A one-kilogram quartz resonator as a mass standard

The SI unit of mass, the kilogram, is defined by a single artifact, the International Prototype Kilogram. This artifact, the primary mass standard, suffers from long-term instabilities that are neither well understood nor easily monitored. A secondary mass standard consisting of a 1-kg quartz resonator in ultrahigh vacuum is proposed. The frequency stability of such a resonator is likely to be far higher than the mass stability of the primary mass standard. Moreover, the resonator would provide a link to the SI time-interval unit. When compared with a laboratory-grade atomic frequency standard or GPS time, the frequency of the resonator could be monitored, on a continuous basis, with 10^-15 precision in only a few days of averaging. It could also be coordinated, worldwide, with other resonator mass standards without the need to transport the standards.