Mainz 2017 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 13: Precision Measurements and Metrology: Interferometry I (with Q)

A 13.1: Talk

Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 11:00–11:15, P 104

Challenging Einstein with Very Long Baseline Atom Interferometry — •Etienne Wodey, Christian Meiners, Dorothee Tell, Dennis Schlippert, Christian Schubert, Wolfgang Ertmer, and Ernst M. Rasel — Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover

In the quest for a theory of quantum gravity, most of the theoretical attempts to reconcile two of physics’ most successful theories, quantum mechanics (QM) and general relativity (GR), build upon a violation of Einstein’s equivalence principle. Considerable experimental effort to detect potential violations of the universality of free fall (UFF) has therefore been delivered, first using classical test masses and more recently with genuine quantum objects.

Very Long Baseline Atom Interferometers (VLBAI) represent a new class of matter-wave sensors that extend the baseline from tens of centimeters to several meters, enabling free fall times on the order of seconds and a corresponding increase in the phase sensitivity which scales with the square of the free fall time. Using ultracold mixtures of rubidium and ytterbium atoms, this should not only enable quantum tests of the UFF challenging the current state of the art with classical test masses but also permit new experiments ranging from gravimetry and gradiometry with unprecedented resolution and stability to new probes of the intimate interplay between GR and QM.

The VLBAI facility is a major research equipment funded by the DFG. We also acknowledge support from the CRCs 1128 "geo-Q" and 1227 "DQ-mat" and the RTG 1729.