HYPER: A Satellite Mission in Fundamental Physics Based on High Precision Atom Interferometry

Jentsch, C.; Müller, Tobias M.; Rasel, Ernst M.; Ertmer, W.

doi:10.1023/b:gerg.0000046179.26175.fa

Cited by 75 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Optical interferometry represents a high accurate measurement scheme with wide applications in many fields of science and technology [1][2][3][4][5]. Besides, the precise estimation of an optical phase shift is relevant for optical communication schemes where information is encoded in the phase of travelling pulses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical interferometry in the presence of large phase diffusion

et al. 2012

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Phase diffusion represents a crucial obstacle towards the implementation of high precision interferometric measurements and phase shift based communication channels. Here we present a nearly optimal interferometric scheme based on homodyne detection and coherent signals for the detection of a phase shift in the presence of large phase diffusion. In our scheme the ultimate bound to interferometric sensitivity is achieved already for a small number of measurements, of the order of hundreds, without using nonclassical light.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical interferometry in the presence of large phase diffusion

et al. 2012

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“…Building upon the successes of the past, new and even more precise interferometers are being built that are designed specifically to test: fundamental constants, such as the fine structure constant [13] and the gravitational constant [14,15], principles of physics, such as the equivalence principle [16], and general relativistic effects, like the Lense-Thirring and geodetic effects [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial wavefunction dependence on atom interferometry phases

Jansen

Leeuwen

2008

Appl. Phys. B

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In this paper we present a mathematical procedure to analytically calculate the output signal of a pulsed atom interferometer in an inertial field. Using the wellknown ABCDξ method we take into account the full wave dynamics of the atoms with a first order treatment of the wavefront distortion by the laser pulses. Using a numerical example we study the effect of both the length of the beam splitting laser pulses and of the width of the initial spatial distribution of the atoms. First, we find that in a general inertial field the interferometer only has a limited window in terms of the initial width (centered around 100 µm in the example calculation) in which interference fringes are visible at all. This effect is caused by the inevitable statistical spread in atomic parameters, such as initial position and momentum, and the dependence of the interferometer phase on these. In the optimum case, the useful range of the initial width is formed by the range in which both the spatial distribution and the diffraction limited momentum spread are small enough to avoid large phase differences over the atomic wavefunction. As a second result we find that the interferometer phase depends strongly on the length of the laser pulses and, to a smaller extent, on the initial width of the atomic cloud. This spatial dependency is relatively small (∼10 −5 rad) and justifies semiclassical approximations, as used in other calculations, for most experiments.

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“…It has a high short term sensitivity with a small measurement volume and is insensitive to external perturbations. Further improvement is possible by switching to 21 Ne gas and improving the sensitivity of optical rotation measurements at low frequencies to approach the spin-projection noise. We thank Tom Jackson, Igor Savukov, Charles Sule and Saee Paliwal for assistance in the lab.…”

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confidence: 99%

Nuclear Spin Gyroscope Based on an Atomic Comagnetometer

2005

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We describe a nuclear spin gyroscope based on an alkali-metal-noble-gas co-magnetometer. An optically pumped alkali-metal vapor is used to polarize the noble gas atoms and detect their gyroscopic precession. Spin precession due to magnetic fields as well as their gradients and transients can be cancelled in this arrangement. The sensitivity is enhanced by using a high-density alkalimetal vapor in a spin-exchange relaxation free (SERF) regime. With a K-3 He co-magnetometer we demonstrate rotation sensitivity of 5×10 −7 rad/sec/Hz 1/2 . The rotation signal can be increased by a factor of 10 using 21 Ne due to its smaller magnetic moment and the fundamental rotation sensitivity limit for a 21 Ne gyroscope with a 10 cm 3 measurement volume is about 2 × 10 −10 rad/sec/Hz 1/2 .Sensitive gyroscopes find a wide range of applications, from inertial navigation to studies of Earth rotation and tests of general relativity [1]. A variety of physical principles have been utilized for rotation sensing, including mechanical sensing, the Sagnac effect for photons [1,2] and atoms [3,4], the Josephson effect in superfluid 4 He and 3 He [5] and nuclear spin precession [6]. While state-ofthe-art mechanical gyroscopes, such as those developed for Gravity Probe B [7], remain unchallenged in terms of sensitivity, their extremely high cost and difficulty of fabrication motivate the development of simpler, smaller and more robust rotation sensors.Here we describe a new gyroscope based on nuclear spin precession. Unlike the atom and photon interferometric gyroscopes based on the Sagnac effect, nuclear spin gyroscopes do not require a large area enclosed by the interferometer and can be made quite compact. Previous nuclear spin gyroscopes [6] have suffered from high sensitivity to magnetic fields. We show that a comagnetometer using spin-polarized noble gas and alkalimetal vapor can eliminate the sensitivity to magnetic fields, their gradients and transients. High short-term rotation sensitivity can be achieved with an alkali-metal magnetometer operating in the SERF regime [8]. For example, magnetic field sensitivity of 0.5 fT/Hz 1/2 that has been demonstrated in a K magnetometer [9] would result in a rotation sensitivity of 1 × 10 −8 rad/s/Hz 1/2 in a K-21 Ne gyroscope. The bandwidth and transient response of the gyroscope are also significantly improved compared with earlier spin gyroscopes by damping due to coupling between noble gas and alkali-metal spins. We describe an experimental implementation of the gyroscope using K and3 He atoms and demonstrate short term rotation sensitivity of 5 × 10 −7 rad/sec/Hz 1/2 with a sensing volume of only 0.5 cm 3 . We also present a theoretical analysis and experimental measurements of the gyroscope response to various perturbations, and derive fundamental limits for its performance.The co-magnetometer consists of a spherical glass cell containing an alkali metal, several atmospheres of noble gas and a small quantity of nitrogen. Alkali atoms are polarized by optical pumping and transfer the polariz...

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HYPER: A Satellite Mission in Fundamental Physics Based on High Precision Atom Interferometry

Cited by 75 publications

References 31 publications

Optical interferometry in the presence of large phase diffusion

Optical interferometry in the presence of large phase diffusion

Initial wavefunction dependence on atom interferometry phases

Nuclear Spin Gyroscope Based on an Atomic Comagnetometer

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