INSPIRE Physical Sciences: Levitation-based quantum gravimeter

我们研究项目的主要目的是设计和演示一种便携式设备的原型，该设备利用量子特性来高精度地测量引力场。微型化将通过实施真正的范式转变来实现，即改变用量子系统测量重力的主要机制：我们将使用由振荡的光学悬浮量子系统获得的依赖重力的相位。这与之前基于类物质系统自由落体的提议形成了鲜明对比。虽然第一个设计将假设重力是牛顿的经典框架，但我们将开发新技术，旨在首次探测广义相对论效应。我们将考虑两个实验平台。第一种采用了含有氮空位(NV)中心的光学悬浮纳米钻石。这种装置的优点是它在室温下工作。第二种是冷原子体系，它提供了一个自然的舞台，将这一提议扩展到广义相对论体制。我们将从实验和理论上彻底评估两种设置中潜在的系统误差和噪声源的影响。

The main aim of our research project is to design and demonstrate a prototype of a portable device that exploits quantum properties to measure gravitational fields with high accuracy. Miniaturization will be achieved by putting in place a genuine paradigm shift, namely the change of the main mechanism used to measure gravity with quantum systems: we will use the gravity-dependent phase acquired by an oscillating optically-levitated quantum system. This is in stark contrast with previous proposals based on the free fall of matter-like systems. While the first design will assume a classical framework where gravity is assumed Newtonian, we will develop new technology aimed at detecting, for the first time, general relativistic effects. We will consider two experimental platforms. The first employs an optically-levitated nanodiamond that contains a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre. This setup has the advantage that it operates at room temperature. The second is a cold-atom setup that provides a natural arena to extend the proposal to the general relativistic regime. We will assess thoroughly, both experimentally and theoretically, the effects of potential systematic errors and noise sources in both setups.