Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Quantum Sensing and Nano Electronics and Photonics

Precision tests of the Sagnac effect with a two-axis atomic gyroscope

Leonid A. Sidorenkov, Romain Gauthier, Mohamed Guessoum, Quentin Bouton, Arnaud Landragin, Rémi Geiger

Published Mar 8, 2024• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The Sagnac effect, manifest in the phase shift of a rotating interferometer proportional to its physical area and to the rotation rate of the frame, plays a crucial role in modern physics being generalized to any kind of interferometer. However, as compared to light, the accurate experimental validation of the Sagnac effect for matter-waves remains challenging. We report the accurate measurement of the Sagnac phase shift, induced by the Earth’s rotation, using a large-area cold atom interferometer. We probe the atomic Sagnac phase shift along the two orthogonal horizontal axes in various orientation of the sensor with respect to geographic north and obtain an agreement with the theoretical prediction at the 20 ppm level, improving by twenty five-fold over the previous achievements for matter waves. Our results underline the universality of the Sagnac effect and open new horizons for testing other fundamental theories, as well as for a number of technological applications in seismology, geodesy and inertial navigation systems.

DOI
10.1117/12.3008991

Related papers

Accurate measurement of the Sagnac effect for matter waves

Romain Gautier, Mohamed Guessoum, Leonid A. Sidorenkov +3 more

A rotating interferometer with paths that enclose a physical area exhibits a phase shift proportional to this area and to the rotation rate of the frame. Understanding the origin of this so-called Sagnac effect has played a key role in the establishment of the theory of relativity and has pushed for the development of precision optical interferometers. The fundamental importance of the Sagnac effect motivated the realization of experiments to test its validity for waves beyond optical, but precision measurements remained a challenge. Here, we report the accurate test of the Sagnac effect for matter waves, by using a Cesium atom interferometer featuring a geometrical area of 11 cm 2 and two sensitive axes of measurements. We measure the phase shift induced by Earth’s rotation and find agreement with the theoretical prediction at an accuracy level of 25 parts per million. Beyond the importance for fundamental physics, our work opens practical applications in seismology and geodesy.

arXiv:2206.06696•Science Advances•Jun 10, 2022•53 citations

Slow wave atom interferometers for rotation sensing

Meriç Özcan

A gyroscope based on Sagnac interferometer measures the rotation rate relative to an inertial frame of reference. Sagnac effect originally has been derived and experimentally demonstrated with optical waves. Later, matter wave based Sagnac interferometers were developed due to inherent sensitivity over a photon based system. However in any interferometer whether it is photon or matter wave based the resultant phase shift due to counter-rotating waves is independent of the wave velocity. Here we show that one can have a larger phase shift with slower matter waves using Aharonov-Bohm effect: the phase difference of the counter propagating waves is proportional to the inverse square of the particle velocity.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Feb 8, 2007•0 citations

Rotation sensing with a dual atom-interferometer Sagnac gyroscope

T. L. Gustavson, Arnaud Landragin, Mark A. Kasevich

We reports improvements to our Sagnac effect matter-wave interferometer gyroscope. This device now has a short-term rotation-rate sensitivity of 6 × 10 -10 rad s -1 over 1 s of integration, which is the best publicly reported value to date. Stimulated Raman transitions are used to coherently manipulate atoms from counterpropagating thermal beams, forming two interferometers with opposite rotation phase shifts, allowing rotation to be distinguished from acceleration and laser arbitrary phase. Furthermore, electronically compensating the rotation-induced Doppler shifts of the Raman lasers allows operation at an effective zero rotation rate, improving sensitivity and facilitating sensitive lock-in detection readout techniques. Long-term stability is promising but not yet fully characterized. Potential applications include inertial navigation, geophysical studies and tests of general relativity.

Classical and Quantum Gravity•Jun 8, 2000•474 citations

Rotation Sensing with an Atom Interferometer

Alan Lenef, Troy D. Hammond, Edward T. Smith +3 more

We have measured the phase shift induced by rotation of an atom interferometer at rates of $\ensuremath{-}2$ to $+2$ earth rates and obtained $1%$ agreement with the predicted Sagnac phase shift for atomic matter waves. The rotational rms noise of our interferometer was $42$ milliearth rates for $1$ sec of integration time, within $9%$ of shot noise. The high sensitivity and agreement of predicted and measured behavior suggest useful future scientific applications of atom interferometers as inertial sensors.

