Gravitational wave detection with atom interferometry.

摘要

We propose two distinct atom interferometer (AI) based gravitational wave (GW) detectors. The terrestrial setup operates with strain sensitivity ∼ 10-19Hz in the 1 Hz - 10 Hz band and detects GWs from compact binaries out to a megaparsec. The satellite experiment probes LISA's frequency spectrum with comparable strain sensitivity ∼ 10-20Hz . Each setup compares two distant AIs run using common lasers. The use of ballistic atoms (instead of mirrors) as test masses improves systematics coming from vibrations and acceleration noise, and reduces spacecraft control requirements.