Abstract
Arising from: H. Müller, A. Peters & S. Chu Nature 463, 926–929 (2010)10.1038/nature08776; Müller & Chu reply
In ref. 1 the authors present a re-interpretation of atom interferometry experiments published a decade ago2. They now consider the atom interferometry experiments2 as a measurement of the gravitational redshift on the quantum clock operating at the Compton frequency ωC = mc2/
≈ 2π × 3.0 × 1025 Hz, where m is the caesium (Cs) atom rest mass. They then argue that this redshift measurement compares favourably with existing3 as well as projected4 clock tests. Here we show that this interpretation is incorrect.
Similar content being viewed by others
Enjoying our latest content?
Log in or create an account to continue
- Access the most recent journalism from Nature's award-winning team
- Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research
or
References
Müller, H., Peters, A. & Chu, S. A precision measurement of the gravitational redshift by the interference of matter waves. Nature 463, 926–929 (2010)
Peters, A., Chung, K. Y. & Chu, S. A measurement of gravitational acceleration by dropping atoms. Nature 400, 849–852 (1999)
Vessot, R. F. C. et al. Test of relativistic gravitation with a space-borne hydrogen maser. Phys. Rev. Lett. 45, 2081–2084 (1980)
Cacciapuoti, L. & Salomon, C. Space clocks and fundamental tests: the ACES experiment. Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 127, 57–68 (2009)
Williams, J. G., Turyshev, S. G. & Boggs, D. H. Progress in lunar laser ranging tests of relativistic gravity. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 261101 (2004)
Schlamminger, S. et al. Test of the equivalence principle using a rotating torsion balance. Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 041101 (2008)
Storey, P. & Cohen-Tannoudji, C. The Feynman path integral approach to atomic interferometry. A tutorial. J. Phys. II 4, 1999–2027 (1994)
Bordé, C. J. 5D optics for atomic clocks and gravito-inertial sensors. Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 163, 315 (2008)
Will, C. M. Theory and Experiments in Gravitational Physics Ch. 2 (Cambridge University Press, 2000)
Damour, T. Experimental tests of gravitational theory. In The Review of Particle Physics (ed. Amsler, C. et al.) Phys. Lett. B667 1 (2008) 〈http://pdg.lbl.gov/〉.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
declared none.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wolf, P., Blanchet, L., Bordé, C. et al. Atom gravimeters and gravitational redshift. Nature 467, E1 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09340
Received:
Accepted:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09340
This article is cited by
-
Gravitational redshift and the vacuum index of refraction
Astrophysics and Space Science (2019)
-
Wayward satellites repurposed to test general relativity
Nature (2015)
-
Summary of session C9: experimental gravitation
General Relativity and Gravitation (2014)
-
Quantum interferometric visibility as a witness of general relativistic proper time
Nature Communications (2011)
-
Müller, Peters & Chu reply
Nature (2010)


