CAREER: Developing Techniques for Atom-Based Gravitational Wave Detection and Dark Matter Searches with a Multiplexed Optical Lattice Clock

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。摘要：光学原子钟现在是人类有史以来建造的最精确和最准确的桌面测量设备，对新的和外来的物理学具有灵敏度。PI最近开发了一种新的原子钟装置，并用它来演示两个光学钟之间的比较，精度低于1/10^19。为了给人一种规模感，这相当于解决两个时钟滴答的速度差异，这将导致它们在3000亿年后仅相差1秒。PI和一名研究生将使用这个新设备开发和测试使用光学原子钟来搜索暗物质和探测引力波的方法。因此，该项目有可能产生通过引力波天文学研究宇宙的新工具，以及寻找物理学中最大谜团之一暗物质性质答案的新方法。PI将把这些研究课题整合到新的演示和实践活动中，旨在向K-12学生介绍现代物理概念。学生将在现场表演和互动活动中参与这些活动，作为威斯康星州大学“物理学奇迹”外展计划的一部分，重点是到达威斯康星州的农村社区和美洲原住民保留地。因此，该项目将加强公众对现代物理学研究的支持，并帮助学生培养对原子技术及其应用的直觉。技术观众摘要：本研究项目旨在探索和开发光学原子钟的新兴应用。 PI最近展示了一种首创的“多路复用”光学晶格时钟装置，该装置能够在同一真空室内的两个或更多个空间分辨的锶原子系综之间进行差分时钟比较。这些差分测量消除了时钟激光噪声和共模环境波动的不利影响，推动了可实现的时钟稳定性和原子-原子相干性的极限。记录差分时钟稳定性和小数频率精度现在已经证明了在这个装置中，一个明确的路径，以进一步提高性能。PI和合作者将使用这种多路复用光学晶格时钟来开发和演示新的测量序列和数据分析技术，用于未来使用天基光学晶格时钟进行引力波探测，包括以实际强度盲注入模拟引力波信号。PI和合作者还将使用多路复用光学晶格时钟在以前未探索的参数空间区域中搜索雾状暗物质，并开发新技术来搜索其他形式的暗物质。PI将与合作者合作开发互动和引人入胜的演示和基于探究的活动，向K-12学生介绍现代物理概念，包括原子钟的基本原理及其应用，并将通过调查评估其有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). General audience abstract:Optical atomic clocks are now the most precise and accurate tabletop measurement devices ever constructed by humankind, offering sensitivity to new and exotic physics. The PI has recently developed a new kind of atomic clock apparatus and has used it to demonstrate a comparison between two optical clocks at a precision below one part in 10^19. To give a sense of scale, this corresponds to resolving a difference in the rate the two clocks tick at that would result in them disagreeing with each other by only 1 second after 300 billion years. The PI and a graduate student will use this new apparatus to develop and test ways to use optical atomic clocks to search for dark matter and to detect gravitational waves. This project therefore has the potential to result in new tools for studying the universe through gravitational wave astronomy, and new ways to search for answers to one of the biggest mysteries in physics, the nature of dark matter. The PI will integrate these research topics into new demos and hands-on activities designed to introduce K-12 students to modern physics concepts. Students will engage with these activities at live shows and interactive events as part of the University of Wisconsin “Wonders of Physics” outreach program, with an emphasis on reaching rural communities and Native American reservations in Wisconsin. This project will thereby strengthen public support for modern physics research and help students develop intuition for atomic technologies and their applications. Technical audience abstract:This research project aims to explore and develop emerging applications of optical atomic clocks. The PI has recently demonstrated a first-of-its-kind “multiplexed" optical lattice clock apparatus that enables differential clock comparisons between two or more spatially resolved ensembles of strontium atoms within the same vacuum chamber. These differential measurements eliminate the detrimental effects of clock laser noise and common mode environmental fluctuations, pushing the limits of achievable clock stability and atom-atom coherence. Record differential clock stabilities and fractional frequency precision have now been demonstrated in this apparatus, with a clear path to further gains in performance. The PI and collaborators will use this multiplexed optical lattice clock to develop and demonstrate novel measurement sequences and data analysis techniques for future gravitational wave detection with space-based optical lattice clocks, including the blind injection of simulated gravitational wave signals at realistic strengths. The PI and collaborators will also use the multiplexed optical lattice clock to search for foggy dark matter in previously unexplored regions of parameter space, and to develop new techniques to search for other forms of dark matter. The PI will work with collaborators to develop interactive and engaging demos and inquiry-based activities to introduce K-12 students to modern physics concepts, including the basic principles of atomic clocks and their applications, and will assess their effectiveness using surveys.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.