Berlin 2014 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 16: Poster: Quantum information, micromechanical oscillators, matter wave optics, precision measurements and metrology
Q 16.57: Poster
Monday, March 17, 2014, 16:30–18:30, Spree-Palais
Density profiles and contrast in open atom interferometers — •Wolfgang Zeller1, Albert Roura1, Wolfgang P. Schleich1, and the QUANTUS TEAM1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 — 1Institut für Quantenphysik, Universität Ulm — 2Institut für Quantenoptik, LU Hannover — 3ZARM, Universität Bremen — 4Institut für Physik, HU Berlin — 5Institut für Laser-Physik, Universität Hamburg — 6Institut für angewandte Physik, TU Darmstadt — 7MUARC, University of Birmingham, UK — 8FBH, Berlin — 9MPQ, Garching
Light-pulse atom interferometers have become a valuable tool for precision measurements of inertial and gravitational forces as well as fundamental constants. Effects like gravity gradients can lead to open atom interferometers (OAI), where the interfering paths do not close in phase space. In this contribution, we present an elementary description of all the features of OAI. In particular, we analyze the loss of contrast of the integrated particle number and present a strategy how to recover the contrast necessary for interferometry. Moreover, our approach allows an intuitive understanding of the fringe patterns appearing in OAI, which were the basis of recent experiments [1,2]. The picture is completed with a phase-space representation of the state in the exit of the interferometer.
The QUANTUS project is supported by the German Space Agency DLR with funds provided by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) under grant number 50WM1136.
[1] H. Müntinga et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 093602 (2013)
[2] S. M. Dickerson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 083001 (2013)