Atomic clocks for geodesy

authored by
Tanja E. Mehlstäubler, Gesine Grosche, Christian Lisdat, Piet Oliver Schmidt, Heiner Denker
Abstract

We review experimental progress on optical atomic clocks and frequency transfer, and consider the prospects of using these technologies for geodetic measurements. Today, optical atomic frequency standards have reached relative frequency inaccuracies below 10-17, opening new fields of fundamental and applied research. The dependence of atomic frequencies on the gravitational potential makes atomic clocks ideal candidates for the search for deviations in the predictions of Einstein's general relativity, tests of modern unifying theories and the development of new gravity field sensors. In this review, we introduce the concepts of optical atomic clocks and present the status of international clock development and comparison. Besides further improvement in stability and accuracy of today's best clocks, a large effort is put into increasing the reliability and technological readiness for applications outside of specialized laboratories with compact, portable devices. With relative frequency uncertainties of 10-18, comparisons of optical frequency standards are foreseen to contribute together with satellite and terrestrial data to the precise determination of fundamental height reference systems in geodesy with a resolution at the cm-level. The long-term stability of atomic standards will deliver excellent long-term height references for geodetic measurements and for the modelling and understanding of our Earth.

Organisation(s)
Institute of Quantum Optics
Institute of Geodesy
CRC 1227 Designed Quantum States of Matter (DQ-mat)
External Organisation(s)
National Metrology Institute of Germany (PTB)
Type
Article
Journal
Reports on Progress in Physics
Volume
81
ISSN
0034-4885
Publication date
06.2018
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Physics and Astronomy(all)
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1803.01585 (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6633/aab409 (Access: Closed)