Force-Free Gravitational Redshift: Proposed Gravitational Aharonov-Bohm Experiment

Autor(en)

Michael A. Hohensee, Brian Estey, Paul Hamilton, Anton Zeilinger, Holger Müller

Abstrakt

We propose a feasible laboratory interferometry experiment with matter waves in a gravitational potential caused by a pair of artificial field-generating masses. It will demonstrate that the presence of these masses (and, for moving atoms, time dilation) induces a phase shift, even if it does not cause any classical force. The phase shift is identical to that produced by the gravitational redshift (or time dilation) of clocks ticking at the atom's Compton frequency. In analogy to the Aharonov-Bohm effect in electromagnetism, the quantum mechanical phase is a function of the gravitational potential and not the classical forces.

Organisation(en)

Quantenoptik, Quantennanophysik und Quanteninformation

Externe Organisation(en)

University of California, Berkeley

Journal

Physical Review Letters

Band

108

Anzahl der Seiten

5

ISSN

0031-9007

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.230404

Publikationsdatum

2012

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

103026 Quantenoptik

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/a72619cd-bd6b-47e0-9745-ace65595004d