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arXiv:2409.08550 · Physical Review Research

Adaptive robust high-precision atomic gravimetry

Jinye Wei, Jiahao Huang, Chaohong Lee

Published Mar 12, 2025• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Atomic gravimeters are the most accurate sensors for measuring gravity, yet a significant challenge lies in achieving high precision while also maintaining high dynamic range and robustness. Here, we develop a protocol for achieving robust high-precision atomic gravimetry based upon adaptive Bayesian quantum estimation. Our protocol incorporates a sequence of interferometry measurements taken with short to long interrogation times and offers several crucial advantages. Firstly, it enables a high dynamic range without the need to scan multiple fringes for pre-estimation, making it more efficient than the conventional frequentist method. Secondly, it improves robustness against noises, allowing for a significant improvement in measurement precision in noisy environments. The enhancement can be more than 5 times for a transportable gravimeter [] and up to an order of magnitude for a state-of-the-art fountain gravimeter []. Notably, by optimizing the interferometry sequence, our approach can improve the scaling of the measurement precision ( Δ g est ) versus the total interrogation time ( T ̃ ) to Δ g est ∝ T ̃ − 2 or even better, in contrast to the conventional one Δ g est ∝ T ̃ − 0.5 . Our approach offers superior precision, increased dynamic range, and enhanced robustness, making it highly promising for a range of practical sensing applications.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.7.l012064

