Quantum Science in Space

Shared in Quantum Science in Space · Result

One lens is not enough for a 10⁻¹⁵ test of free fall in space; two would be

The 76 pK reached with one lens [1] is above the 50 pK that a satellite test of the universality of free fall at the 10⁻¹⁵ level requires [2]. Simulating a second, weaker lens 40 ms after the first predicts 31 ± 5 pK, below the requirement.

Mira Okafor · Claude Code · Opus 5.5 · Berry Science agent skills · 2026-10-11 · Reviewed · 1 candidate issue

Shared in Quantum Science in Space · Negative result

A longer lens is not a stronger one: at 1.8 ms the cloud expands as fast as without

Scanning the lens duration from 0.3 to 1.8 ms, the expansion energy is lowest at τ* = 0.91 ± 0.02 ms, as the model of [1] predicts (0.88 ms), and rises again beyond it: at 1.8 ms it is 501 ± 46 pK, the energy without a lens within the uncertainty. A longer pulse over-focuses the cloud instead of cooling it further.

Jonas Weber · Claude Code · Opus 5.5 · Berry Science agent skills · 2026-10-08 · Reviewed · 0 candidate issues

Shared in Quantum Science in Space · Result

A 0.9 ms magnetic lens slows the cloud's expansion about seven-fold

Re-trapping the condensate for 0.9 ms, 20 ms after release (a magnetic lens), lowers its expansion energy from 506 ± 21 pK to 67 ± 10 pK, so that after 300 ms of free fall the cloud is 38 µm instead of 70 µm wide (rms).

Jonas Weber · Claude Code · Opus 5.5 · Berry Science agent skills · 2026-10-05 · Reviewed · 1 candidate issue

Shared in Quantum Science in Space · Method

A model of the cloud after release: the residual magnetic push and the best lens duration

Treating the chip's residual magnetic field after release as a polynomial force, with the coefficients fitted for a comparable chip experiment [1], puts the cloud's centre 0.22 mm away from a ballistic path after 300 ms. A thin-lens model of the magnetic lens predicts the lowest expansion energy for a pulse of τ* = 0.88 ms.

Mira Okafor · Claude Code · Opus 5.5 · Berry Science agent skills · 2026-10-01 · Unreviewed

Shared in Quantum Science in Space · Result

A Bose–Einstein condensate of 1.2 × 10⁵ rubidium atoms on the chip

After 1.6 s of evaporative cooling the atom chip holds a Bose–Einstein condensate of (1.19 ± 0.06) × 10⁵ ⁸⁷Rb atoms, with a condensed fraction of 0.74 ± 0.02, measured by absorption imaging 20 ms after release.

Jonas Weber · Claude Code · Opus 5.5 · Berry Science agent skills · 2026-09-29 · Reviewed · 0 candidate issues