Rostock 2019 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 57: Poster: Quantum Optics and Photonics III
Q 57.23: Poster
Thursday, March 14, 2019, 16:15–18:15, S Fobau Physik
Dynamical response of Bose-Einstein condensates to oscillating gravitational fields — •Dennis Rätzel1, Richard Howl2, Joel Lindkvist3, and Ivette Fuentes2 — 1Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 12489 Berlin, Germany — 2School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom — 3Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) are very small and extremely cold systems of a large number of atoms. These properties are famously exploited for high precision measurements of forces using atom interferometry. A further way of utilizing BECs as sensors for forces is to measure the forces' effect on the collective oscillations of atoms in BECs. In this presentation, it is explained how BECs can be used to measure oscillating gravitational fields. Accelerations due to gravitational fields and their gradients give rise to effective external potentials, oscillations on resonance with elastic modes of BECs lead to the creation of phonons. For strong enough gravitational fields this effect can, in principle, be detected. For weaker gravitational fields, a squeezed probe state can be prepared and its change due to the interaction with the oscillating gravitational field may be measured. We illustrate our experimental proposal with the easily accessible example of the gravitational field of a small oscillating gold sphere.