Universality-of-clock-rates test using atom interferometry with $T^3$ scaling

Abstract

Metric descriptions of gravitation, among them general relativity as today's established theory, are founded on assumptions summarized by the Einstein equivalence principle (EEP). Its violation would hint at unknown physics and could be a leverage for the development of quantum gravity. Atomic clocks are excellent systems to probe aspects of EEP connected to (proper) time and have evolved into a working horse for tests of local position invariance (LPI). Even though the operational definition of time requires localized and idealized clocks, quantum systems like atoms allow for spatial superpositions that are inherently delocalized. While quantum experiments have tested other aspects of EEP, no competitive test of LPI has been performed or proposed allowing for an intrinsic delocalization. We extend the concepts for tests of the universality of clock rates (one facet of LPI) to atom interferometry generating delocalized quantum clocks. The proposed test depends on proper time with a favorable scaling and is, in contrast to fountain clocks, robust against initial conditions and recoil effects. It enables optical frequencies so that the projected sensitivity exceeds the one of state-of-the-art localized clocks. These results extend our notion of time, detached from classical and localized philosophies.

11 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

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Cited by in corpus (11)

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• Clock Transitions Versus Bragg Diffraction in Atom-interferometric Dark-matter Detection
• Atom interferometers in weakly curved spacetimes using Bragg diffraction and Bloch oscillations
• Quantum field theory for multipolar composite bosons with mass defect and relativistic corrections
• Atom interferometer as a freely falling clock for time-dilation measurements
• Finite Pulse-Time Effects in Long-Baseline Quantum Clock Interferometry
• Spatial and Pulse Efficiency Constraints in Atom Interferometric Gravitational Wave Detectors
• Unified laboratory-frame analysis of atomic gravitational-wave sensors
• General Relativistic Center-of-Mass Coordinates for Composite Quantum Particles
• Interferometry of Atomic Matter Waves in the Cold Atom Lab onboard the International Space Station