Bonn 2025 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 26: Poster – Precision Measurement, Metrology, and Quantum Effects

Q 26.16: Poster

Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 14:00–16:00, Tent

General Relativistic Center-of-Mass Coordinates for Composite Quantum Particles — •Gregor Janson and Richard Lopp — Institut für Quantenphysik and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), Universität Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany

Recently, quantum clock interferometry has been proposed for tests of the Einstein equivalence principle. While most atom interferometric models include relativistic effects in an ad hoc manner, this work begins with the multi-particle nature of quantum-delocalizable atoms in curved spacetime and extends the special-relativistic concepts of center-of-mass (COM) and relative coordinates, which were previously studied for Minkowski spacetime only, to describe light-matter dynamics in curved spacetime. Specifically, for a local Schwarzschild observer at the Earth’s surface using Fermi-Walker coordinates, we identify gravitational correction terms for the Poincaré symmetry generators. These corrections allow us to derive general relativistic COM and relative coordinates. Using these coordinates, we derive the Hamiltonian for a fully first-quantized two-particle atom interacting with an electromagnetic field in curved spacetime which naturally incorporates both special and general relativistic effects.

Keywords: General relativity; Atom interferometry; Quantum metrology; Quantum sensing; Quantum clocks