A proposed atom interferometry determination of $G$ at $10^{-5}$ using a cold atomic fountain

Abstract

In precision metrology the determination of the Newtonian gravity constant $G$ represents a real problem, since its history is plagued by huge unknown discrepancies between a large number of independent experiments. In this paper we propose a novel experimental setup for measuring $G$ with a relative accuracy of $10^{-5}$ using a standard cold atomic fountain and matter wave interferometry. We discuss in details the major sources of systematic errors, providing also the expected statistical uncertainty. Feasibility of determining $G$ at a level of $10^{-6}$ level is also discussed.