2019/07/06 by Victoria Xu, Matt Jaffe, Cristian D. Panda +3 · 143 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Astronomical interferometer #Atom interferometer #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Gravitation #Gravitational acceleration #Gravitational force #Gravitational wave #Inertial frame of reference #Interferometry #Noise (video) #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #physics.atom-ph #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.aay6428
published in Science 366(6466), 745-749 (American Association for the Advancement of Science) · 5 pages + Methods
arxiv created 2019/07/06 · openalex created_date 2019/07/12 · openalex publication_date 2019/11/08 · arxiv updated 2020/01/08 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Atom interferometers are powerful tools for both measurements in fundamental physics and inertial sensing applications. Their performance, however, has been limited by the available interrogation time of freely falling atoms in a gravitational field. By suspending the spatially separated atomic wave packets in a lattice formed by the mode of an optical cavity, we realize an interrogation time of 20 seconds. Our approach allows gravitational potentials to be measured by holding, rather than dropping, atoms. After seconds of hold time, gravitational potential energy differences from as little as micrometers of vertical separation generate megaradians of interferometer phase. This trapped geometry suppresses the phase variance due to vibrations by three to four orders of magnitude, overcoming the dominant noise source in atom-interferometric gravimeters.