Atom interferometry gravity-gradiometer for the determination of the Newtonian gravitational constant G

A. Bertoldi1, G. Lamporesi1, L. Cacciapuoti1, M. de Angelis1, M. Fattori1, T. Petelski1, A. Peters1, M. Prevedelli1, J. Stuhler1, G. M. Tino1
1Dipartimento di Fisica and LENS, Università di Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italy

Tóm tắt

We developed a gravity-gradiometer based on atom interferometry for the determination of the Newtonian gravitational constant G. The apparatus, combining a Rb fountain, Raman interferometry and a juggling scheme for fast launch of two atomic clouds, was specifically designed to reduce possible systematic effects. We present instrument performances and preliminary results for the measurement of G with a relative uncertainty of 1%. A discussion of projected accuracy for G measurement using this new scheme shows that the results of the experiment will be significant to discriminate between previous inconsistent values.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Atom interferometry, edited by P.R. Berman (Academic press, 1997) A. Miffre, M. Jacquey, M. Büchner, G. Trénec, J. Vigué, Phys. Scripta 74, C15 (2006) A. Peters, K.Y. Chung, S. Chu, Nature 400, 849 (1999) M.J. Snadden, J.M. McGuirk, P. Bouyer, K.G. Haritos, M.A. Kasevich, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 971 (1998) S. Fray, C.A. Diez, T.W. Hänsch, M. Weitz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 240404 (2004) G.M. Tino, “High precision gravity measurements by atom interferometry”, In A Relativistic Spacetime Odyssey - Proceedings of JH Workshop, Firenze, 2001 (World Scientific, 2003); also, G.M. Tino, Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.) 113, 289 (2002) S. Dimopoulos, A.A. Geraci, Phys. Rev. D 68, 124021 (2003) G. Ferrari, N. Poli, F. Sorrentino, G.M. Tino, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 060402 (2006) J.M. McGuirk, G.T. Foster, J.B. Fixler, M.J. Snadden, M.A. Kasevich, Phys. Rev. A 65, 033608 (2002) T.L. Gustavson, P. Bouyer, M.A. Kasevich, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 2046 (1997) F. Yver-Leduc, P. Cheinet, J. Fils, A. Clairon, N. Dimarcq, D. Holleville, P. Bouyer, A. Landragin, J. Opt. B: Quant. Semiclass. Opt. 5, S136 (2003) HYPER, Hyper Precision Cold Atom Interferometry in Space, Assessment study report, ESA-SCI (2000) 10 C. Bordé, G.M. Tino, F. Vetrano, 2004 Aspen Winter College on Gravitational Waves (Available online at: http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/LIGO_web/Aspen2004/ pdf/vetrano.pdf, to be published) R.Y. Chiao, A.D. Speliotopoulos, J. Mod. Opt. 51, 861 (2004) A. Roura, D.R. Brill, B.L. Hu, C.W. Misner, W.D. Phillips, Phys. Rev. D 73, 084018/1 (2006) M. Fattori, G. Lamporesi, T. Petelski, J. Stuhler, G.M. Tino, Phys. Lett. A 318, 184 (2003) P.J. Mohr, B.N. Taylor, Rev. Mod. Phys. 77, 42 (2005) M. Kasevich, S. Chu, Appl. Phys. B 54, 321 (1992) T. Petelski, Atom interferometers for precision gravity measurements, Ph.D. thesis, Università di Firenze (2005); available online at www.fi.infn.it/sezione/ esperimenti/MAGIA/home.html R. Legere, K. Gibble, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 5780 (1998) L. Cacciapuoti, M. de Angelis, M. Fattori, G. Lamporesi, T. Petelski, M. Prevedelli, J. Stuhler, G.M. Tino, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76, 053111 (2005) G.T. Foster, J.B. Fixler, J.M. McGuirk, M.A. Kasevich, Opt. Lett. 27, 951 (2002) A. Peters, K.Y. Chung, S. Chu, Metrologia 38, 25 (2001) P. Cheinet, B. Canuel, F.P.D. Santos, A. Gauguet, F. Leduc, A. Landragin, arXiv:physics/0510197