Researchers at Stockholm University and their colleagues suggest that gravitational waves leave a subtle signature in the frequency of photons emitted from atoms, in a way that may in the future enable the development of compact sensors measuring only millimeters in size.
New theoretical research suggests that gravitational waves may leave subtle signatures not in giant detectors, but in the light emitted by atoms.
Gravitational waves are weak vibrations in space-time created by some of the most extreme events in the universe, including colliding black holes.
Until now, scientists have found them by tracking unimaginably small changes in distance across instruments measuring kilometers. Facilities like LIGO have shown that this is possible, but the method relies on huge detectors built to sense tiny disturbances.
A new theoretical study presents a different idea: detecting gravitational waves by observing their effect on the light emitted by atoms. The idea outlines a potential method, but has not yet been tested experimentally.
How atoms could detect gravitational waves
Naturally excited atoms return to a lower energy state by emitting light at a specific frequency, a quantum process called spontaneous emission. This process results from interaction with the quantum electromagnetic field.
"Gravitational waves modulate the quantum field, which affects spontaneous emission," said Jerzy Pacos, a doctoral student at Stockholm University. "This modulation can shift the frequencies of the emitted photons compared to the situation where there is no wave."
The researchers predict that this emission is direction-dependent. The atoms will still emit photons at the same overall rate, which helps explain why we haven’t noticed the effect until now, but the frequencies of these photons will change depending on the direction in which they are emitted. This directional pattern could contain information about the direction and polarity of the gravitational wave, making it easier to separate real signals from background noise.
The importance of the idea
Low-frequency gravitational waves are a major focus of future space observatories. The team notes that narrow optical passages used in atomic clock systems allow for long interaction times, which could make cold-atom systems a useful platform for testing this idea.
Simply put, atoms emit light like a steady musical note, but a passing gravitational wave will subtly change how that sound is heard in different directions. “Our findings could open the way to developing compact gravitational wave sensors, where the relevant atomic ensemble is millimeters in size,” said Navdeep Arya, a postdoctoral fellow at Stockholm University. “A thorough noise analysis is needed to assess the practical feasibility, but our initial estimates are encouraging.”
for the scientific article
More of the topic in Hayadan:
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One might ask whether a quantum computer in space would be affected by gravitational waves.
Another interesting question. Is some of the noise we experience in quantum computers
It originates from massive magical events/gravitational waves.
One might think that dark matter cannot be detected with light or electromagnetic sensors.
But it can definitely create gravitational waves.
If we take a chain of 200 atoms cold near absolute zero, connected to each other.
As stated by the Israeli Quantum Art record,
We may be able to detect a small phase shift.
Or a change in the energy of the lasers that cool them or hold them in place.
Could this indicate gravitational waves?
Maybe we should do this in space 1000000 km from here. Maybe geostationary orbit would be enough.