Determination of the Newtonian Gravitational Constant Using Atom Interferometry

TL;DR

This paper reports a new measurement of the gravitational constant G using atom interferometry with cold rubidium atoms, demonstrating a quantum-based approach with promising precision improvements.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel quantum interferometry method for measuring G, achieving competitive accuracy and stability, and exploring gravity through quantum systems.

Findings

Measured G as 6.667×10^{-11} m^3 kg^{-1} s^{-2}

Achieved statistical uncertainty of ±0.011×10^{-11}

Demonstrated potential for sub-100 ppm measurement accuracy

Abstract

We present a new measurement of the Newtonian gravitational constant G based on cold atom interferometry. Freely falling samples of laser-cooled rubidium atoms are used in a gravity gradiometer to probe the field generated by nearby source masses. In addition to its potential sensitivity, this method is intriguing as gravity is explored by a quantum system. We report a value of G=6.667 10^{-11} m^{3} kg^{-1} s^{-2}, estimating a statistical uncertainty of $\pm$ 0.011 10^{-11} m^{3} kg^{-1} s^{-2} and a systematic uncertainty of $\pm$ 0.003 10^{-11} m^{3} kg^{-1} s^{-2}. The long-term stability of the instrument and the signal-to-noise ratio demonstrated here open interesting perspectives for pushing the measurement accuracy below the 100 ppm level.