Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 010401 |
| Journal | Physical review letters |
| Volume | 110 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Jan 2013 |
Abstract
Motivated by the recent debate on whether the Kasevich-Chu atom interferometer can measure the gravitational redshift, we show that in different representations of quantum mechanics chosen for the calculation, the observed phase shift appears as though it originates from different physical phenomena. In particular, we demonstrate that the decomposition of the total phase shift into three dynamical phases, which emerges in a semiclassical approach and is at the very heart of the redshift controversy, does not appear in an exact treatment based on a representation-free analysis. Here only two phenomena determine the phase shift: the difference of the laser phases and the acceleration of the atom. Hence, the Kasevich-Chu interferometer is an accelerometer or gravimeter.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
- General Physics and Astronomy
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In: Physical review letters, Vol. 110, No. 1, 010401, 02.01.2013.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Redshift Controversy in Atom Interferometry
T2 - Representation Dependence of the Origin of Phase Shift
AU - Schleich, Wolfgang P.
AU - Greenberger, Daniel M.
AU - Rasel, Ernst M.
PY - 2013/1/2
Y1 - 2013/1/2
N2 - Motivated by the recent debate on whether the Kasevich-Chu atom interferometer can measure the gravitational redshift, we show that in different representations of quantum mechanics chosen for the calculation, the observed phase shift appears as though it originates from different physical phenomena. In particular, we demonstrate that the decomposition of the total phase shift into three dynamical phases, which emerges in a semiclassical approach and is at the very heart of the redshift controversy, does not appear in an exact treatment based on a representation-free analysis. Here only two phenomena determine the phase shift: the difference of the laser phases and the acceleration of the atom. Hence, the Kasevich-Chu interferometer is an accelerometer or gravimeter.
AB - Motivated by the recent debate on whether the Kasevich-Chu atom interferometer can measure the gravitational redshift, we show that in different representations of quantum mechanics chosen for the calculation, the observed phase shift appears as though it originates from different physical phenomena. In particular, we demonstrate that the decomposition of the total phase shift into three dynamical phases, which emerges in a semiclassical approach and is at the very heart of the redshift controversy, does not appear in an exact treatment based on a representation-free analysis. Here only two phenomena determine the phase shift: the difference of the laser phases and the acceleration of the atom. Hence, the Kasevich-Chu interferometer is an accelerometer or gravimeter.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84871782409&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.010401
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.010401
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84871782409
VL - 110
JO - Physical review letters
JF - Physical review letters
SN - 0031-9007
IS - 1
M1 - 010401
ER -