Effect of self-vibration on accuracy of free-fall absolute gravity measurement with laser interferometer

Abstract

A free-fall absolute gravimeter was used to measure the gravity acceleration of a corner-cube released in high vacuum, and the gravity acceleration was determined by fitting the free-falling trajectories obtained through optical interferometry. During the measurement, the self-vibration of an absolute gravimeter caused ground vibration and the change in optical path length due to vibration of vacuum-air interface, which resulted in a measurement error. Numerical simulation was run by introducing vibration disturbance to the trajectories of free-fall. The effect of disturbance under different instrumental self-vibration conditions was analyzed. Simulation results indicated that the deviation of calculated gravity acceleration from the preset value and residuals amplitude after fitting depended on the amplitude and initial phase of the vibration disturbance. The deviation value and fitting residuals amplitude increased with the increasing of amplitude and there was a one-to-one correspondence between the two. The deviation of calculated gravity acceleration decreases by properly setting the initial phase difference of vibration disturbance with respect to the interference fringe signal.