Atomic Interferometry with Bose–Einstein Condensates

Dear Colleagues,

Wave–particle duality is a bedrock of our highly successful quantum theory of nature. While the notion of an atom wave has been part of the established structure of quantum mechanics for a century, it was only in the 1990s that the first atom interferometers and dilute gas Bose–Einstein condensates were demonstrated. These two key experimental milestones provided us with direct access to atomic waves and their manipulation, consequently opening up a range of new fundamental sciences and applications.

Interferometry with de Broglie waves has been used for inertial sensing of accelerations and rotations, for measurements of gravity and its gradient, for precision measurements of atomic interactions, and for tests of fundamental theories such as quantum electrodynamics and the equivalence principle. Laser-cooled atoms have been a principal source of de Broglie waves for such precision atom interferometry.

Dilute gas Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) represent the ultimate de Broglie atom wave; they are sometimes referred to as “atom lasers” since they possess coherence properties similar to their optical wave counterpart. After initial demonstrations of interference phenomena with BECs, several research groups have developed BEC-based atom interferometric applications, exploiting advantages from the inherent narrow momentum distribution of the atom source as well as its correlation properties. While these attributes represent clear advantages over laser-cooled sources, BEC production technology is considerably more demanding. With recent advances in rapid BEC production, the availability of commercial BEC systems, and even BECs in space, these technical challenges are being efficiently countered.

This Special Issue of Atoms will highlight recent work on BEC-based atom interferometry for fundamental physics and applications. Covering both experimental and theoretical aspects, it will provide a snapshot of the current status of this field. Topics of interest include precision measurements and quantum sensing, advances in interferometric techniques, and interferometry with correlated atomic states.

As BEC production and manipulation technology advances, we anticipate that this Special Issue will also serve as a useful resource for future work in the field of atom interferometry with Bose–Einstein condensates. We welcome original research articles as well as pedagogical reviews on specific topics.

Dr. Subhadeep Gupta
Dr. Charles Sackett
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atoms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.