Measuring local proper acceleration with Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

We discuss a novel method of local absolute gravimetry using Bose-Einstein condensates, proposed in a recent patent by Ivette Fuentes et al. The calculations and early results presented there are detailed in this thesis, with a few discrepancies investigated. Furthermore, several improvements are made, which have been suggested but not carried out until now. Mainly, we employ quantum frequency interferometry as our measurement scheme, first introduced in, and demonstrate that it improves measurement precision by two orders of magnitude. Our semiclassical model for the system successfully accounts for certain general relativistic effects within the quantum system itself, without the need for an unrealistic, point-like reference. To do this, we adopt the methods first proposed in the patent, then developed in detail in. However, we conclude that the achievable sensitivities in estimating local classical gravity is still significantly behind the performance of current best quantum technologies. We then take steps towards using our setup to measure the dynamical Casimir effect instead, as suggested in.

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