BibTex format
@article{Baynham:2026:10.1038/s41586-026-10617-1,
author = {Baynham, CFA and Hobson, R and Buchmüller, O and Evans, D and Hawkins, L and Iannizzotto, Venezze L and Josset, A and Lee, D and Pasatembou, E and Sauer, BE and Tarbutt, MR and Walker, T and Ennis, O and Chauhan, U and Brzakalik, A and Dey, S and Hedges, S and Stray, B and Langlois, M and Bongs, K and Hird, T and Lellouch, S and Holynski, M and Bostwick, B and Chen, J and Eyler, Z and Gibson, V and Harte, TL and Hsu, CC and Karzazi, M and Lu, C and Millward, B and Mitchell, J and Mouelle, N and Panchumarthi, B and Scheper, J and Schneider, U and Su, X and Tang, Y and Tkalec, K and Zeuner, M and Zhang, S and Zhi, Y and Badurina, L and Beniwal, A and Blas, D and Carlton, J and Ellis, J and McCabe, C and Parish, G and Govardhan, DP and Vaskonen, V and Bowcock, T and Bridges, K and Carroll, A and Coleman, J and Elertas, G and Hindley, S and Metelko, C and Throssell, H and Tinsley, JN and Bentine, E and Booth, M and Bortoletto, D and Callaghan, N and Foot, C and Gómez-Monedero, C and Hughes},
doi = {10.1038/s41586-026-10617-1},
journal = {Nature},
pages = {622--628},
title = {A prototype differential atom interferometer for fundamental physics.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10617-1},
volume = {654},
year = {2026}
}
RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)
TY - JOUR
AB - Gravitational waves and ultralight dark matter are among the most compelling frontiers in fundamental physics, motivating proposals for very-long-baseline atom interferometerssuch as AION1, MAGIS2, AICE3 and AEDGE4 that aim to detect at frequencies at which ground-based5 and space-borne6 laser interferometers lose sensitivity. Very-long-baseline atom interferometers look for signals by comparing the quantum phase evolution of widely separated atomic ensembles interrogated by a common laser. However, their performance depends critically on suppressing noise sources, particularly laser phase noise. The experimental validation of such noise rejection remains an important challenge. Here we demonstrate a prototype differential atom interferometer based on the single-photon clock transition of fermionic 87Sr. Thus, we obtain a gradiometer configuration with a species intrinsically suited to kilometre-scale and space-baseline operation. The instrument operates at the standard quantum limit7 with no excess noise beyond atom shot noise. The differential configuration maintains quantum-limited sensitivity in the presence of several radians of artificially injected laser phase noise per shot, which emulates the conditions expected in a very-long-baseline atom interferometer. We also demonstrate the recovery of coherent oscillatory signals across a broad frequency range under fully phase-randomized conditions, a capability that is inaccessible to a single interferometer operating in the same regime. These results provide an experimental validation of the noise-immune measurement principle underlying very-long-baseline atom interferometers and mark an important step towards next-generation quantum sensors for gravitational-wave detection and searches for ultralight dark matter8,9.
AU - Baynham,CFA
AU - Hobson,R
AU - Buchmüller,O
AU - Evans,D
AU - Hawkins,L
AU - Iannizzotto,Venezze L
AU - Josset,A
AU - Lee,D
AU - Pasatembou,E
AU - Sauer,BE
AU - Tarbutt,MR
AU - Walker,T
AU - Ennis,O
AU - Chauhan,U
AU - Brzakalik,A
AU - Dey,S
AU - Hedges,S
AU - Stray,B
AU - Langlois,M
AU - Bongs,K
AU - Hird,T
AU - Lellouch,S
AU - Holynski,M
AU - Bostwick,B
AU - Chen,J
AU - Eyler,Z
AU - Gibson,V
AU - Harte,TL
AU - Hsu,CC
AU - Karzazi,M
AU - Lu,C
AU - Millward,B
AU - Mitchell,J
AU - Mouelle,N
AU - Panchumarthi,B
AU - Scheper,J
AU - Schneider,U
AU - Su,X
AU - Tang,Y
AU - Tkalec,K
AU - Zeuner,M
AU - Zhang,S
AU - Zhi,Y
AU - Badurina,L
AU - Beniwal,A
AU - Blas,D
AU - Carlton,J
AU - Ellis,J
AU - McCabe,C
AU - Parish,G
AU - Govardhan,DP
AU - Vaskonen,V
AU - Bowcock,T
AU - Bridges,K
AU - Carroll,A
AU - Coleman,J
AU - Elertas,G
AU - Hindley,S
AU - Metelko,C
AU - Throssell,H
AU - Tinsley,JN
AU - Bentine,E
AU - Booth,M
AU - Bortoletto,D
AU - Callaghan,N
AU - Foot,C
AU - Gómez-Monedero,C
AU - Hughes,K
AU - James,A
AU - Leese,T
AU - Lowe,A
AU - March-Russell,J
AU - Sander,J
AU - Schelfhout,J
AU - Shipsey,I
AU - Weatherill,D
AU - Wood,D
AU - Balashov,SN
AU - Bason,MG
AU - Hussain,K
AU - Labiad,H
AU - Majewski,P
AU - Marchant,AL
AU - Newbold,D
AU - Pan,Z
AU - Tam,Z
AU - Thornton,TC
AU - Valenzuela,T
AU - van,der Grinten MGD
AU - Wilmut,I
AU - Clarke,K
AU - Vick,A
AU - AION,Collaboration
DO - 10.1038/s41586-026-10617-1
EP - 628
PY - 2026///
SP - 622
TI - A prototype differential atom interferometer for fundamental physics.
T2 - Nature
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10617-1
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/42310113
VL - 654
ER -