Large area atom interferometers for gravitational sensing and fundamental physics tests (Conference Presentation)

Tim Kovachy

doi:10.1117/12.2511763

5 March 2019 Large area atom interferometers for gravitational sensing and fundamental physics tests (Conference Presentation)

Tim Kovachy

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10934, Optical, Opto-Atomic, and Entanglement-Enhanced Precision Metrology; 1093420 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2511763
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2019, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Light-pulse atom interferometry—which uses optical pulses to split, recombine, and interfere quantum mechanical atomic matter waves—is a sensitive method for measuring inertial forces, making it a valuable tool for a broad set of applications and fundamental physics tests. The sensitivity of an atom interferometer scales with its enclosed spacetime area, which is proportional to the product of the maximum spatial separation reached between the two interferometer paths and the interferometer duration. Motivated by this scaling, we have realized atom interferometers that cover macroscopic scales in space (tens of centimeters) and in time (multiple seconds). I will present experimental results from the implementation of these large area interferometers as high-precision gravitational sensors. Subsequently, I will discuss a new experimental effort to use such gravitational sensors to look for new particles beyond the standard model, including light moduli associated with the compactified extra dimensions that arise in string theory, by searching for deviations from the gravitational inverse square law with improved sensitivity at the length scale of 10 cm to 1 m. This experiment could also provide a new measurement of Newton’s gravitational constant. In addition, large area atom interferometers using atom optics based on single-photon transitions on the clock transition of strontium have the potential to be excellent gravitational wave detectors in the frequency band from 300 mHz to 3 Hz, which is intermediate between the LIGO detector and the planned LISA detector. I will describe ongoing technology development efforts for an atomic gravitational wave detector.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Tim Kovachy "Large area atom interferometers for gravitational sensing and fundamental physics tests (Conference Presentation)", Proc. SPIE 10934, Optical, Opto-Atomic, and Entanglement-Enhanced Precision Metrology, 1093420 (5 March 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2511763

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTATION

WATCH
PRESENTATION SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

KEYWORDS

Interferometers

Chemical species

Sensors

Physics

Clocks

Interferometry

Particles

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years