title: Precision measurement of gravity with cold atoms in an optical lattice and comparison with a classical gravimeter.
abstract: We report on a precision measurement of gravitational acceleration using ultracold strontium atoms confined in an amplitude-modulated vertical optical lattice. An uncertainty Δg/g ≈ 10(-7) is reached by measuring at the 5th harmonic of the Bloch frequency. The value obtained with this microscopic quantum system is consistent with the one measured with a classical gravimeter. Using lattice modulation to prepare the atomic sample, we also achieve high visibility of Bloch oscillations for ∼ 20 s. These results can be of relevance for testing gravitational redshift and Newtonian law at micrometer scale.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia and LENS, Università di Firenze and INFN Sezione di Firenze, Via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Poli
authors.forename: F-Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Tarallo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alberti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prevedelli
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Tino