The analogs of optical elements in light-pulse atom interferometers are generated from the interaction of matter waves with light fields. As such, these fields possess quantum properties, which fundamentally lead to a reduced visibility in the observed interference. This loss is a consequence of the encoded information about the atom's path. However, the quantum nature of the atom-optical elements also gives an additional degree of freedom to reduce such effects: We demonstrate that entanglement between all light fields can be used to erase information about the atom's path and by that to partially recover the visibility. Thus, our work highlights the role of complementarity on atom-interferometric experiments.
This paper focuses on several key ideas to using atom interferometry to detect rotation within the context of an atom trap or “guide”. I discuss shortcomings of traditional free space light pulse atom interferometry that the advantages of guided light pulse atom interferometry can mitigate and under what conditions that strategy is possible. There is discussion of requirements for the light pulses, and the properties of the waveguide that will be needed for guided atom interferometry to successfully improve on the capability of free space light pulse atom interferometry.