Interacting atomic interferometry for rotation sensing approaching the Heisenberg Limit

Published

November 11, 2016

Author(s)

Jacob M. Taylor, Stephen Ragole

Abstract

Atom interferometers provide exquisite measurements of the properties of non-inertial frames. Typically atomic interactions are detrimental to good sensing. Here we consider an analogy between atomic gyroscopes and SQUIDs, motivated by recent experiments realizing ring shaped traps for ultracold atoms. We explore the one-dimensional limit of these ring systems with a moving weak barrier, such as a blue-detuned laser beam. In this limit, we employ Luttinger liquid theory and find an analogy with the superconducting charge qubit where atomic circulation is the equivalent of charge. In particular, we find that strongly-interacting atoms in such a system could be used for precision rotation sensing. We compare the performance of this new sensor to non-interacting atom interferometry, and find improvements in sensitivity and bandwidth.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Volume

117

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

Atom interferometry, gyroscope, heisenberg limit, quantum sensing, Luttinger liquid, cold atom, bose einstein condensate

Citation

Taylor, J. and Ragole, S. (2016), Interacting atomic interferometry for rotation sensing approaching the Heisenberg Limit, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.203002 (Accessed May 7, 2026)

Additional citation formats