Physical Review Letters•Feb 3, 1997•198 citations

Precision Rotation Sensing Using Atom Interferometry

T. L. Gustavson

A rotation-rate sensor was developed using atom interferometry and the Sagnac effect for matter waves. This device has a short-term sensitivity of 6× 10−10 rad/sec for a 1 second integration time, which is the best publicly reported value to date. It has high intrinsic accuracy because it relies on interactions between atoms and laser light that is stabilized to an atomic transition. Long-term stability is promising and characterization is currently underway. Potential applications include inertial navigation, geophysical studies, and general relativity tests such as verification of the Lense-Thirring and geodetic effects. The principle of operation is as follows: A thermal cesium atomic beam crosses three laser interaction regions where two-photon stimulated Raman transitions between cesium ground states transfer momentum to atoms and divide, deflect, and recombine the atomic wavepackets. Rotation induces a phase shift between the two possible trajectories and causes a change in the detected number of atoms with a particular internal state. Counterpropagating atomic beams form two interferometers using shared lasers for common-mode rejection, and the rotation phase shifts have opposite sign since the phase shift is proportional to the vector velocity of the atoms. Therefore, subtracting or adding the interferometer signals discriminates between rotation and transverse acceleration summed with laser arbitrary phase. Furthermore, in the inertial reference frame of the atoms, rotations Doppler-shift the Raman lasers. Adding Raman frequency shifts to cancel these Doppler-shifts allows operation at an effective zero rotation rate, improving sensitivity and bandwidth. Modulating these frequency shifts facilitates sensitive lock-in detection readout techniques.

•Jan 1, 2000•24 citations

Gravitomagnetic Sagnac Effect for Matter Waves: Atom Interferometry in the Lense–Thirring Field of a Rotating Mass

Norbert Levente Kis

We derive the phase shift of a matter-wave interferometer in the gravitomagnetic field of a rotating body. By combining the Lense–Thirring metric in theweak-field, slow-rotation limit with the path-integral formulation of atom interferometry, we obtain an exact expression for the gravitomagnetic Sagnac phase:∆ϕ = (2m/ℏ) Ag · dl, where Ag is the gravitomagnetic vector potential. Foran Earth-orbiting atom interferometer, the predicted phase shift is ∆ϕ ∼ 10−1102 rad depending on the interferometer geometry and atomic species, placing itwithin reach of current cold-atom technology. A space-based implementation wouldimprove the sensitivity to the Lense–Thirring effect by two to three orders of magnitude compared to Gravity Probe B, providing a direct test of general relativitywith quantum systems

