Bose-Einstein interferometry and its applications to precision undersea navigation

Abstract

New quantum devices based on manipulations of Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) on microfabricated chips hold great promise for application to high precision inertial navigation. By employing appropriate mechanizations which separate acceleration and rotation sensitivities, atom interferometers can have dual functionality as both accelerometers and gyroscopes. BEC interferometers could offer ten orders of magnitude inertial measurement improvement with possibility of developing highly sensitive inertial measurement unit (IMU) which would provide extremely accurate free-inertial navigation with long-term accuracy. This is very suitable for applications in undersea environments where direct use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) is denied. Due to the high sensitivity of BEC and the complexity of microfabricated structures, application specific sources of decoherence, environmental noises, and errors are modeled and studied.