2009/03/19 by Guillaume Stern, Baptiste Battelier, Rémi Geiger +17 · 79 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Accelerometer #Acoustics #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Astronomical interferometer #Astronomy #Atom interferometer #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Detector #Gravimeter #Interferometry #Measure (data warehouse) #Optics #Physics #Pulse (music) #Quantum #Quantum mechanics #Satellite #Sensitivity (control systems) #Ultracold atom #Vibration #cond-mat.other
paper · pdf · doi:10.1140/epjd/e2009-00150-5
published in The European Physical Journal D 53(3), 353-357 (Springer Science+Business Media)
arxiv created 2009/03/19 · openalex publication_date 2009/05/15 · arxiv updated 2015/05/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We describe the operation of a light pulse interferometer using cold 87Rb atoms in reduced gravity. Using a series of two Raman transitions induced by light pulses, we have obtained Ramsey fringes in the low gravity environment achieved during parabolic flights. With our compact apparatus, we have operated in a regime which is not accessible on ground. In the much lower gravity environment and lower vibration level of a satellite, our cold atom interferometer could measure accelerations with a sensitivity orders of magnitude better than the best ground based accelerometers and close to proven spaced-based ones.