TY - JOUR

T1 - HYPER:

T2 - A Satellite Mission in Fundamental Physics Based on High Precision Atom Interferometry

AU - Jentsch, C.

AU - Müller, T.

AU - Rasel, E. M.

AU - Ertmer, W.

N1 - Funding information: The authors wish to underline that this work is the result of an excellent cooperation with essential and longstanding contributions by the members of the HYPER Science Core Team (A. Landragin, P. Bouyer and P. Tourrenc), by Ch.J. Bordé, the Astrium Study Team under the lead of U. Johann, the ESA study teams under the lead of G. Bagnasco and M. Novara, as well as with the complete HYPER Team [17]. This work was only possible with the important financial support by ESA as well as by the German Science Foundation DFG within the Sonderforschungsbereich 407. The authors wish to thank CNES for the financial and logistical support of the HYPER Symposium I held in Paris.

PY - 2004/10

Y1 - 2004/10

N2 - The article presents the HYPER project, a proposal for a satellite mission on precision matter-wave interferometry. For the mission several scientific objectives are under investigation, for which atom interferometers proved on ground to be a true complementary and competitive alternative for classical concepts: The application of atom interferometers as gyroscopes, the measurement of the gravitational acceleration (including tests of the universality of the free fall of atoms) and the precise determination of the fine-structure constant. The paper focuses on the use of cold-atom gyroscopes to map the Lense-Thirring effect close by the Earth and reports on results of recent feasibility studies of the European Space Agency. HYPER requires new concepts of compact, high-resolution matter-wave gyroscopes, which are better adapted to the use in satellite based experiments. The article will give a concise overview of the status and strategies in the field.

AB - The article presents the HYPER project, a proposal for a satellite mission on precision matter-wave interferometry. For the mission several scientific objectives are under investigation, for which atom interferometers proved on ground to be a true complementary and competitive alternative for classical concepts: The application of atom interferometers as gyroscopes, the measurement of the gravitational acceleration (including tests of the universality of the free fall of atoms) and the precise determination of the fine-structure constant. The paper focuses on the use of cold-atom gyroscopes to map the Lense-Thirring effect close by the Earth and reports on results of recent feasibility studies of the European Space Agency. HYPER requires new concepts of compact, high-resolution matter-wave gyroscopes, which are better adapted to the use in satellite based experiments. The article will give a concise overview of the status and strategies in the field.

KW - fine-structure constant

KW - Gyroscope

KW - universality of free fall

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=10344247195&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1023/B:GERG.0000046179.26175.fa

DO - 10.1023/B:GERG.0000046179.26175.fa

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:10344247195

VL - 36

SP - 2197

EP - 2221

JO - General relativity and gravitation

JF - General relativity and gravitation

SN - 0001-7701

IS - 10 SPEC.ISS.

ER -