Ultrahigh-Sensitivity Bragg Atom Gravimeter and its Application in Testing Lorentz Violation

Abstract

This study reports a significant result in atom interferometry, specifically for gravity measurements: an achieved sensitivity of $2.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ m/s${}^{2}$ per shot, which advances the state of the art by about a factor of two. Integrating for 2000 s, the resolution here is $8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}$ m/s${}^{2}$, which is equivalent to the effect produced by a 60-kg person 2 m away. Based on such extremely sensitive and stable gravity measurements, a test of local Lorentz invariance in the gravity sector is performed, where the accuracy of the upper bound on the space-space component is improved by a factor of four---a milestone result in testing fundamental physics with such metrology.