We report on a precision measurement of gravitational acceleration using ultracold strontium atoms confined in an amplitude-modulated vertical optical lattice. An uncertainty dg/g ~ 10^-7 is reached by measuring at the 5th harmonic of the Bloch frequency. The value obtained with this microscopic quantum system is consistent with the one measured with a classical gravimeter. Using lattice modulation to prepare the atomic sample, we also achieve high visibility of Bloch oscillations for ~20 s. These results can be of relevance for testing gravitational redshift and Newtonian law at micrometer scale.
Precision Measurement of Gravity with Cold Atoms in an Optical Lattice and Comparison with a Classical Gravimeter / N. Poli; F.Y. Wang; M.G. Tarallo; A. Alberti; M. Prevedelli; G.M. Tino. - In: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS. - ISSN 0031-9007. - STAMPA. - 106:(2011), pp. 038501.038501-1-038501.038501-4. [10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.038501]
Precision Measurement of Gravity with Cold Atoms in an Optical Lattice and Comparison with a Classical Gravimeter
PREVEDELLI, MARCO;
2011
Abstract
We report on a precision measurement of gravitational acceleration using ultracold strontium atoms confined in an amplitude-modulated vertical optical lattice. An uncertainty dg/g ~ 10^-7 is reached by measuring at the 5th harmonic of the Bloch frequency. The value obtained with this microscopic quantum system is consistent with the one measured with a classical gravimeter. Using lattice modulation to prepare the atomic sample, we also achieve high visibility of Bloch oscillations for ~20 s. These results can be of relevance for testing gravitational redshift and Newtonian law at micrometer scale.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
