Rosi G, Cacciapuoti L, Sorrentino F, Menchetti M, Prevedelli M, Tino G M
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia and LENS, Università di Firenze, INFN Sezione di Firenze, via Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy.
European Space Agency, Keplerlaan 1, 2200 AG Noordwijk, Netherlands.
Phys Rev Lett. 2015 Jan 9;114(1):013001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.013001. Epub 2015 Jan 5.
We present the first direct measurement of the gravity-field curvature based on three conjugated atom interferometers. Three atomic clouds launched in the vertical direction are simultaneously interrogated by the same atom interferometry sequence and used to probe the gravity field at three equally spaced positions. The vertical component of the gravity-field curvature generated by nearby source masses is measured from the difference between adjacent gravity gradient values. Curvature measurements are of interest in geodesy studies and for the validation of gravitational models of the surrounding environment. The possibility of using such a scheme for a new determination of the Newtonian constant of gravity is also discussed.
我们展示了基于三个共轭原子干涉仪对重力场曲率的首次直接测量。在垂直方向发射的三团原子云由相同的原子干涉测量序列同时进行探测，并用于在三个等间距位置探测重力场。由附近源质量产生的重力场曲率的垂直分量是从相邻重力梯度值之间的差异测量得到的。曲率测量在大地测量学研究以及验证周围环境的引力模型方面具有重要意义。我们还讨论了使用这种方案重新测定牛顿引力常数的可能性。
