Quantum Test of the Local Position Invariance with Internal Clock Interferometry

TL;DR

This paper proposes a quantum interferometry method using internal atomic clocks within a single atom to test local position invariance, potentially revealing quantum effects of gravity on time.

Contribution

It introduces a novel internal clock interferometer scheme that allows quantum tests of LPI without splitting or recombining, leveraging long coherence times of atomic states.

Findings

Interference visibility modulates with gravitational potential changes.

The scheme is feasible with current optical clock sensitivities.

Potential to explore quantum effects of gravity on time.

Abstract

Current attempts to test local position invariance (LPI) compare different clock transition rates with classically exchanged signals. We propose an experimental scheme for the quantum test of LPI: an internal atomic clock interferometer comprising two interfering clocks within one atom. We prepare the atom in a superposition of two clock states and one ground state, which evolves coherently along two quantum clock oscillations into stable internal Ramsey interference patterns. The interference pattern with the shared ground state shows a visibility modulation, which can be interpreted as the beating of the individual clock oscillations and a direct consequence of complementarity. Upon the interferometer experiencing a different gravitational potential, LPI predicts that both clock tick rates will change proportionally, while quantum complementarity indicates that the visibility modulation should modify accordingly. This change is deemed insignificant for the first period of visibility modulation but can be stacked up until the limit of the system coherence time. Since no splitting or recombining is involved, the system coherence time can be as long as the trap lifetime or the clock state lifetime. The required resolution to observe the visibility modulation is within reach of the state-of-art optical clocks' sensitivities. This experimental scheme is feasible in different scenarios, still or with speed, and may shed new light on studying the quantum effect of time and general relativity.