Marshman, RJ;
Mazumdar, A;
Morley, GW;
Barker, PF;
Hoekstra, S;
Bose, S;
(2020)
Mesoscopic interference for metric and curvature & gravitational wave detection.
New Journal of Physics
, 22
, Article 083012. 10.1088/1367-2630/ab9f6c.
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Abstract
A compact detector for space-time metric and curvature is highly desirable. Here we show that quantum spatial superpositions of mesoscopic objects could be exploited to create such a detector. We propose a specific form for such a detector and analyse how asymmetries in its design allow it to directly couple to the curvature. Moreover, we also find that its non-symmetric construction and the large mass of the interfered objects, enable the detection gravitational waves (GWs). Finally, we discuss how the construction of such a detector is in principle possible with a combination of state of the art techniques while taking into account the known sources of decoherence and noise. To this end, we use Stern–Gerlach interferometry with masses ~10−17 kg, where the interferometric signal is extracted by measuring spins and show that accelerations as low as 5 × 10−15 ms−2 Hz−1/2, as well as the frame dragging effects caused by the Earth, could be sensed. The GW sensitivity scales differently from the stray acceleration sensitivity, a unique feature of the proposed interferometer. We identify mitigation mechanisms for the known sources of noise, namely gravity gradient noise, uncertainty principle and electro-magnetic forces and show that it could potentially lead to a metre sized, orientable and vibrational noise (thermal/seismic) resilient detector of mid (ground based) and low (space based) frequency GWs from massive binaries (the predicted regimes are similar to those targeted by atom interferometers and LISA).
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Mesoscopic interference for metric and curvature & gravitational wave detection |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1088/1367-2630/ab9f6c |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab9f6c |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd on behalf of the Institute of Physics. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10108079 |
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