•Aug 3, 2026•0 citations
The Sagnac effect, manifest in the phase shift of a rotating interferometer proportional to its physical area and to the rotation rate of the frame, plays a crucial role in modern physics being generalized to any kind of interferometer. However, as compared to light, the accurate experimental validation of the Sagnac effect for matter-waves remains challenging. We report the accurate measurement of the Sagnac phase shift, induced by the Earth’s rotation, using a large-area cold atom interferometer. We probe the atomic Sagnac phase shift along the two orthogonal horizontal axes in various orientation of the sensor with respect to geographic north and obtain an agreement with the theoretical prediction at the 20 ppm level, improving by twenty five-fold over the previous achievements for matter waves. Our results underline the universality of the Sagnac effect and open new horizons for testing other fundamental theories, as well as for a number of technological applications in seismology, geodesy and inertial navigation systems.
A rotating interferometer with paths that enclose a physical area exhibits a phase shift proportional to this area and to the rotation rate of the frame. Understanding the origin of this so-called Sagnac effect has played a key role in the establishment of the theory of relativity and has pushed for the development of precision optical interferometers. The fundamental importance of the Sagnac effect motivated the realization of experiments to test its validity for waves beyond optical, but precision measurements remained a challenge. Here, we report the accurate test of the Sagnac effect for matter waves, by using a Cesium atom interferometer featuring a geometrical area of 11 cm 2 and two sensitive axes of measurements. We measure the phase shift induced by Earth’s rotation and find agreement with the theoretical prediction at an accuracy level of 25 parts per million. Beyond the importance for fundamental physics, our work opens practical applications in seismology and geodesy.
A gyroscope based on Sagnac interferometer measures the rotation rate relative to an inertial frame of reference. Sagnac effect originally has been derived and experimentally demonstrated with optical waves. Later, matter wave based Sagnac interferometers were developed due to inherent sensitivity over a photon based system. However in any interferometer whether it is photon or matter wave based the resultant phase shift due to counter-rotating waves is independent of the wave velocity. Here we show that one can have a larger phase shift with slower matter waves using Aharonov-Bohm effect: the phase difference of the counter propagating waves is proportional to the inverse square of the particle velocity.
We reports improvements to our Sagnac effect matter-wave interferometer gyroscope. This device now has a short-term rotation-rate sensitivity of 6 × 10 -10 rad s -1 over 1 s of integration, which is the best publicly reported value to date. Stimulated Raman transitions are used to coherently manipulate atoms from counterpropagating thermal beams, forming two interferometers with opposite rotation phase shifts, allowing rotation to be distinguished from acceleration and laser arbitrary phase. Furthermore, electronically compensating the rotation-induced Doppler shifts of the Raman lasers allows operation at an effective zero rotation rate, improving sensitivity and facilitating sensitive lock-in detection readout techniques. Long-term stability is promising but not yet fully characterized. Potential applications include inertial navigation, geophysical studies and tests of general relativity.
We have measured the phase shift induced by rotation of an atom interferometer at rates of $\ensuremath{-}2$ to +2+2+2 earth rates and obtained 11%1 agreement with the predicted Sagnac phase shift for atomic matter waves. The rotational rms noise of our interferometer was 424242 milliearth rates for 111 sec of integration time, within 99%9 of shot noise. The high sensitivity and agreement of predicted and measured behavior suggest useful future scientific applications of atom interferometers as inertial sensors.
A rotation-rate sensor was developed using atom interferometry and the Sagnac effect for matter waves. This device has a short-term sensitivity of 6× 10−10 rad/sec for a 1 second integration time, which is the best publicly reported value to date. It has high intrinsic accuracy because it relies on interactions between atoms and laser light that is stabilized to an atomic transition. Long-term stability is promising and characterization is currently underway. Potential applications include inertial navigation, geophysical studies, and general relativity tests such as verification of the Lense-Thirring and geodetic effects. The principle of operation is as follows: A thermal cesium atomic beam crosses three laser interaction regions where two-photon stimulated Raman transitions between cesium ground states transfer momentum to atoms and divide, deflect, and recombine the atomic wavepackets. Rotation induces a phase shift between the two possible trajectories and causes a change in the detected number of atoms with a particular internal state. Counterpropagating atomic beams form two interferometers using shared lasers for common-mode rejection, and the rotation phase shifts have opposite sign since the phase shift is proportional to the vector velocity of the atoms. Therefore, subtracting or adding the interferometer signals discriminates between rotation and transverse acceleration summed with laser arbitrary phase. Furthermore, in the inertial reference frame of the atoms, rotations Doppler-shift the Raman lasers. Adding Raman frequency shifts to cancel these Doppler-shifts allows operation at an effective zero rotation rate, improving sensitivity and bandwidth. Modulating these frequency shifts facilitates sensitive lock-in detection readout techniques.
We derive the phase shift of a matter-wave interferometer in the gravitomagnetic field of a rotating body. By combining the Lense–Thirring metric in theweak-field, slow-rotation limit with the path-integral formulation of atom interferometry, we obtain an exact expression for the gravitomagnetic Sagnac phase:∆ϕ = (2m/ℏ) Ag · dl, where Ag is the gravitomagnetic vector potential. Foran Earth-orbiting atom interferometer, the predicted phase shift is ∆ϕ ∼ 10−1102 rad depending on the interferometer geometry and atomic species, placing itwithin reach of current cold-atom technology. A space-based implementation wouldimprove the sensitivity to the Lense–Thirring effect by two to three orders of magnitude compared to Gravity Probe B, providing a direct test of general relativitywith quantum systems