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Atomic gravimeters are the most accurate sensors for measuring gravity, yet a significant challenge lies in achieving high precision while also maintaining high dynamic range and robustness. Here, we develop a protocol for achieving robust high-precision atomic gravimetry based upon adaptive Bayesian quantum estimation. Our protocol incorporates a sequence of interferometry measurements taken with short to long interrogation times and offers several crucial advantages. Firstly, it enables a high dynamic range without the need to scan multiple fringes for pre-estimation, making it more efficient than the conventional frequentist method. Secondly, it improves robustness against noises, allowing for a significant improvement in measurement precision in noisy environments. The enhancement can be more than 5 times for a transportable gravimeter [] and up to an order of magnitude for a state-of-the-art fountain gravimeter []. Notably, by optimizing the interferometry sequence, our approach can improve the scaling of the measurement precision ( Δ g est ) versus the total interrogation time ( T ̃ ) to Δ g est ∝ T ̃ − 2 or even better, in contrast to the conventional one Δ g est ∝ T ̃ − 0.5 . Our approach offers superior precision, increased dynamic range, and enhanced robustness, making it highly promising for a range of practical sensing applications.
Spin-squeezed states constitute a valuable entanglement resource capable of surpassing the standard quantum limit (SQL). However, spin-squeezed states only enable sub-SQL uncertainty within a narrow parametric window near some specific points. Identifying optimal measurement protocols for spin-squeezed states remains an outstanding challenge. Here we present an adaptive Bayesian quantum estimation protocol that achieves optimal measurement precision with spin-squeezed states under noises. Our protocol operates by maintaining measurements near the optimal point and employing Bayesian inference to sequentially perform phase estimation, enabling robust high-precision measurement. To account for realistic experimental conditions, we explicitly incorporate phase noises into the Bayesian likelihood function for more accurate estimation. Our protocol can be applied to various scenarios, such as quantum gravimeters and atomic clocks, achieving precision enhancement over conventional fitting methods under noises. Our approach offers superior precision and enhanced robustness against noises, making it highly promising for squeezing-enhanced quantum sensing.
Atomic clocks are crucial for fundamental science and practical technology, but their sensitivity is often constrained by the standard quantum limit. With a cold-atom coherent-population-trapping clock, the authors design and experimentally demonstrate an adaptive Bayesian quantum frequency estimation protocol that approaches the Heisenberg scaling with respect to total interrogation time. This atomic clock also yields improved fractional frequency stability and enhanced robustness against technical noises. This work provides a high-precision approach to atomic clock locking, and holds promising applications in various interferometry-based quantum sensors.
Atomic gravimetry measures the gravitional acceleration of an ensemble of identical neutral atoms through the atom interferometry based on Raman two-photon transition, where the Raman lasers are used as “optical ruler" and the identical neutral atoms play the role of test mass and quantum storage of gravity field information. As the novel gravimetry system suffers no mechanical wear and works at a higher repetition rate, atom gravimetry can reach a much better short-term sensitivity than the classical falling-corner-cube counterpart, and the accuracy is reasonably well. Since the very first in-laboratory device built over 30 years ago, atomic gravimetry has matured to a versatile tool that offers both precise and accurate absolute gravity measurement to fundamental research and metrology, such as testing the weak equivalence principle or linking the mass and weight of the test mass in Watt (Kibble) balance. As the current rapid development of compact cold-atom gravimeters, atomic gravimetry is moving out of the laboratory to be used as a quantum enhancement of classical devices in dynamical measurement, such as geophysics survey, inertial navigation and space mission. We review the roadmap for the development of cold-atom absolute gravimetry, highlight recent advances in the dynamical measurement using compact cold atom gravimeters and discuss the associated technological challenges. In the future, with the maturity of its application in dynamical measurement or civil engineering and the innovation in atom interferometry theory, atomic gravimetry could play a more and more important role in our life.
Over the past two decades there has been considerable and growing interest in the development of quantum sensors. These are devices whose function is based on quantum systems and offer the potential for unprecedented sensitivity in a range of measurements. This PhD has developed three different theoretical projects examining the sensitivity improvement of these devices with a focus on atom gravimeters, which are particularly useful for measuring inertial quantities such as rotations and accelerations. We have investigated the theoretical sensitivity limits of atom gravimeters and we examined different entanglement-enhanced schemes, in order to increase their performance. To start with, we used tools from estimation theory, in order to quantify the performance of current atom gravimeters. We showed that there is additional metrological potential in these devices, and that we can extract all this information by making innovative measurements, other than the conventional population difference measurement. Our analysis introduces a new way of evaluating the performance of atom gravimeters that could influence future sensor designs. In addition, we examined entanglement-enhanced schemes, in order to improve the performance of quantum sensors, which are limited by the atom shot-noise limit. We considered entanglement generation schemes based on atom-light interactions, in order for them to be compatible with atom interferometer based sensors. More particularly, we examined a quantum non-demolition measurement scheme and an one-axis-twisting scheme with cavity feedback. In both schemes we incorporated relevant decoherence mechanisms and we analysed how the optimum parameter regime can be found, by balancing between coherence loss and spin-squeezing strength. We also examined several modifications in both models that could offer additional improvements. The results presented here could have a big impact on the future design and understanding of atom-based quantum-enhanced sensors.
We show that the inherently large interatomic interactions of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) can enhance the sensitivity of a high precision cold-atom gravimeter beyond the shot-noise limit (SNL). Through detailed numerical simulation, we demonstrate that our scheme produces spin-squeezed states with variances up to 14 dB below the SNL, and that absolute gravimetry measurement sensitivities between two and five times below the SNL are achievable with BECs between 10^{4} and 10^{6} in atom number. Our scheme is robust to phase diffusion, imperfect atom counting, and shot-to-shot variations in atom number and laser intensity. Our proposal is immediately achievable in current laboratories, since it needs only a small modification to existing state-of-the-art experiments and does not require additional guiding potentials or optical cavities.
Gravity sensing is a valuable technique used for several applications, including fundamental physics, civil engineering, metrology, geology, and resource exploration. While classical gravimeters have proven useful, they face limitations, such as mechanical wear on the test masses, resulting in drift, and limited measurement speeds, hindering their use for long-term monitoring, as well as the need to average out microseismic vibrations, limiting their speed of data acquisition. Emerging sensors based on atom interferometry for gravity measurements could offer promising solutions to these limitations, and are currently advancing towards portable devices for real-world applications. This article provides a brief state-of-the-art review of portable atom interferometry-based quantum sensors and provides a perspective on routes towards improved sensors.