Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Gravitational waves and ultralight dark matter are among the most compelling frontiers in fundamental physics, motivating proposals for very-long-baseline atom interferometerssuch as AION 1 , MAGIS 2 , AICE 3 and AEDGE 4 that aim to detect at frequencies at which ground-based 5 and space-borne 6 laser interferometers lose sensitivity. Very-long-baseline atom interferometers look for signals by comparing the quantum phase evolution of widely separated atomic ensembles interrogated by a common laser. However, their performance depends critically on suppressing noise sources, particularly laser phase noise. The experimental validation of such noise rejection remains an important challenge. Here we demonstrate a prototype differential atom interferometer based on the single-photon clock transition of fermionic 87 Sr. Thus, we obtain a gradiometer configuration with a species intrinsically suited to kilometre-scale and space-baseline operation. The instrument operates at the standard quantum limit 7 with no excess noise beyond atom shot noise. The differential configuration maintains quantum-limited sensitivity in the presence of several radians of artificially injected laser phase noise per shot, which emulates the conditions expected in a very-long-baseline atom interferometer. We also demonstrate the recovery of coherent oscillatory signals across a broad frequency range under fully phase-randomized conditions, a capability that is inaccessible to a single interferometer operating in the same regime. These results provide an experimental validation of the noise-immune measurement principle underlying very-long-baseline atom interferometers and mark an important step towards next-generation quantum sensors for gravitational-wave detection and searches for ultralight dark matter 8,9 .
Source: Nature
Authors: C. F. A. Baynham, R. Hobson, O. Buchmüller, D. Evans, L. Hawkins, L. Iannizzotto Venezze, A. Josset, D. Lee, E. Pasatembou, B. E. Sauer, M. R. Tarbutt, T. Walker, O. Ennis, U. Chauhan, A. Brzakalik, S. Dey, S. Hedges, B. Stray, M. Langlois, K. Bongs, T. Hird, S. Lellouch, M. Holynski, B. Bostwick, J. Chen, Z. Eyler, V. Gibson, T. L. Harte, C. C. Hsu, M. Karzazi, C. Lu, B. Millward, J. Mitchell, N. Mouelle, B. Panchumarthi, J. Scheper, U. Schneider, X. Su, Y. Tang, K. Tkalčec, M. Zeuner, S. Zhang, Y. Zhi, L. Badurina, A. Beniwal, D. Blas, J. Carlton, J. Ellis, C. McCabe, G. Parish, D. Pathak Govardhan, V. Vaskonen, T. Bowcock, K. Bridges, A. Carroll, J. Coleman, G. Elertas, S. Hindley, C. Metelko, H. Throssell, J. N. Tinsley, E. Bentine, M. Booth, D. Bortoletto, N. Callaghan, C. Foot, C. Gómez-Monedero, K. Hughes, A. James, T. Leese, A. Lowe, J. March-Russell, J. Sander, J. Schelfhout, I. Shipsey, D. Weatherill, D. Wood, S. N. Balashov, M. G. Bason, K. Hussain, H. Labiad, P. Majewski, A. L. Marchant, D. Newbold, Z. Pan, Z. Tam, T. C. Thornton, T. Valenzuela, M. G. D. van der Grinten, I. Wilmut, K. Clarke, A. Vick, S. Hedges, B. Stray, M. Langlois, K. Bongs, B. Bostwick, B. Panchumarthi, X. Su, M. Zeuner, Y. Zhi, L. Badurina, A. Beniwal, D. Blas, V. Vaskonen, M. G. D. van der Grinten
Institutions: Imperial College London, University of Birmingham, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR), Heidelberg University, University of Cambridge, Northwestern University, University of Tübingen, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, University of Virginia, California Institute of Technology, King's College London, Intersect, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Institute for High Energy Physics, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, University of Liverpool, University of Oxford, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Daresbury Laboratory
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $12,690
Awards: Differential atom interferometry and velocity selection using the clock transition of strontium atoms for AION, Laser and stabilization package for AION, AION: A UK Atom Interferometer Observatory and Network, Differential atom interferometry and velocity selection using the clock transition of strontium atoms for AION, Differential atom interferometry and velocity selection using the clock transition of strontium atoms for AION
OpenAlex ID: W4414829964