Matter wave interferometry
Atom interferometers using Bragg- or Raman-type interactions as coherent beam splitter equivalents manifest themselves as hybrid-like atom-light interferometers which sense the displacement of the fronts of light waves with respect to free-falling atoms. The quantity measured is the difference in the increment of the spatial phase between the light field and the induced atomic dipole. The atoms play in this case a similar role as LISA's drag-free proof masses. We want to investigate the potential of hybrid-type interferometers for gravitational wave detection.
