Testing Theories of Dark Energy Using Atom Interferometry

宇宙学观测提供了令人信服的证据，证明粒子物理学和宇宙学的标准模型是不完整的。关键的观测是宇宙微波背景的存在和结构，以及使用1a型超新星观察到的宇宙膨胀历史。这些观测表明，宇宙的膨胀在太阳系形成时就开始加速。这种膨胀的未知原因被称为“暗能量”。暗能量在任何现有的物理学或宇宙学理论中都没有得到解释。目前的观测对于所需的新物理学的结构和能量尺度是一个很差的指导。我们建议解决这些基本的宇宙学之谜，使改进搜索暗能量使用原子干涉。在原子干涉仪中，真空中的微小原子样品被冷却到接近绝对零度。在如此低的温度下，原子与激光的量子相互作用使其对微小的力非常敏感，例如可能起源于暗能量的力。我们所做的改进不仅将推进对暗能量的研究，而且将提高原子干涉仪探测其他新物理的灵敏度。

Cosmological observations provide compelling evidence that the standard models of particle physics and cosmology are incomplete. Key observations are the presence and structure of the cosmic microwave background and the expansion history of the universe seen using Type 1a supernovae. These observations show that the expansion of the universe began to accelerate at the time of the formation of the solar system. The as-yet unknown cause of this expansion has been dubbed 'dark energy'. Dark energy is not explained in any current theory of physics or cosmology. Current observations are a poor guide to the structure and energy scales of the new physics needed. We propose to address these fundamental cosmological mysteries by making an improved search for dark energy using atom interferometry. In an atom interferometer a tiny sample of atoms in vacuum is cooled to nearly absolute zero. At such low temperatures an atom's quantum interaction with laser light makes it exquisitely sensitive to tiny forces such as one which might have its origin from dark energy. The improvements we will make will advance not only the search for dark energy but also the sensitivity of atom interferometers for detecting other new physics.