High Precision Measurement of the Static Dipole Polarizability of Cesium

Abstract

The cesium ${6}^{2}{S}_{1/2}$ scalar dipole polarizability ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{0}$ has been determined from the time-of-flight of laser cooled and launched cesium atoms traveling through an electric field. We find ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{0}=6.611\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.009\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}39}\text{ }{\mathrm{C}\text{ }\mathrm{m}}^{2}/\mathrm{V}=59.42\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.08\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}24}\text{ }{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{3}=401.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.6{a}_{0}^{3}$. The 0.14% uncertainty is a factor of 14 improvement over the previous measurement. Values for the ${6}^{2}{P}_{1/2}$ and ${6}^{2}{P}_{3/2}$ lifetimes and the ${6}^{2}{S}_{1/2}$ cesium-cesium dispersion coefficient ${C}_{6}$ are determined from ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{0}$ using the procedure of Derevianko and Porsev [Phys. Rev. A 65, 053403 (2002)].