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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 82: Matter Wave Interferometry, Metrology, and Fundamental Physics IV

Q 82.5: Talk

Friday, March 6, 2026, 15:30–15:45, P 11

Relativistic effects and their test in atom interferometry — •Christian Niehof, Daniel Derr, and Enno Giese — Technische Universität Darmstadt, Fachbereich Physik, Institut für Angewandte Physik, Schlossgartenstr. 7, D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany

Light-pulse atom interferometry with ultracold atoms enables high-precision experiments with applications ranging from inertial sensing to fundamental physics. Some gravitational-wave and dark-matter detectors are already proposed based on these techniques. However, achieving the required sensitivities demands large spacetime-area interferometers with substantial arm separations. This makes finite light propagation times and related relativistic effects non-negligible [1]. Thus, a consistent phase description must include state-dependent atomic Compton frequencies resulting from internal-state mass defects and gravitational influences on light and atoms. Additionally, resonant operation in accelerating frames requires laser-frequency chirps.

We present a unified framework that incorporates these effects for arbitrary interferometer geometries and diffraction mechanisms. When applied to Mach-Zehnder gravimeters that use either single-photon, Bragg, Raman, or recoilless E1-M1 transitions, our framework yields exact phase expressions under resonant chirping. These expressions show strong suppression of finite-speed-of-light terms and offer a method to remove residual velocity dependence. We also propose an experimentally feasible test of these predictions.

[1] J. Liu et al., Quantum Frontiers 3, 2 (2024)

Keywords: Relativistic effects; Precision measurements; Finite-speed-of-light; Gravity; Quantum mechanical perturbation theory