Double-trap measurement of the proton magnetic moment at 0.3 parts per billion precision

Abstract

Precise knowledge of the fundamental properties of the proton is essential for our understanding of atomic structure as well as for precise tests of fundamental symmetries. We report on a direct high-precision measurement of the magnetic moment μ_p of the proton in units of the nuclear magneton μ_N The result, μ_p = 2.79284734462 (±0.00000000082) μ_N, has a fractional precision of 0.3 parts per billion, improves the previous best measurement by a factor of 11, and is consistent with the currently accepted value. This was achieved with the use of an optimized double-Penning trap technique. Provided a similar measurement of the antiproton magnetic moment can be performed, this result will enable a test of the fundamental symmetry between matter and antimatter in the baryonic sector at the 10^-10 level.