Title: A Brief History of Time (keeping): Metrology, searches for new Physics, and Tests of Relativity with Optical Lattice Clocks

Abstract: Optical Lattice Clocks (OLCs) are now the most stable and accurate timekeepers in the world, with fractional uncertainties equivalent to neither losing nor gaining a second over the entire age of the universe. This unprecedented level of metrological precision offers sensitivity to new physical phenomena, opening the door to exciting and unusual applications. This talk will provide an introduction to how and why time is measured, with an emphasis on OLCs and their applications. I will discuss recent progress on pushing OLCs to even greater levels of precision, as well as prospects for future improvement.

Finally, I will give a brief overview of emerging applications of OLCs, including research taking place at UW-Madison into using optical clocks for gravitational wave detection, tests of general relativity, and searches for physics beyond the Standard Model, including recent progress we have made towards measuring the gravitational redshift at the centimeter scale.

Host: Matt Green