Sensitive measurement of forces at micron scale using Bloch oscillations of ultracold atoms

TL;DR

This paper proposes using Bloch oscillations of ultracold atoms in optical lattices to measure forces at micron scales, enabling sensitive detection of forces like the Casimir-Polder force near surfaces.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for force measurement at micron scales using ultracold atoms and Bloch oscillations, specifically targeting local Casimir-Polder force detection.

Findings

Bloch oscillations can detect forces as small as 10^-4 gravity.

The method allows local, direct measurement of Casimir-Polder forces.

Experimental parameters are realistic for implementation.

Abstract

We show that Bloch oscillations of ultracold fermionic atoms in the periodic potential of an optical lattice can be used for a sensitive measurement of forces at the micrometer length scale, e.g. in the vicinity of dielectric surface. In particular, the proposed approach allows to perform a local and direct measurement of the Casimir-Polder force which is, for realistic experimental parameters, as large as 10^-4 gravity.