AION Core Team Funding (PDRA/ECR Additional Research Call)
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
The AION project harnesses a new generation of quantum sensors to conduct experiments in fundamental physics, such as the discovery of dark matter, and detect hitherto unknown sources of gravitational waves, such as violent collisions far away in the universe and events that occurred when the universe was a fraction of a second old. One of the foremost candidates for dark matter is some type of very light particle that is spread throughout space with a varying density that changes in time.
AION is capable of detecting the effects of these variations on cold atoms using techniques based on quantum interference effects, with much greater sensitivity than current experiments. The same quantum techniques probe small fluctuations in the fabric of space-time caused by the passage of gravitational waves, and AION will measure such effects in a different range of wavelength and frequency from the existing experiments LIGO and Virgo. In this way it will be able to observe the mergers of black holes that are much more massive, possibly casting light on the formation of the supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies. AION may also be sensitive to gravitational waves generated in the very early universe, for example by phase transitions or by cosmic strings. AION will be operated in a network with detectors in the US and Europe that are based on similar quantum physics, and its measurements will complement those by LIGO, Virgo and the future space experiment LISA, providing many possible synergies through joint observations.
We will build a UK instrument merging optical clocks with Sr atoms and atom interferometry. It comprises two vertically aligned interferometers within a 10m vacuum system. A vertical laser splits and recombines atomic wave packets, preparing two atom clouds at different heights in a vertical pipe. These clouds ascend, pause, and descend under gravity, known as "atomic fountains," allowing extended measurements and increased interferometer arm separation. Atom cooling to sub-1 nanokelvin temperatures is crucial to prevent dilution during detection. A vertical laser beam, traversing both clouds, enables noise rejection for gravity gradient determination with 1x10^-10 uncertainty per shot. Laser-cooling occurs in side-arms, followed by transport into the vertical tube and multiple laser pulses for interference. Detection relies on laser light. This complex process necessitates advanced lasers. The instrument will be the UK's first large-scale atom interferometer, while 10m devices already exist in the USA, Germany, and China.
The AION programme exploits synergies between STFC and EPSRC science and the strategic areas of quantum technology, computing and metrology. It brings together a consortium of experimental and theoretical particle physicists, as well as astrophysicists and instrumentation experts, quantum information scientists, experts in Sr based atomic clock research, and atomic physicists drawn from the STFC and EPSRC communities. AION will collaborate with leading international laboratories such as Fermilab in the US, creating new scientific partnerships also with members of the space science community. The quantum technologies of AION have potential applications in such varied areas as navigation and oil drilling. We will work closely with the UK Quantum Technologies Hub in sensors and metrology to develop these technologies and bring them to market.
AION is capable of detecting the effects of these variations on cold atoms using techniques based on quantum interference effects, with much greater sensitivity than current experiments. The same quantum techniques probe small fluctuations in the fabric of space-time caused by the passage of gravitational waves, and AION will measure such effects in a different range of wavelength and frequency from the existing experiments LIGO and Virgo. In this way it will be able to observe the mergers of black holes that are much more massive, possibly casting light on the formation of the supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies. AION may also be sensitive to gravitational waves generated in the very early universe, for example by phase transitions or by cosmic strings. AION will be operated in a network with detectors in the US and Europe that are based on similar quantum physics, and its measurements will complement those by LIGO, Virgo and the future space experiment LISA, providing many possible synergies through joint observations.
We will build a UK instrument merging optical clocks with Sr atoms and atom interferometry. It comprises two vertically aligned interferometers within a 10m vacuum system. A vertical laser splits and recombines atomic wave packets, preparing two atom clouds at different heights in a vertical pipe. These clouds ascend, pause, and descend under gravity, known as "atomic fountains," allowing extended measurements and increased interferometer arm separation. Atom cooling to sub-1 nanokelvin temperatures is crucial to prevent dilution during detection. A vertical laser beam, traversing both clouds, enables noise rejection for gravity gradient determination with 1x10^-10 uncertainty per shot. Laser-cooling occurs in side-arms, followed by transport into the vertical tube and multiple laser pulses for interference. Detection relies on laser light. This complex process necessitates advanced lasers. The instrument will be the UK's first large-scale atom interferometer, while 10m devices already exist in the USA, Germany, and China.
The AION programme exploits synergies between STFC and EPSRC science and the strategic areas of quantum technology, computing and metrology. It brings together a consortium of experimental and theoretical particle physicists, as well as astrophysicists and instrumentation experts, quantum information scientists, experts in Sr based atomic clock research, and atomic physicists drawn from the STFC and EPSRC communities. AION will collaborate with leading international laboratories such as Fermilab in the US, creating new scientific partnerships also with members of the space science community. The quantum technologies of AION have potential applications in such varied areas as navigation and oil drilling. We will work closely with the UK Quantum Technologies Hub in sensors and metrology to develop these technologies and bring them to market.
