Possibility of Observing the Gravitational Analogue of the Scalar Aharanov-Bohm Effect in Atom Interferometers

Iulia Georgescu

K. Bakke, Claudio Furtado

Akshat Pandey

We study the recent gravitational analogue of the Aharonov–Bohm effect for a classical system, namely a complex scalar field. We use this example to demonstrate that the Aharonov–Bohm effect in principle has nothing to do with quantum-mechanics. We then discuss how this classical field description can be connected to the standard one particle quantum description of the Aharonov–Bohm effect.

Jason M. Hogan

Atsuo Morinaga, Motoyuki Murakami, Keisuke Nakamura +1 more

In a Ramsey atom interferometer excited by two electromagnetic fields, if atoms are under a time-varying scalar potential during the interrogation time, the phase of the Ramsey fringes shifts owing to the scalar Aharonov–Bohm effect. The phase shift was precisely examined using a Ramsey atom interferometer with a two-photon Raman transition under the second-order Zeeman potential, and a formula for the phase shift was derived. Using the derived formula, the frequency shift due to the scalar Aharonov–Bohm effect in the frequency standards utilizing the Ramsey atom interferometer was discussed.

Atsuo Morinaga, K. Shinohara, T. Aoki

The scalar Aharonov-Bohm effect of a time dependent homogeneous magnetic field on neutral cold atoms was demonstrated using a time domain atom interferometer. The interference fringes over the phase shift of more than 200 rad verified the nondispersivity.