Sensitivity of a small matter-wave interferometer to gravitational waves

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of small matter-wave interferometers as high-frequency gravitational wave detectors, analyzing their response, sensitivity, and the benefits of multiple detectors in stochastic signal detection.

Contribution

It derives the response function of matter-wave interferometers to gravitational waves and assesses their sensitivity, highlighting the impact of resonance and detector correlation.

Findings

Response function includes a derivative term of gravitational waves.

Resonant operation enhances high-frequency sensitivity.

Multiple detectors improve stochastic signal detection.

Abstract

We study the possibility of using matter wave interferometry techniques to build a gravitational wave detector. We derive the response function and find that it contains a term proportional to the derivative of the gravitational wave, a point which has been disputed recently. We then study in detail the sensitivity that can be reached by such a detector and find that, if it is operated near resonance, it can reach potentially interesting values in the high frequency regime. The correlation between two or more of such devices can further improve the sensitivity for a stochastic signal.