval. Using a modified experimental arrangement we have significantly reduced the effects of microwave reflections, which in previous experiments resulted in shifts and asymmetric line shapes. With the improved apparatus we obtain an experimental value of $ν_{2} = 8627.94 \pm 0.95 MHz$ , which is within $1.3 σ$ of the theoretical value $8626.71 \pm 0.08 MHz$ .

Received 14 April 2023
Accepted 7 July 2023
Corrected 11 August 2023
Corrected 8 August 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.043001

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Positronium

Microwave techniques Precision measurements Spectroscopy

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Corrections

8 August 2023

Correction: An error in wording was introduced during the production process in the first sentence of the fourteenth paragraph and has been fixed.

11 August 2023

Second Correction: After the first Correction was implemented the production group discovered that the production error in the fourteenth paragraph also affected wording in item (2) of the tenth paragraph and has been fixed.