Berlin 2005 – scientific programme

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Q: Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 4: Poster Teilchenoptik

Q 4.1: Poster

Friday, March 4, 2005, 11:00–12:30, Poster HU

Molecule interferometry: Sensitivity to inertial forces and vibrational dephasing — •Alexander Stibor¹, Klaus Hornberger², Lucia Hackermüller¹, Stefan Gerlich¹, Anton Zeilinger¹, and Markus Arndt¹ — ¹Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Wien, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Wien — ²Theoretische Quantenoptik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Theresienstraße 37, 80333 München

We discuss matter wave experiments in a near-field interferometer and focus on dephasing caused by inertial forces. They can significantly influence the observed interference contrast, even though they do not lead to genuine decoherence. We provide quantitative estimates for the most important effects which are the rotation of the earth, the gravitational acceleration as well as grating vibrations. The vibrations segregate into various coupled mode oscillations, most importantly the ’fixed pendulum’ and the ’torsion pendulum’ mode, as well as into independent grating oscillations. Furthermore our experiments reveal a strong influence of acoustic noise. Since the importance of inertial forces in interferometry increases with increasing particle mass, passive and active compensation measures have to be implemented in future experiments.