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Sensitive Absolute Gravity Gradiometry Using Atom Interferometry

J. M. McGuirk·G. T. Foster·J. B. Fixler·M. J. Snadden·M. A. Kasevich
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Abstract

We report the demonstration of a sensitive absolute gravity gradiometer based on light-pulse atom interference techniques. The gradiometer consists of two absolute accelerometers operated in a differential mode. We report a differential acceleration sensitivity of 4e-9 g/Hz^(1/2) and an inferred differential acceleration accuracy of less than 1e-9 g. This corresponds to a gravity gradient sensitivity of 4 E/Hz^(1/2) [1 E = 1e-9 s^(-2)] and an accuracy of better than 1 E for a 10 m separation between accelerometers. We demonstrate that the instrument can be used to detect nearby masses in a vibrationally noisy environment and characterize instrument sensitivity to spurious acceleration and rotation noise.

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J. M. McGuirk, G. T. Foster, J. B. Fixler, M. J. Snadden, M. A. Kasevich. 2001-05-25. Sensitive Absolute Gravity Gradiometry Using Atom Interferometry. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.65.033608

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