Precision gravity measurements with cold atom interferometer

Precision Rotation Measurements with an Atom Interferometer Gyroscope

Matter-wave interferometry has the potential to be an extremely sensitive probe for inertial forces. For example, neutron interferometers have been used to measure the rotation of the Earth [1] and the acceleration due to gravity [2]. More recently, atom interference techniques have been used in demonstration experiments to measure rotations [3] and accelerations [4]. In this Letter, we present...

Measurement of the Earth’s Gravity Gradient with an Atom Interferometer-Based Gravity Gradiometer

Measurement of the gradient of gravitational fields has important scientific and technical applications. These applications range from measurement of G, the gravitational constant, and tests of general relativity [1,2] to covert navigation, underground structure detection, oil-well logging, and geodesy [3]. This Letter describes the development of a gravity gradiometer whose operation is based ...

Straight macroscopic magnetic guide for cold atom interferometer

Characterization and limits of a cold atom Sagnac interferometer

We present the full evaluation of a cold atom gyroscope based on atom interferometry. We have performed extensive studies to determine the systematic errors, scale factor and sensitivity. We demonstrate that the acceleration noise can be efficiently removed from the rotation signal, allowing us to reach the fundamental limit of the quantum projection noise for short term measurements. The techn...

Precision Accelerometers for Gravity Gradient Measurements

An accelerometer, based on a microwave sapphire resonator, is under development for application in a compact gravity gradiometer. This gravity gradiometer potentially can be used in space gradiometry, precision navigation, and geodesy. The principle of operation of the accelerometer is based on measurements of classical springproof-mass displacements, which are converted to phase shifts in the ...