Precision Measurements with a Condensite Interferometer

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The past decade has seen a literal quantum leap in our ability to manipulate atoms, the basic building blocks of matter. The discovery of Bose-Einstein condensation and related techniques has allowed scientists to control the complete state of an atom with unprecedented precision. The full implications of this advance are still being uncovered, but one application that is poised for development is the use of Bose condensates for high-accuracy measurements. A variety of measurements that have previously been performed with non-condensed atoms will see substantial improvements, and several novel measurements that were previously impractical have become possible. This project pursues such avenues, with a particular focus on the measurement of the electrical polarizability of atoms. The polarizability is an essential atomic value that describes how an atom behaves in situations ranging from light scattering to chemical reactions to atomic clocks. This work is expected to improve the accuracy of the polarizability by a hundred-fold over the current knowledge, a result that will be useful in many scientific applications. More broadly, the work will lead the way to improved techniques for a variety of other measurements, including that of gravity, acceleration, rotation, atomic interactions, and electromagnetic fields of various kinds. Many of these applications have technological and social importance, such as gravity detection for oil prospecting or inertial measurements for navigation. Profound scientific developments have nearly always resulted in significant societal benefits, as evidenced by the ubiquity of, for example, microwave and laser technology. It is anticipated that the work performed here will help develop analogous utilities for Bose condensate physics. At the same time, the work provides excellent training for the next generation of scientists on these cutting-edge ideas and techniques. Participating graduate students will become well prepared for careers in academic or industrial research, or perhaps to guide the cross-over of ideas from one area to the other.