Comparison between two mobile absolute gravimeters: optical versus atomic interferometers

TL;DR

This paper compares two portable absolute gravimeters, one based on atomic interferometry and the other on optical interferometry, demonstrating their agreement within a few microgals in a bilateral comparison.

Contribution

It provides a direct comparison between atomic and optical interferometry-based gravimeters, highlighting their agreement and operational capabilities.

Findings

The two gravimeters agree within 4.3 ± 6.4 μGal.

Both instruments participated in the ICAG'09 international comparison.

The comparison demonstrates the viability of portable atomic and optical gravimeters.

Abstract

We report a comparison between two absolute gravimeters: the LNE-SYRTE cold atoms gravimeter and FG5#220 of Leibniz Universit\"at of Hannover. They rely on different principles of operation: atomic and optical interferometry. Both are movable which enabled them to participated to the last International Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters (ICAG'09) at BIPM. Immediately after, their bilateral comparison took place in the LNE watt balance laboratory and showed an agreement of 4.3 +/- 6.4 {\mu}Gal.