Atom-interferometric test of the equivalence principle and observation of a quantum system in curved spacetime
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The theory of general relativity is based on the equivalence principle, which states that all gravitational effects vanish in any local measurement. This principle is the best-understood aspect of gravity and has been tested with high precision in classical experiments. However, there is no widely-accepted quantum theory of gravity, and the nature of the relationship between gravity and quantum mechanics is one of the most significant open problems in physics. We study the interaction of gravity with quantum systems in a light-pulse atom interferometer, which uses lasers to measure atomic positions and accelerations. The sensitivity of the interferometer is increased by utilizing large-momentum-transfer pulse sequences and a free-fall time of up to 2 s, made possible by the 10 m scale of the apparatus. The frequencies and angles of each interferometer pulse are optimized to suppress kinematic phase gradients by several orders of magnitude. We use this system to test the equivalence principle between 85Rb and 87Rb, finding no violation at the level of 10^-12 g. With a resolution of up to 1.4 x 10^-11 per shot, we demonstrate the highest relative acceleration sensitivity yet obtained in a laboratory setting. In addition, by operating the interferometer in a gradiometer configuration, we perform the first observation of a single quantum system in curved spacetime. Finally, we propose an experiment to observe gravitational time dilation with an atom interferometer
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2020; ©2020 |
| Publication date | 2020; 2020 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Overstreet, Christopher Burr |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Kasevich, Mark A |
| Thesis advisor | Kasevich, Mark A |
| Thesis advisor | Graham, Peter |
| Thesis advisor | Gratta, Giorgio |
| Degree committee member | Graham, Peter |
| Degree committee member | Gratta, Giorgio |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Physics. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Chris Overstreet |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Physics |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2020 |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2020 by Christopher Burr Overstreet
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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