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Optical measurements of gravity fields

Lute Maleki, Nan Yu, Andrey B. Matsko

Published Jan 5, 2003• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Optical measurements of a gravitational field with sensitivity close to the sensitivity of atomic devices are possible if one detects properties of light after its interaction with optically thick atomic cloud moving freely in the gravity field. A nondestructive detection of a number of ultracold atoms in a cloud as well as tracking of the ground state population distribution of the atoms is possible by optical means.

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Optical measurements of a gravitational field with sensitivity close to the sensitivity of atomic devices are possible if one detects properties of light after its interaction with optically thick atomic cloud moving freely in the gravity field. A nondestructive detection of a number of ultracold atoms in a cloud as well as tracking of the ground state population distribution of the atoms is possible by optical means.
We show theoretically that measuring an optimum observable of an electromagnetic wave propagating in an atomic medium moving freely in a gravitational field results in a sensitive detection of the acceleration of gravity and its gradient. The best achievable sensitivity of such a measurement is comparable with that of light-pulse atom interferometers based on measuring the atomic internal state. This optical technique is useful for nondestructive detection of ultracold atoms in atomic interferometers.
Atom interferometers are quantum mechanical devices sensitive to gravitational and inertial forces, with applications in fundamental physics and inertial sensing in the field. Their performance is currently limited by the interrogation time available to freely falling atoms in Earth’s gravitational field, as well as noise due to mechanical and acoustic vibrations. Our experiment probes gravitational potentials by holding, rather than dropping, atoms. We realize an interrogation time of 20 seconds by suspending the spatially separated atomic wave packets in an optical lattice. This record coherence is enabled by the smooth lattice wave fronts, which are mode-filtered by an optical cavity. This trapped geometry suppresses phase variance due to vibrations by three to four orders of magnitude, overcoming the dominant noise source in atom-interferometric gravimeters. The later part of the talk describes recent progress in characterizing and reducing dephasing of the interferometer. An upgraded optical lattice interferometer experiment is currently being commissioned, with the goal of increased sensitivity to gravity.
The ability to control the quantum degrees of freedom of atoms using laser light opened the way to precision measurements of fundamental physical quantities. I will describe experiments for precision tests of gravitational physics using new quantum devices based on ultracold atoms, namely, atom interferometers and optical clocks. I will report on the measurement of the gravitational constant G with a Rb Raman interferometer, on experiments based on Bloch oscillations of Sr atoms confined in an optical lattice for gravity measurements at small spatial scales, and on new tests of the Einstein equivalence principle. I will also discuss prospects to use atoms as new detectors for gravitational waves and for experiments in space.
We describe two experiments where atom interferometry is applied for precision measurements of gravitational effects. In the first, we measure the Newtonian gravitational constant G using an atom interferometry gravity-gradiometer which combines a rubidium fountain, a juggling scheme for fast launch of two atomic clouds, and Raman interferometry. We show that the sensor is able to detect the gravitational field produced by source masses and G is measured with better than 10-2 accuracy. In the second experiment, using ultra-cold strontium atoms in a vertical optical lattice and observing persistent Bloch oscillations for several seconds, we measure gravity acceleration with micromet-ric spatial resolution. We discuss the prospects for the study of gravitational forces at short distances and show that unexplored regions can be investigated in the search for deviations from Newtonian gravity.