Large-scale atom interferometry for fundamental physics
Large-scale atom interferometry for fundamental physics
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DOI：
10.1080/00107514.2023.2239008
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发表时间：
2023-04
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
O. Buchmueller;J. Ellis;U. Schneider
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
O. Buchmueller;J. Ellis;U. Schneider
原子干涉仪测量冷原子波函数中的量子干涉图案，这些冷原子遵循不同时空轨迹的叠加。这些可能对基本物理过程引起的相移敏感，例如与超轻暗物质的相互作用或引力波的通过。大型原子干涉仪的能力说明了他们的估计灵敏度超轻暗物质与电子和光子的可能相互作用，并在1赫兹左右的频率范围内，中间的LIGO和丽莎实验的峰值灵敏度的引力波。原子干涉仪可以探测超轻标量耦合，其灵敏度比目前等效原理探测器的灵敏度高得多。它们对中频引力波的敏感性可能会为LIGO和Virgo实验发现的质量与星系核心中存在的超大质量黑洞之间的质量合并打开一扇窗户，以及早期宇宙中的基本物理过程，如一阶相变和宇宙弦网络的演化。
Atom interferometers measure quantum interference patterns in the wave functions of cold atoms that follow superpositions of different space-time trajectories. These can be sensitive to phase shifts induced by fundamental physics processes such as interactions with ultralight dark matter or the passage of gravitational waves. The capabilities of large-scale atom interferometers are illustrated by their estimated sensitivities to the possible interactions of ultralight dark matter with electrons and photons, and to gravitational waves in the frequency range around 1 Hz, intermediate between the peak sensitivities of the LIGO and LISA experiments. Atom interferometers can probe ultralight scalar couplings with much greater sensitivity than is currently available from probes of the Equivalence Principle. Their sensitivity to mid-frequency gravitational waves may open a window on mergers of masses intermediate between those discovered by the LIGO and Virgo experiments and the supermassive black holes present in the cores of galaxies, as well as fundamental physics processes in the early Universe such as first-order phase transitions and the evolution of networks of cosmic strings.