AION: A UK Atom Interferometer Observatory and Network

AION：英国原子干涉仪天文台和网络

• 批准号: ST/T006994/1
• 负责人: Oliver Buchmueller
• 金额: $ 289.46万
• 依托单位: Imperial College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FT006994%2F1
• 关键词: AION; UK; Atom; Interferometer; Observatory

The AION project harnesses a new generation of quantum sensors to conduct experiments in fundamental physics, such as the discovery of dark matter, and detect hitherto unknown sources of gravitational waves, such as violent collisions far away in the universe and events that occurred when the universe was a fraction of a second old. One of the foremost candidates for dark matter is some type of very light particle that is spread throughout space with a varying density that changes in time. AION is capable of detecting the effects of these variations on cold atoms using techniques based on quantum interference effects, with much greater sensitivity than current experiments. The same quantum techniques probe small fluctuations in the fabric of space-time caused by the passage of gravitational waves, and AION will measure such effects in a different range of wavelength and frequency from the existing experiments LIGO and Virgo. In this way it will be able to observe the mergers of black holes that are much more massive, possibly casting light on the formation of the supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies. AION may also be sensitive to gravitational waves generated in the very early universe, for example by phase transitions or by cosmic strings. AION will be operated in a network with detectors in the US and Europe that are based on similar quantum physics, and its measurements will complement those by LIGO, Virgo and the future space experiment LISA, providing many possible synergies through joint observations.We will build an instrument in the UK that brings together the advantages of state-of-the-art optical clocks based on Sr atoms, with atom interferometry. This instrument has two atom interferometers, one above the other, in a vacuum system over 10m tall, with a laser beam running vertically through both that splits and recombines atomic wave packets. Two clouds of atoms will be prepared at different heights along a long vertical vacuum pipe, and both clouds will be launched so that they travel upwards for several metres before coming to rest and falling back down under gravity. Such 'atomic fountains' allow a long measurement time and large separation between the two arms of the interferometers. The atoms must be cooled to very low temperatures, less than 1 nanokelvin in our final design, otherwise they spread out and become too dilute before falling through the detection region. A vertical laser beam that runs through both clouds of atoms, at different heights, such that common-mode rejection of noise in differential measurements can determine the gradient of gravity with an uncertainty of 1x10^-10 per shot, comparable with the state of the art. The atoms are cooled in side-arms, transported into the vertical tube, launched, subjected to multiple laser pulses that form the interferometer and then finally detected using laser light. This requires a very sophisticated set of lasers. This will be the first large-scale atom interferometer in the UK; there are currently 10m devices in the USA, Germany and China.The AION programme exploits synergies between STFC and EPSRC science and the strategic areas of quantum technology, computing and metrology. It brings together a consortium of experimental and theoretical particle physicists, as well as astrophysicists and instrumentation experts, quantum information scientists, experts in Sr based atomic clock research, and atomic physicists drawn from the STFC and EPSRC communities. AION will collaborate with leading international laboratories such as Fermilab in the US, creating new scientific partnerships also with members of the space science community. The quantum technologies of AION have potential applications in such varied areas as navigation and oil drilling. We will work closely with the UK Quantum Technologies Hub in sensors and metrology to develop these technologies and bring them to market.

AION项目利用新一代量子传感器进行基础物理实验，例如暗物质的发现，并探测迄今为止未知的引力波来源，例如遥远宇宙中的剧烈碰撞以及宇宙爆发时发生的事件。只老了几分之一秒。暗物质最重要的候选者之一是某种非常轻的粒子，它以随时间变化的密度分布在整个空间中。 AION 能够使用基于量子干涉效应的技术来检测这些变化对冷原子的影响，其灵敏度比当前的实验高得多。相同的量子技术探测由引力波通过引起的时空结构中的微小波动，AION 将在与现有实验 LIGO 和 Virgo 不同的波长和频率范围内测量这种效应。通过这种方式，它将能够观察到质量大得多的黑洞的合并，可能为星系中心超大质量黑洞的形成提供线索。 AION 也可能对宇宙早期产生的引力波敏感，例如通过相变或宇宙弦产生的引力波。 AION 将在美国和欧洲基于类似量子物理学的探测器网络中运行，其测量结果将补充 LIGO、Virgo 和未来空间实验 LISA 的测量结果，通过联合观测提供许多可能的协同效应。英国的一种仪器，汇集了基于 Sr 原子的最先进光学钟与原子干涉测量法的优点。该仪器有两个原子干涉仪，一个在另一个之上，位于一个超过 10m 高的真空系统中，激光束垂直穿过两个原子干涉仪，分裂和重组原子波包。将沿着一根长的垂直真空管在不同的高度准备两个原子云，两个原子云都将被发射，以便它们向上移动几米，然后静止并在重力作用下落回。这种“原子喷泉”允许较长的测量时间和干涉仪两个臂之间的较大间隔。原子必须冷却到非常低的温度，在我们的最终设计中小于 1 纳开尔文，否则它们会扩散并在落入检测区域之前变得太稀。垂直激光束穿过不同高度的两个原子云，这样差分测量中的共模噪声抑制就可以确定重力梯度，每次发射的不确定度为 1x10^-10，与物体的状态相当。艺术。原子在侧臂中冷却，输送到垂直管中，发射，受到形成干涉仪的多个激光脉冲的影响，然后最终使用激光进行检测。这需要一套非常复杂的激光器。这将是英国第一台大型原子干涉仪；目前在美国、德国和中国有 1000 万台设备。AION 计划利用了 STFC 和 EPSRC 科学以及量子技术、计算和计量等战略领域之间的协同作用。它汇集了实验和理论粒子物理学家、天体物理学家和仪器专家、量子信息科学家、基于锶的原子钟研究专家以及来自 STFC 和 EPSRC 社区的原子物理学家组成的联盟。 AION 将与美国费米实验室等领先的国际实验室合作，并与空间科学界的成员建立新的科学伙伴关系。 AION的量子技术在导航和石油钻探等各个领域都有潜在的应用。我们将与英国量子技术中心在传感器和计量领域密切合作，开发这些技术并将其推向市场。

项目成果

The atom interferometer observatory and network

原子干涉仪观测站和网络

• DOI: http://dx.10.1117/12.2601078
• 发表时间: 2021
• 作者: Bason M

Large-scale atom interferometry for fundamental physics

用于基础物理的大规模原子干涉测量

• DOI: 10.1080/00107514.2023.2239008
• 发表时间: 2023-04-03
• 期刊: Contemporary Physics
• 影响因子: 2
• 作者: O. Buchmueller;J. Ellis;U. Schneider
• 通讯作者: U. Schneider

Prospective Sensitivities of Atom Interferometers to Gravitational Waves and Ultralight Dark Matter

原子干涉仪对引力波和超轻暗物质的预期灵敏度

• DOI: http://dx.10.48550/arxiv.2108.02468
• 发表时间: 2021
• 作者: Badurina L

Prospective sensitivities of atom interferometers to gravitational waves and ultralight dark matter.

原子干涉仪对引力波和超轻暗物质的预期灵敏度。

• DOI: http://dx.10.1098/rsta.2021.0060
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
• 作者: Badurina L