Quantum gas mixtures and dual-species atom interferometry in space

Authors

Ethan R. Elliott, California Institute of Technology
David C. Aveline, California Institute of Technology
Nicholas P. Bigelow, University of Rochester
Patrick Boegel, Universität Ulm
Sofia Botsi, California Institute of Technology
Eric Charron, Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay
José P. D’Incao, JILA
Peter Engels, Washington State University Pullman
Timothé Estrampes, Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay
Naceur Gaaloul, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institut für Quantenoptik
James R. Kellogg, California Institute of Technology
James M. Kohel, California Institute of Technology
Norman E. Lay, California Institute of Technology
Nathan Lundblad, Bates CollegeFollow
Matthias Meister, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
Maren E. Mossman, Washington State University Pullman
Gabriel Müller, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institut für Quantenoptik
Holger Müller, University of California, Berkeley
Kamal Oudrhiri, California Institute of Technology
Leah E. Phillips, California Institute of Technology
Annie Pichery, Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay
Ernst M. Rasel, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institut für Quantenoptik
Charles A. Sackett, University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science
Matteo Sbroscia, California Institute of Technology
Wolfgang P. Schleich, Universität Ulm
Robert J. Thompson, California Institute of Technology
Jason R. Williams, California Institute of Technology

Publication Title

Nature

Document Type

Article

Department or Program

Physics and Astronomy

Publication Date

11-2023

Abstract

The capability to reach ultracold atomic temperatures in compact instruments has recently been extended into space 1,2. Ultracold temperatures amplify quantum effects, whereas free fall allows further cooling and longer interactions time with gravity—the final force without a quantum description. On Earth, these devices have produced macroscopic quantum phenomena such as Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs), superfluidity, and strongly interacting quantum gases 3. Terrestrial quantum sensors interfering the superposition of two ultracold atomic isotopes have tested the universality of free fall (UFF), a core tenet of Einstein’s classical gravitational theory, at the 10−12 level 4. In space, cooling the elements needed to explore the rich physics of strong interactions or perform quantum tests of the UFF has remained elusive. Here, using upgraded hardware of the multiuser Cold Atom Lab (CAL) instrument aboard the International Space Station (ISS), we report, to our knowledge, the first simultaneous production of a dual-species BEC in space (formed from 87Rb and 41K), observation of interspecies interactions, as well as the production of 39K ultracold gases. Operating a single laser at a ‘magic wavelength’ at which Rabi rates of simultaneously applied Bragg pulses are equal, we have further achieved the first spaceborne demonstration of simultaneous atom interferometry with two atomic species (87Rb and 41K). These results are an important step towards quantum tests of UFF in space and will allow scientists to investigate aspects of few-body physics, quantum chemistry and fundamental physics in new regimes without the perturbing asymmetry of gravity.

Comments

Original version is available from the publisher at: https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-9565/ace1a3

Recommended Citation

Elliott, E. R., Aveline, D. C., Bigelow, N. P., Boegel, P., Botsi, S., Charron, E., D’Incao, J. P., Engels, P., Estrampes, T., Gaaloul, N., Kellogg, J. R., Kohel, J. M., Lay, N. E., Lundblad, N., Meister, M., Mossman, M. E., Müller, G., Müller, H., Oudrhiri, K., … Williams, J. R. (2023). Quantum gas mixtures and dual-species atom interferometry in space. Nature (London), 623(7987), 502–508. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06645-w

PubMed ID

37968524