Title: Dueling atom interferometers, a T3 atom interferometer and a very tall atom interferometer

Abstract: Atom interferometers form the basis for extremely high precision measurements of quantities of both fundamental and applied interest. As an example, after the demonstration of the first atom interferometers, scientists were able to put tighter bounds on the so-called “alpha-dot” parameter using atom interferometers. Nowadays, technology has matured to the point where these devices can be used in more applied settings, such as providing acceleration and rotation measurements to aid in navigation in GPS-denied environments. In this talk, I will first discuss the physics underlying an atom interferometer, beginning with the use of light pulses [1] to form the atom optics. Next, I will highlight the origins of the scaling of the sensitivity of an atom interferometer to T2, where T is the time between light pulses. I will take a brief excursion to describe an atom interferometer we are currently developing which is focused on inertial navigation applications. Most of the talk will focus on my group’s efforts to develop a novel atom interferometer with high scaling (T3) [2] [3]. The higher scaling leads to a greater sensitivity without increasing the physical size of the atom interferometer. Finally, I will describe a project currently under construction at NPS to build a 30-meter-tall atom fountain. I will motivate the project and our vision for making the apparatus available as a user facility. I will then describe, somewhat humorously, the planned first experiment to use the device to measure the period of a Foucault pendulum. Finally, I will describe the status of the construction of the apparatus.