Concept study and preliminary design of a cold atom interferometer for space gravity gradiometry

authored by: A. Trimeche, B. Battelier, D. Becker, A. Bertoldi, P. Bouyer, C. Braxmaier, E. Charron, R. Corgier, M. Cornelius, K. Douch, N. Gaaloul, S. Herrmann, J. Müller, E. Rasel, C. Schubert, H. Wu, F. Pereira Dos Santos
Abstract: We study a space-based gravity gradiometer based on cold atom interferometry and its potential for the Earth's gravitational field mapping. The instrument architecture has been proposed in Carraz et al (2014 Microgravity Sci. Technol. 26 139) and enables high-sensitivity measurements of gravity gradients by using atom interferometers in a differential accelerometer configuration. We present the design of the instrument including its subsystems and analyze the mission scenario, for which we derive the expected instrument performances, the requirements on the sensor and its key subsystems, and the expected impact on the recovery of the Earth gravity field.
Organisation(s): Institute of Quantum Optics
Institute of Geodesy
QuantumFrontiers
External Organisation(s): Universite de Bordeaux
University of Bremen
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Universite Paris-Sud
Observatoire de Paris (OBSPARIS)
Sorbonne Université
PSL Research University
Type: Article
Journal: Classical and quantum gravity
Volume: 36
ISSN: 0264-9381
Publication date: 11.2019
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1903.09828 (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/ab4548 (Access: Closed)

BibTeX

@article{8caa1182786f4778a7e34e8678895506,
title = "Concept study and preliminary design of a cold atom interferometer for space gravity gradiometry",
abstract = "We study a space-based gravity gradiometer based on cold atom interferometry and its potential for the Earth's gravitational field mapping. The instrument architecture has been proposed in Carraz et al (2014 Microgravity Sci. Technol. 26 139) and enables high-sensitivity measurements of gravity gradients by using atom interferometers in a differential accelerometer configuration. We present the design of the instrument including its subsystems and analyze the mission scenario, for which we derive the expected instrument performances, the requirements on the sensor and its key subsystems, and the expected impact on the recovery of the Earth gravity field.",
keywords = "atom interferometry, geodesy, gradiometer, gravimetry, inertial sensors",
author = "A. Trimeche and B. Battelier and D. Becker and A. Bertoldi and P. Bouyer and C. Braxmaier and E. Charron and R. Corgier and M. Cornelius and K. Douch and N. Gaaloul and S. Herrmann and J. M{\"u}ller and E. Rasel and C. Schubert and H. Wu and {Pereira Dos Santos}, F.",
note = "Funding Information: This work has been carried out in the context of the 'Study of a Cold Atom Interferometer Gravity Gradiometer Sensor and Mission Concepts', supported by the European Space Agency through Contract No. 4000112677/14/NL/MP. The authors affiliated to the IQ acknowledge financial support by 'Nieders{\"a}chsisches Vorab' through the 'Quantum- and Nano- Metrology (QUANOMET)' initiative within the project QT3, and by the German Space Agency DLR with funds provided by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) under the Grant Nos. 50 WP 1431 and 1700. The presented work is supported by the CRC 1128 geo-Q within the projects A01 and A02, the EXC 2123 Quantum Frontiers within the research units B02 and B05. NG, ER and CS acknowledge financial support from {"}Nieders{\"a}chsisches Vorab{"} through {"}F{\"o}rderung von Wissenschaft und Technik in Forschung und Lehre{"} for the initial funding of research in the new DLR-SI Institute.",
year = "2019",
month = nov,
doi = "10.48550/arXiv.1903.09828",
language = "English",
volume = "36",
journal = "Classical and quantum gravity",
issn = "0264-9381",
publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",
number = "21",
}