$T^3$-interferometer for atoms

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel atom interferometer that exploits different accelerations for internal states to observe a phase scaling with the cube of time, advancing quantum measurement techniques.

Contribution

It introduces a new method for atom interferometry that utilizes differential accelerations to detect a cubic phase dependence on time, based on the quantum propagator in a gravitational potential.

Findings

Theoretical framework for $T^3$-scaling phase in atom interferometry.

Progress towards experimental realization of the $T^3$-interferometer.

Potential for enhanced sensitivity in quantum measurements.

Abstract

The quantum mechanical propagator of a massive particle in a linear gravitational potential derived already in 1927 by Earle H. Kennard \cite{Kennard,Kennard2} contains a phase that scales with the third power of the time $T$ during which the particle experiences the corresponding force. Since in conventional atom interferometers the internal atomic states are all exposed to the same acceleration $a$, this $T^3$-phase cancels out and the interferometer phase scales as $T^2$. In contrast, by applying an external magnetic field we prepare two different accelerations $a_1$ and $a_2$ for two internal states of the atom, which translate themselves into two different cubic phases and the resulting interferometer phase scales as $T^3$. We present the theoretical background for, and summarize our progress towards experimentally realizing such a novel atom interferometer.