New measurement of the electron magnetic moment using a one-electron quantum cyclotron

Abstract

A new measurement resolves cyclotron and spin levels for a single-electron quantum cyclotron to obtain an electron magnetic moment, given by g/2=1.001 159 652 180 85 (76) [0.76 ppt]. The uncertainty is nearly 6 times lower than in the past, and g is shifted downward by 1.7 standard deviations. The new g, with a quantum electrodynamics (QED) calculation, determines the fine structure constant with a 0.7 ppb uncertainty--10 times smaller than for atom-recoil determinations. Remarkably, this 100 mK measurement probes for internal electron structure at 130 GeV.