Abstract
We propose a tractor atom interferometer (TAI) based on three-dimensional (3D) confinement and transport of split atomic wave-function components in potential wells that follow programmed paths. The paths are programmed to split and recombine atomic wave functions at well-defined space-time points, guaranteeing closure of the interferometer. Uninterrupted 3D confinement of the interfering wave-function components in the tractor wells eliminates coherence loss due to wave-packet dispersion. Using Crank-Nicolson simulation of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation, we compute the quantum evolution of scalar and spinor wave functions in several TAI sample scenarios. The interferometric phases extracted from the wave functions allow us to quantify gravimeter sensitivity for the TAI scenarios studied. We show that spinor TAI supports matter-wave beam splitters that are more robust against nonadiabatic effects than their scalar-TAI counterparts. We confirm the validity of semiclassical path-integral phases taken along the programmed paths of the TAI. Aspects for future experimental realizations of TAI are discussed.
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