One of the central predictions of metric theories of gravity, such as general relativity, is that a clock in a gravitational potential U will run more slowly by a factor of 1 + U/c2, where c is the velocity of light, as compared to a similar clock outside the potential1.
This effect, known as gravitational redshift, is important to the operation of the global positioning system, timekeeping, and future experiments with ultra-precise, space-based clocks ( such as searches for variations in fundamental constants ).
The gravitational redshift has been measured using clocks on a tower, an aircraft and a rocket, currently reaching an accuracy of 7×10-5.
Here we show that laboratory experiments based on quantum interference of atoms enable a much more precise measurement, yielding an accuracy of 7×10-9.
Our result supports the view that gravity is a manifestation of space-time curvature, an underlying principle of general relativity that has come under scrutiny in connection with the search for a theory of quantum gravity.
Improving the redshift measurement is particularly important because this test has been the least accurate among the experiments that are required to support curved space-time theories.
No comments:
Post a Comment