https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-025-02067-z
Regular Article
Closure of an atom interferometer with a nearby oscillating pendulum
1
Physics Department, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, USA
2
Physics Department, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA
a
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Received:
6
May
2025
Accepted:
12
November
2025
Published online:
4
December
2025
Abstract
We outline a proposed experiment to use a tall atom interferometer to measure the period of a Foucault pendulum. Here we discuss the motivation and show the calculations used to describe the experiment, focusing on demonstrating the conditions under which the interferometer closes. We introduce a novel sensitivity function and connect the calculations of interferometer phase using this sensitivity function to those using path integral and laser phase formalisms. Finally, we also compare the effect of the Earth’s gravity gradient to the signal of interest.
Disclaimer The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Naval Academy, the Naval Postgraduate School, the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
© This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2025
