Testing the universality of free fall with rubidium and ytterbium in a very large baseline atom interferometer

Abstract

We propose a very long baseline atom interferometer test of Einstein’s equivalence principle (EEP) with ytterbium and rubidium extending over 10 m of free fall. In view of existing parametrizations of EEP violations, this choice of test masses significantly broadens the scope of atom interferometric EEP tests with respect to other performed or proposed tests by comparing two elements with high atomic numbfers. In the first step, our experimental scheme will allow us to reach an accuracy in the Eötvös ratio of 7 · 10 ^−13 . This achievement will constrain violation scenarios beyond our present knowledge and will represent an important milestone for exploring a variety of schemes for further improvements of the tests as outlined in the paper. We will discuss the technical realisation in the new infrastructure of the Hanover Institute of Technology (HITec) and give a short overview of the requirements needed to reach this accuracy. The experiment will demonstrate a variety of techniques, which will be employed in future tests of EEP, high-accuracy gravimetry and gravity gradiometry. It includes operation of a force-sensitive atom interferometer with an alkaline earth-like element in free fall, beam splitting over macroscopic distances and novel source concepts.

Keywords

• atom interferometry
• equivalence principle
• Bose-Einstein condensation