Atom-Interferometry Tests of the Isotropy of Post-Newtonian Gravity

We present a test of the local Lorentz invariance of post-Newtonian gravity by monitoring Earth’s gravity with a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer that features a resolution of up to $8\times {10}^{-9}g/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$, the highest reported thus far. Expressed within the standard model extension (SME) or Nordtvedt’s anisotropic universe model, the analysis limits four coefficients describing anisotropic gravity at the ppb level and three others, for the first time, at the 10 ppm level. Using the SME we explicitly demonstrate how the experiment actually compares the isotropy of gravity and electromagnetism.

Figure 1

Left: Schematic of a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer. In our experiment, a $\pi$ pulse takes about $100\mu \mathrm{s}$. Right: typical fringe obtained in our experiment.

Figure 2

Setup. $\lambda /4$; $1/4$-wave retardation plate. Vibrations of the top mirror are reduced to below $5\times {10}^{-9}g/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ in a frequency range of 0.1–10 Hz by a sophisticated active vibration isolator [28].

Figure 3

Data in ${10}^{-9}g$. Each point represents a 60-s scan of one fringe (75-s after TJD1900).