Precision Measurements in Atomic Cesium-133

This book presents several precision measurements performed on atomic cesium and related to ongoing efforts toward a new measurement of the Weinberg mixing angle Q W at low momentum transfer. The ultimate goal of this research program is an improved measurement of the extremely weak electric-dipole transition moment E pv of the 6 s 2 S 1 / 2 ? 7 s 2 S 1 / 2 transition of cesium, which is strictly electric-dipole forbidden without the weak force. Due to state mixing by the weak interaction, however, the optical transition is allowed, albeit very weakly, 10 - 11 ea 0 . The magnitude of E pv yields the weak mixing angle Q W and improving the precision of Q W provides a direct test of the standard model of particle physics. The three specific measurements described in this thesis are: hyperfine coupling constants of several states; the static Stark polarizability of the 7 s 2 S 1 / 2 state; and the ratio of the scalar to vector transition polarizabilities for the 6 s ? 7 s transition. In addition, it describes a new optical phase locking technique developed by the author to allow interference measurements on any of the hyperfine components of the 6 s ? 7 s transition. This technique is instrumental in a future measurement of E pv /ß .