PRECISE MEASUREMENT OF THE ³H to ³He MASS DIFFERENCE

This article summarizes preparations at the University of Washington for a precision measurement of the mass ratio of H-3 (tritium) to He-3 with a new Penning trap mass spectrometer. This work will be continued at the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg in the Division of Stored and Cooled Ions. Only preliminary ion observations were performed in Seattle, but the target mass uncertainty for the measurement techniques under development is 1 part in 10¹¹.