Precision Gravity Tests with Atom Interferometry in Space

Guglielmo M. Tino (1) , Fiodor Sorrentino (1) , D. Aguilera (2) , Baptiste Battelier (3) , Andrea Bertoldi (4) , Quentin Bodart (5) , K. Bongs , Philippe Bouyer (6, 3) , C. Braxmaier , L. Cacciapuoti (5) , Naceur Gaaloul (7) , N. Gürlebeck , M. Hauth , S. Herrmann , M. Krutzik , A. Kubelka , Arnaud Landragin (8) , A. Milke , A. Peters , E. M. Rasel , E. Rocco , C. Schubert , T. Schuldt , K. Sengstock , A. Wicht

1 INFN Sezione di Firenze
2 DLR Institute of Space Systems
3 lp2n-02,lp2n-11
4 LP2N - Laboratoire Photonique, Numérique et Nanosciences
5 ESA - Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency
6 Laboratoire Charles Fabry / Optique atomique
7 IQ - Institut für Quantenoptik [Hannover]
8 LNE - SYRTE - Laboratoire national de métrologie et d'essais - Systèmes de Référence Temps-Espace

Atom interferometry provides extremely sensitive and accurate tools for the measurement of inertial forces. Operation of atom interferometers in microgravity is expected to enhance the performance of such sensors. This paper presents two possible implementations of a dual 85Rb-87Rb atom interferometer to perform differential gravity measurements in space, with the primary goal to test the Weak Equivalence Principle. The proposed scheme is in the framework of two projects of the European Space Agency, namely Q-WEP and STE-QUEST. The paper describes the baseline experimental configuration, and discusses the technology readiness, noise and error budget for the two proposed experiments.

Domains: Atomic Physics [physics.atom-ph]

Guglielmo M. Tino, Fiodor Sorrentino, D. Aguilera, Baptiste Battelier, Andrea Bertoldi, et al.. Precision Gravity Tests with Atom Interferometry in Space. Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements, 2013, 243-244, pp.203. ⟨10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2013.09.023⟩. ⟨hal-00998926⟩