Abstract

Pulses of light can be used to transfer momentum and energy to atoms. Through appropriate tailoring of the pulses, a sequence of operations can be used to create an analogue of an optical interferometer - interchanging the roles of light and matter. First demonstrated roughly 30 years ago, atom interferometry has since been used in a variety of fundamental physics applications and, over the last decade, has seen significant efforts in translation towards practical applications. In Birmingham, we have been active in pursuing the first field demonstrations of gravity gradiometers using atom interferometry, and now, within the AION consortium, we are investigating how this technique could be applied to study of dark matter and gravitational waves.