Hot Atoms Interferometer

This work will not catch media attention because it isn't "sexy", but damn, it is astonishing nevertheless.

Quantum behavior are clearly seen at the macroscopic level because of the problem in maintaining coherence over a substantial length and time scales. One of the ways one can extend such scales is by cooling things down to extremely low temperatures so that decoherence due to thermal scattering is minimized.

So it is with great interest that I read this new paper on atoms interferometer that has been accomplished with "warm" atomic vapor[1]! You also have access to the actual paper from that link.

While the sensitivity of this technique is significantly and unsurprisingly low when compared to cold atoms, it has 2 major advantages:

However, sensitivity is not the only parameter of relevance for applications, and the new scheme offers two important advantages over cold schemes. The first is that it can acquire data at a rate of 10 kHz, in contrast to the typical 1-Hz rate of cold-atom LPAIs. The second advantage is the broader range of accelerations that can be measured with the same setup. This vapor-cell sensor remains operational over an acceleration range of 88g, several times larger than the typical range of cold LPAIs.

The large bandwidth and dynamic range of the instrument built by Biedermann and co-workers may enable applications like inertial navigation in highly vibrating environments, such as spacecraft or airplanes. What’s more, the new scheme, like all LPAIs, has an important advantage over devices like laser or electromechanical gyroscopes: it delivers acceleration measurements that are absolute, without requiring a reference signal. This opens new possibilities for drift-free inertial navigation devices that work even when signals provided by global satellite positioning systems are not available, such as in underwater navigation.

And again, let me highlight the direct and clear application of something that started out as simply appearing to be a purely academic and knowledge-driven curiosity. This really is an application of the principle of superposition in quantum mechanics, i.e. the Schrodinger Cat.

This is an amazing experimental accomplishment.

Zz.

[1] G. W. Biedermann et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 163601 (2017).