Atom interferometry with trapped Fermi gases

Abstract

We realize an interferometer with an atomic Fermi gas trapped in an optical lattice under the influence of gravity. The single-particle interference between the eigenstates of the lattice results in macroscopic Bloch oscillations of the sample. The absence of interactions between fermions allows a time-resolved study of many periods of the oscillations, leading to a sensitive determination of the acceleration of gravity. The experiment proves the superiorness of non interacting fermions with respect to bosons for precision interferometry, and offers a way for the measurement of forces with microscopic spatial resolution.

4 pages, 4 figures