Spin-Exchange Shifts in the Hydrogen Maser

Abstract

Spin-exchange pulling of the $\Delta m_F=0\mathrm{}$ ground-state hyperfine transition in atomic hydrogen is investigated for the case of self-excited oscillation on this transition in the hydrogen maser. Frequency shifts due to mistuning the maser cavity are found to compensate spin-exchange shifts so that both can be effectively eliminated. The result bears importantly on the use of the hydrogen maser as a spectroscopic tool and frequency standard and suggests a method for determining the spin-exchange shift parameter.