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Register a new userA scalable high-performance magnetic shield for Very Long Baseline Atom Interferometry
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We report on the design, construction, and characterization of a 10 m-long high-performance magnetic shield for Very Long Baseline Atom Interferometry (VLBAI). We achieve residual fields below 4 nT and longitudinal inhomogeneities below 2.5 nT/m over 8 m along the longitudinal direction. Our modular design can be extended to longer baselines without compromising the shielding performance. Such a setup constrains biases associated with magnetic field gradients to the sub-pm/$textrm{s}^2$ level in atomic matterwave accelerometry with rubidium atoms and paves the way towards tests of the universality of free fall with atomic test masses beyond the $10^{-13}$ level.
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Very Long Baseline Interferometry, or VLBI, is the observing technique yielding the highest-resolution images today. Whilst a traditionally large fraction of VLBI observations is concentrating on Active Galactic Nuclei, the number of observations concerned with other astronomical objects such as stars and masers, and with astrometric applications, is significant. In the last decade, much progress has been made in all of these fields. We give a brief introduction into the technique of radio interferometry, focussing on the particularities of VLBI observations, and review recent results which would not have been possible without VLBI observations.
A cold atom interferometer is being developed using 85Rb atoms towards a search for the dark contents of the vacuum, and as a test stand for inertial sensing applications. Here we outline the current status of the experiment and report the observation of Ramsey interference fringes in the apparatus.
NRAO 530 is an optically violent variable source and has been studied with multi-epoch multi-frequency high-resolution VLBI observations. NRAO 530 was monitored with the VLBA at three frequencies (22, 43 and 86 GHz) on 10 consecutive days in 2007 May during observations of the Galactic Center (Sgr A*). Furthermore, analysis of archival data of NRAO 530 at 15 GHz over the last ten years allows us to study its detailed jet kinematics. We identified the compact component located at the southern-end of the jet as the VLBI core, consistent with previous studies. The 10-d monitoring data at the 3 high frequencies were shown to produce high quality and self-consistent measurements of the component positions, from which we detected for the first time a two-dimensional frequency-dependent position shift. In addition, the repeated measurements also permit us to investigate the interday flux density and structure variability of NRAO 530. We find that it is more variable for the inner jet components than those further out. We obtained apparent velocities for eight jet components with $beta_{rm app} ranging from 2 to 26 c. Accordingly, we estimated physical jet parameters with the minimum Lorentz factor of 14 and Doppler factors in the range of 14--28 (component f). The changes in the morphology of NRAO 530 were related to the motion of separate jet components with the most pronounced changes occurring in the regions close to the core. For NRAO 530, we estimated a P.A. swing of $3^{circ}.4$ per year for the entire inner jet (components d and e). The non-ballistic motion and change of jet orientation makes this source another prominent example of a helical and possibly `swinging jet.
Extension of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) to observing wavelengths shorter than 1.3mm provides exceptional angular resolution (~20 micro arcsec) and access to new spectral regimes for the study of astrophysical phenomena. To maintain phase coherence across a global VLBI array at these wavelengths requires that ultrastable frequency references be used for the heterodyne receivers at all participating telescopes. Hydrogen masers have traditionally been used as VLBI references, but atmospheric turbulence typically limits (sub) millimeter VLBI coherence times to ~1-30 s. Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillators (CSO) have better stability than Hydrogen masers on these time scale and are potential alternatives to masers as VLBI references. Here, We describe the design, implementation and tests of a system to produce a 10 MHz VLBI frequency standard from the microwave (11.2 GHz) output of a CSO. To improve long-term stability of the new reference, the CSO was locked to the timing signal from the Global Positioning System satellites and corrected for the oscillator aging. The long-term performance of the CSO was measured by comparison against a hydrogen maser in the same laboratory. The superb short-term performance, along with the improved long-term performance achieved by conditioning, makes the CSO a suitable reference for VLBI at wavelengths less than 1.3mm.
Space very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) has unique applications in high-resolution imaging of fine structure of astronomical objects and high-precision astrometry due to the key long space-Earth or space-space baselines beyond the Earths diameter. China has been actively involved in the development of space VLBI in recent years. This review briefly summarizes Chinas research progress in space VLBI and the future development plan.
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