Atom interferometry tests of local Lorentz invariance in gravity and electrodynamics

Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.80.016002· OSTI ID:21308566

Chung, Keng-Yeow; Chiow, Sheng-wey; Herrmann, Sven; Chu, Steven; Mueller, Holger ^[1]

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1. Physics Department, National University of Singapore, 2 Science Drive 3, Singapore 117542 (Singapore)

We present atom-interferometer tests of the local Lorentz invariance of post-Newtonian gravity. An experiment probing for anomalous vertical gravity on Earth, which has already been performed, uses the highest-resolution atomic gravimeter so far. The influence of Lorentz violation in electrodynamics is also taken into account, resulting in combined bounds on Lorentz violation in gravity and electrodynamics. Expressed within the standard model extension or Nordtvedt's anisotropic universe model, we limit 12 linear combinations of seven coefficients for Lorentz violation at the part per billion level, from which we derive limits on six coefficients (and seven when taking into account additional data from lunar laser ranging). We also discuss the use of horizontal interferometers, including atom-chip or guided-atom devices, which potentially allow the use of longer coherence times in order to achieve higher sensitivity.

• OSTI ID: 21308566
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Journal Name: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 80; ISSN PRVDAQ; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ANISOTROPY
ATOMS
ELECTRODYNAMICS
EQUIPMENT
GRAVITATION
INTERFEROMETRY
LORENTZ INVARIANCE
RESOLUTION
SENSITIVITY
STANDARD MODEL