New determination of the fine structure constant and test of the quantum electrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper presents a highly precise measurement of the fine structure constant using rubidium atom data, enabling a stringent test of quantum electrodynamics and the verification of muonic and hadronic contributions to the electron anomaly.

Contribution

It introduces a new method to determine the fine structure constant with unprecedented precision, improving the test of QED and related theoretical contributions.

Findings

Measured the ratio h/m_Rb with high accuracy

Derived a new value of the fine structure constant with minimal uncertainty

Confirmed the agreement between theoretical and experimental electron anomaly

Abstract

We report a new measurement of the ratio $h/m_{\mathrm{Rb}}$ between the Planck constant and the mass of $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ atom. A new value of the fine structure constant is deduced, $\alpha^{-1}=137.035\,999\,037\,(91)$ with a relative uncertainty of $6.6\times 10^{-10}$. Using this determination, we obtain a theoretical value of the electron anomaly $a_\mathrm{e}=0.001~159~652~181~13(84)$ which is in agreement with the experimental measurement of Gabrielse ($a_\mathrm{e}=0.001~159~652~180~73(28)$). The comparison of these values provides the most stringent test of the QED. Moreover, the precision is large enough to verify for the first time the muonic and hadronic contributions to this anomaly.