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Testing gravity with cold-atom clocks in space

The ACES mission

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Abstract

Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) is a mission designed to test Einstein’s theory of General Relativity from the International Space Station (ISS). A primary frequency standard based on laser cooled caesium atoms (PHARAO) and an active H-maser (SHM) generate a clock signal that is distributed to a network of clocks on the ground to perform space-to-ground comparison. With a fractional frequency stability of 1 × 10−16 after 10 days of integration time and an accuracy of 1 – 2 × 10−16, ACES will provide an absolute measurement of the gravitational redshift, it will search for time variations of fundamental constant, and perform Standard Model Extension (SME) tests. The ACES payload is currently completing its qualification tests before flying. The mission status, the latest test results, and the ACES performance for testing General Relativity are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

    Luigi Cacciapuoti, Michele Armano, Rudolf Much & Omar Sy

  2. Airbus Defence and Space, Friedrichshafen, Germany

    Achim Helm, Marc Peter Hess, Johannes Kehrer, Silvio Koller & Thomas Niedermaier

  3. CNES, Toulouse, France

    Francois Xavier Esnault & Didier Massonnet

  4. Orolia Switzerland (Spectratime), Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Didier Goujon, Jacques Pittet & Pascal Rochat

  5. Timetech, Stuttgart, Germany

    Shuo Liu, Wolfgang Schaefer & Theo Schwall

  6. Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    Ivan Prochazka

  7. Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Anja Schlicht & Ulrich Schreiber

  8. SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, LNE, Paris, France

    Pacome Delva, Christine Guerlin, Philippe Laurent, Christophe le Poncin-Lafitte, Marc Lilley, Etienne Savalle & Peter Wolf

  9. Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, Sèvres Cedex, France

    Frederic Meynadier

  10. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, ENS-Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Collège de France, Paris, France

    Christine Guerlin & Christophe Salomon

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  1. Luigi Cacciapuoti
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  2. Michele Armano
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Correspondence to Luigi Cacciapuoti.

Additional information

Contribution to the Topical Issue “Quantum Technologies for Gravitational Physics”, edited by Tanja Mehlstäubler, Yanbei Chen, Guglielmo M. Tino, Hsien-Chi Yeh.

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Cacciapuoti, L., Armano, M., Much, R. et al. Testing gravity with cold-atom clocks in space. Eur. Phys. J. D 74, 164 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2020-10167-7

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