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arXiv · 1412.3210

Testing Gravity with Cold-Atom Interferometers

G. W. Biedermann·X. Wu·L. Deslauriers·S. Roy·C. Mahadeswaraswamy·M. A. Kasevich
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Abstract

We present a horizontal gravity gradiometer atom interferometer for precision gravitational tests. The horizontal configuration is superior for maximizing the inertial signal in the atom interferometer from a nearby proof mass. In our device, we have suppressed spurious noise associated with the horizonal configuration to achieve a differential acceleration sensitivity of 4.2$\times10^{-9}g/\sqrt{Hz}$ over a 70 cm baseline or 3.0$\times10^{-9}g/\sqrt{Hz}$ inferred per accelerometer. Using the performance of this instrument, we characterize the results of possible future gravitational tests. We complete a proof-of-concept measurement of the gravitational constant with a precision of 3$\times10^{-4}$ that is competitive with the present limit of 1.2$\times10^{-4}$ using other techniques. From this measurement, we provide a statistical constraint on a Yukawa-type fifth force at 8$\times$10$^{-3}$ near the poorly known length scale of 10 cm. Limits approaching 10$^{-5}$ appear feasible. We discuss improvements that can enable uncertainties falling well below 10$^{-5}$ for both experiments.

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G. W. Biedermann, X. Wu, L. Deslauriers, S. Roy, C. Mahadeswaraswamy, M. A. Kasevich. 2014-12-10. Testing Gravity with Cold-Atom Interferometers. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.91.033629

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