Atom Interferometry

Abstract

Matter - wave interferometry began with the development of electron interferometers and neutron interferometers in the 1950s and 1960s, but it wasn't until 1991 that the first atom matter - wave interferometer was realized. This was followed by a surge of activity sparked by the advent of sources of ultracold laser-cooled atoms. Some of the potential advantages of atom interferometry over neutron interferometry include: much higher particle fluxes, lower particle velocities, larger particle masses, particles with internal states, and laboratory-based sources. This volume is the first text on atom interferometry. It consists of ten comprehensive review articles by leading researchers in the field, many of whom pioneered the first atom interferometers in 1991. The articles describe the different types of atom interferometers developed to date, ranging from the three-grating Mach - Zehnder interferometer based on nanofabricated grating structures (MIT) or standing-wave light-field gratings (Innsbruck), to the Talbot - Lau atom interferometer (Berkeley and Michigan), to atom interferometers based on internal-state labelling such as separated light-field interferometers (PTB, Hannover and Paris-Nord) and light-pulse interferometers (Stanford). Some of the recent applications of atom interferometry described in the articles include high precision measurements of rotations, the gravitational acceleration, and the fine structure constant (Stanford); measurements of topological phases (PTB and Hannover); correlation experiments with atoms and photons (Konstanz) and with pairs of atoms (Tokyo); holographic manipulation of atoms (Tokyo); and experiments on the quantum theory of measurement (Garching, Harvard and Texas A&M). In summary, this volume provides an excellent up-to-date account of atom interferometry and is recommended as essential reading for all researchers and would-be researchers in the field. At the same time it contains sufficient background material and theory to serve as an excellent introduction for the non-specialist. The field is presently moving at such a rapid pace, however, that many of the latest results reported in this volume will already have been superseded by the time it reaches the library shelves.