Phase Estimation from Amplitude Collapse in Correlated Matter-Wave Interference

Operating matter-wave interferometers as quantum detectors for fundamental physics or inertial sensors in real-world applications with unprecedented accuracies relies on noise rejection, often implemented by correlating two sensors. Such sensors can be spatially separated (gradiometry or gravitational-wave detection) or consist of different internal states (magnetometry or quantum clock interferometry), in which case a signal-amplitude modulation may serve as a signature of a differential phase. In this work, we introduce Phase Estimation from Amplitude Collapse (PEAC) by applying targeted fitting methods for different magnetically sensitive substates of an atom interferometer. We demonstrate that PEAC provides higher trueness (up to 80% bias reduction) than standard tools for perfectly correlated signals. At its working point near, but not exactly at phase settings resulting in vanishing amplitude, it achieves precision competitive with standard methods, contrasting prior claims of optimal operation at vanishing amplitude. PEAC presents a generally applicable complementary evaluation method for correlated interferometers without phase stability, increasing the overall accuracy and enabling applications beyond atom interferometry.

💡 Research Summary

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