Measurement of the static electric dipole polarizabilities of barium and strontium

The static electric dipole polarizabilities of barium and strontium atoms have been measured using an electric deflection technique. The results are normalized to the polarizability of lithium by comparing deflections of the alkaline-earth beams to deflections of a lithium beam passing through an inhomogeneous electrostatic field. The measured polarizabilities are (39.7 ± 3.2) × ${10}^{-24\mathrm{}}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^3$ for barium and (27.6 ± 2.2) × ${10}^{-24\mathrm{}}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^3$ for strontium.