Determination of the Newtonian Gravitational Constant Using Atom Interferometry

Abstract

We present a new measurement of the Newtonian gravitational constant $G$ based on cold-atom interferometry. Freely falling samples of laser-cooled rubidium atoms are used in a gravity gradiometer to probe the field generated by nearby source masses. In addition to its potential sensitivity, this method is intriguing as gravity is explored by a quantum system. We report a value of $G=6.667\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}11}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{m}}^{3}\text{ }{\mathrm{kg}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$, estimating a statistical uncertainty of $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.011\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}11}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{m}}^{3}\text{ }{\mathrm{kg}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ and a systematic uncertainty of $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.003\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}11}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{m}}^{3}\text{ }{\mathrm{kg}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. The long-term stability of the instrument and the signal-to-noise ratio demonstrated here open interesting perspectives for pushing the measurement accuracy below the 100 ppm level.

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