Cold atoms in space: community workshop summary and proposed road-map

Abstract

We summarise the discussions at a virtual Community Workshop on Cold Atoms in Space concerning the status of cold atom technologies, the prospective scientific and societal opportunities offered by their deployment in space, and the developments needed before cold atoms could be operated in space. The cold atom technologies discussed include atomic clocks, quantum gravimeters and accelerometers, and atom interferometers. Prospective applications include metrology, geodesy and measurement of terrestrial mass change due to, e.g., climate change, and fundamental science experiments such as tests of the equivalence principle, searches for dark matter, measurements of gravitational waves and tests of quantum mechanics. We review the current status of cold atom technologies and outline the requirements for their space qualification, including the development paths and the corresponding technical milestones, and identifying possible pathfinder missions to pave the way for missions to exploit the full potential of cold atoms in space. Finally, we present a first draft of a possible road-map for achieving these goals, that we propose for discussion by the interested cold atom, Earth Observation, fundamental physics and other prospective scientific user communities, together with the European Space Agency (ESA) and national space and research funding agencies.

A space-based quantum gas laboratory at picokelvin energy scales

“…Finally, dedicated studies with atoms in the magnetically insensitive Zeeman states will allow for undisturbed freely floating atomic clouds. These purely technical improvements could already make it possible to access positioning accuracies at the nm level and observation times of several seconds compatible with the most ambitious quantum technologies applications in space 58 .…”

MaQuIs - Mars Quantum Gravity Mission

“…With those technologies in place, MaQuIs can act both as a pathfinder for future quantum technologies deployed in space and as a technology driver to develop the necessary setups. The recently developed cold atom roadmap (Alonso et al, 2022) and the summary of quantum physics in space (Belenchia et al, 2022) detail current and planned activities in the area of quantum technologies in space.…”

“…-21-manuscript submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets Several such missions have been proposed. The next steps in quantum sensor development for setups based on cold atoms is, for instance, outlined by Alonso et al (2022).…”

“…Additional developments of the required technologies are outlined in the cold atoms roadmap (Alonso et al, 2022). This shows the increased interest in cold atom technology for scientific and applied missions and the required developments to establish the necessary systems for different missions.…”

Perspectives on fundamental cosmology from Low Earth Orbit and the Moon

“…As outlined in the Cold Atom in Space Community Roadmap 79 , AEDGE, its pathfinder experiments, and other cold-atom experiments in space would also be able to make sensitive measurements relevant to several other aspects of fundamental physics, including the gravitational redshift, the equivalence principle, possible long-range fifth forces 80,81 , variations in fundamental constants and popular models of dark energy 82 .…”