Conveners
Fundamental Physics in Space: Block 1
- Hauke Müntinga (German Aerospace Center (DLR))
- Meike List (DLR)
Description
Over the last years fundamental physics became an important field of space science. At the moment there are many fundamental physics space mission under way. More and more missions (i) focusing on proving e.g. General Relativity Theory like MICROSCOPE and LISA (ii) using Gravity for Earth observation like GRACE and GRACE-FO, or (iii) setting up platforms using cold atoms for fundamental physics experiments in space, are already in orbit or in preparation to be launched within the next years. In this session we will focus on present missions, their status and scientific results, as well as on new mission concepts and newly developed space technologies.
BECCAL (Bose Einstein Condensate and Cold Atom Laboratory) is a joint mission between NASA and DLR. The payload will be installed to the international space station (ISS) to enable research on cold and condensed atoms in the unique microgravity environment. Consequently, BECCAL is not dedicated to a single experiment, but planned as a multi-purpose, multi-user facility.
To create a design...
MICROSCOPE aims to test the Weak Equivalence Principle with unprecendent accuracy. The satellite was launched in 2016 and terminated its operations end of 2018. Since then, the in-orbit collected data of science and technological experiments has been extensively analysed to evaluate the performance of each subsystem. While waiting for this final result, we can unveil the two major points on...
Exploring the effects of geometry, topology, dimensionality, and interactions on ultracold atomic ensembles has proven to be a continually fruitful line of inquiry. One heretofore unexplored configuration for such ensembles is that of a bubble or shell, where trapped atoms are confined in the vicinity of a spherical or ellipsoidal surface. Such a system could offer new collective modes,...
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is essential for providing secure communication. For long distances QKD from space turns out to be most efficient. In this contribution the influence of general relativistic effects as well as of instrumental choices on secure QKD is analyzed. One aspects of the resut is that certain classes of orbits are not optimal for QKD. On the other hand, such orbits may be...
The TianQin mission plans to deploy three drag-free controlled satellites in circular high Earth orbits at an altitude of $10^5$ km. The satellites form a nearly equilateral-triangle constellation, and exchange high-precision laser interferometric links to detect low-frequency gravitational waves in the mHz frequency band. TianQin features a geocentric concept, and is facing the challenge of...
