Sensitivity of a Double-Target BEC Rotation Sensor

A rectangular array of double-target Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) can act as a rotation sensor. The purpose of the sensor is to measure the angular velocity, Ω_R, of the sensor's rest frame with respect to the "fixed stars." A "target" BEC consists of a ring BEC surrounding an inner disk condensate. A "double-target" has two target BECs whose ring condensates overlap each like a figure eight. The sensor operating cycle includes (1) Setup where the array of double-target condensates are formed, (2) Initialization where one unit of flow is induced in the top ring of each double-target BEC, (3) Measurement where a barrier is erected across the overlap region of each double-target BEC, and (5) Readout where the trap potential is turned off and an image is taken. The value of Ω_R can be extracted from this image by finding the double-target BECs where the flow has transferred from the top to the bottom ring. We describe the details of this atomtronic rotation sensor idea and present the potential sensitivity of the device.