Quantum test of the Universality of Free Fall using rubidium and potassium
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THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL D
Regular Article
Quantum test of the Universality of Free Fall using rubidium and potassium? Henning Albers1 , Alexander Herbst1 , Logan L. Richardson1,2 , Hendrik Heine1 , Dipankar Nath1 , Jonas Hartwig1 , Christian Schubert1 , Christian Vogt3 , Marian Woltmann3 , Claus L¨ammerzahl3 , Sven Herrmann3 , Wolfgang Ertmer1 , Ernst M. Rasel1 , and Dennis Schlippert1,a 1 2 3
Leibniz Universit¨ at Hannover, Institut f¨ ur Quantenoptik, Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover, Germany College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA ZARM Zentrum f¨ ur angewandte Raumfahrttechnologie und Mikrogravitation, Universit¨ at Bremen, Am Fallturm 2, 28359 Bremen, Germany Received 2 March 2020 / Received in final form 22 May 2020 Published online 7 July 2020 c The Author(s) 2020. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract. We report on an improved test of the Universality of Free Fall using a rubidium-potassium dualspecies matter wave interferometer. We describe our apparatus and detail challenges and solutions relevant when operating a potassium interferometer, as well as systematic effects affecting our measurement. Our determination of the E¨ otv¨ os ratio yields η Rb,K = −1.9 × 10−7 with a combined standard uncertainty of −7 ση = 3.2 × 10 .
1 Introduction Matter wave interferometry is an effective toolbox to probe our understanding of nature. Based on coherent manipulation of atomic ensembles, sensors capable of performing accurate inertial measurements have been demonstrated [1–10]. These new atomic sensors allow accessing novel methods to understand fundamental physics [11–15]. The Einstein equivalence principle (EEP) is a cornerstone for the theory of general relativity [16]. It is composed of three components: Local Lorentz Invariance, Local Position Invariance, and the Universality of Free Fall. A violation of any of the components would imply a violation of the EEP and could therefore yield modifications of general relativity with the possibility to reconcile it with quantum field theory and therefore form of a theory of quantum gravity. The Universality of Free Fall (UFF) states the equality of inertial and gravitational mass min = mgr and implies that all objects freely falling in the same gravitational field experience the same acceleration. As a figure of merit for UFF tests in the Newtonian framework we can express differential acceleration measurements in the so-called E¨otv¨os ratio mgr mgr − m m gA − gB in in A B , =2 (1) η A,B ≡ 2 mgr mgr gA + gB + min min A
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where A and B are the test masses, and gA,B is their respective local gravitational acceleration. Tests of the UFF can be grouped in three categories depending on the nature of the test masses: (i) classical, (ii) semi-classical, and (iii) quantum tests as reported in Table 1. The UFF has been tested extensively by classical means, yielding the best uncertainty at parts in 1014 . In addition, since the first observation of a gravitationally induced phase in a mat
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