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GR: Fachverband Gravitation und Relativitätstheorie

GR 14: Experimente zur Gravitation I

GR 14.1: Talk

Thursday, March 12, 2009, 17:25–17:45, A214

A New Type of Atom Interferometry for Testing Fundamental Physics — •Dennis Lorek¹, Andreas Wicht², and Claus Lämmerzahl¹ — ¹Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity, University of Bremen, Germany — ²Ferdinand-Braun-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany

We present a new type of atom interferometry that provides a tool for ultra-high precision tests of fundamental physics. As an example we present how an atom interferometer based on hydrogen may be used to detect gravitational waves. The perturbation of the Hamiltonian by a gravitational wave is derived, the quantum interferometric measurement principle is described, and the size of the effect is estimated. We will discuss whether a gravitational wave causes a frequency shift which may be detectable with the next generation atom interferometers.