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Atomic and Laser Physics
Credit: Jack Hobhouse

Dr Thomas Hird [he/his]

Senior Postdoctoral Research Assistant

Research theme

  • Quantum information and computation
  • Quantum optics & ultra-cold matter

Sub department

  • Atomic and Laser Physics

Research groups

  • AION/Magis
  • Ultracold quantum matter
thomas.hird@physics.ox.ac.uk
Google Scholar
  • About
  • Publications

A Prototype Atom Interferometer to Detect Dark Matter and Gravitational Waves

(2025)

Authors:

CFA Baynham, R Hobson, O Buchmueller, D Evans, L Hawkins, L Iannizzotto-Venezze, A Josset, D Lee, E Pasatembou, BE Sauer, MR Tarbutt, T Walker, O Ennis, U Chauhan, A Brzakalik, S Dey, S Hedges, B Stray, M Langlois, K Bongs, T Hird, S Lellouch, M Holynski, B Bostwick, J Chen, Z Eyler, V Gibson, TL Harte, CC Hsu, M Karzazi, C Lu, B Millward, J Mitchell, N Mouelle, B Panchumarthi, J Scheper, U Schneider, X Su, Y Tang, K Tkalcec, M Zeuner, S Zhang, Y Zhi, L Badurina, A Beniwal, D Blas, J Carlton, J Ellis, C McCabe, G Parish, D Pathak Govardhan, V Vaskonen, T Bowcock, K Bridges, A Carroll, J Coleman, G Elertas, S Hindley, C Metelko, H Throssell, JN Tinsley, E Bentine, M Booth, D Bortoletto, N Callaghan, C Foot, C Gomez-Monedero, K Hughes, A James, T Leese, A Lowe, J March-Russell, J Sander, J Schelfhout, I Shipsey, D Weatherill, D Wood, MG Bason, K Hussain, H Labiad, AL Marchant, TC Thornton, T Valenzuela, SN Balashov, P Majewski, D Newbold, MGD van der Grinten, Z Pan, Z Tam, I Wilmut, K Clarke, A Vick
Details from ArXiV

Single-photon large-momentum-transfer atom interferometry scheme for Sr or Yb atoms with application to determining the fine-structure constant

Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics American Physical Society 110:5 (2024) 053309

Authors:

Jesse Schelfhout, Thomas Hird, Kenneth Hughes, Christopher Foot

Abstract:

The leading experimental determinations of the fine-structure constant 𝛼 currently rely on atomic photon-recoil measurements from Ramsey-Bordé atom interferometry with large-momentum transfer to provide an absolute mass measurement. We propose an experimental scheme for an intermediate-scale differential atom interferometer to measure the photon recoil of neutral atomic species with a single-photon optical clock transition. We calculate trajectories for our scheme that optimize the recoil phase while nullifying the undesired gravity-gradient phase by considering independently launching two clouds of ultracold atoms with the appropriate initial conditions. For Sr and Yb, we find an atom interferometer of height 3 m to be sufficient for an absolute mass measurement precision of 𝛥⁢𝑚/𝑚∼1×10−11 with current technology. Such a precise measurement would halve the current uncertainty in 𝛼 — an uncertainty that would no longer be limited by an absolute mass measurement. The removal of this limitation would allow the current uncertainty in 𝛼 to be reduced by a factor of 10 by corresponding improvements in relative mass measurements, thus paving the way for higher-precision tests of the standard model of particle physics.
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A single-photon large-momentum-transfer atom interferometry scheme for Sr or Yb atoms with application to determining the fine-structure constant

(2024)

Authors:

Jesse S Schelfhout, Thomas M Hird, Kenneth M Hughes, Christopher J Foot
More details from the publisher
Details from ArXiV

Centralized design and production of the ultra-high vacuum and laser-stabilization systems for the AION ultra-cold strontium laboratories

AVS Quantum Science American Vacuum Society 6:1 (2024)

Authors:

B Stray, O Ennis, S Hedges, S Dey, M Langlois, K Bongs, S Lellouch, M Holynski, B Bostwick, J Chen, Z Eyler, V Gibson, TL Harte, CC Hsu, M Karzazi, J Mitchell, N Mouelle, U Schneider, Y Tang, K Tkalcec, Y Zhi, K Clarke, A Vick, K Bridges, J Coleman, G Elertas, L Hawkins, S Hindley, K Hussain, C Metelko, H Throssell, CFA Baynham, O Buchmüller, D Evans, R Hobson, L Iannizzotto-Venezze, A Josset, E Pasatembou, BE Sauer, MR Tarbutt, L Badurina, A Beniwal, D Blas, J Carlton, J Ellis, C McCabe, E Bentine, M Booth, D Bortoletto, C Foot, CM Gómez-Monedero Castellanos, T Hird, K Hughes, A James, A Lowe, J March-Russell, J Schelfhout, I Shipsey, D Weatherill, D Wood, S Balashov, MG Bason, J Boehm, M Courthold, M van der Grinten, P Majewski, AL Marchant, D Newbold, Z Pan, Z Tam, T Valenzuela, I Wilmut

Abstract:

This paper outlines the centralized design and production of the ultra-high-vacuum sidearm and laser-stabilization systems for the AION Ultra-Cold Strontium Laboratories. Commissioning data on the residual gas and steady-state pressures in the sidearm chambers, on magnetic field quality, on laser stabilization, and on the loading rate for the 3D magneto-optical trap are presented. Streamlining the design and production of the sidearm and laser stabilization systems enabled the AION Collaboration to build and equip in parallel five state-of-the-art Ultra-Cold Strontium Laboratories within 24 months by leveraging key expertise in the collaboration. This approach could serve as a model for the development and construction of other cold atom experiments, such as atomic clock experiments and neutral atom quantum computing systems, by establishing dedicated design and production units at national laboratories.
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Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry: Workshop Summary

(2023)

Authors:

Sven Abend, Baptiste Allard, Iván Alonso, John Antoniadis, Henrique Araujo, Gianluigi Arduini, Aidan Arnold, Tobias Aßmann, Nadja Augst, Leonardo Badurina, Antun Balaz, Hannah Banks, Michele Barone, Michele Barsanti, Angelo Bassi, Baptiste Battelier, Charles Baynham, Beaufils Quentin, Aleksandar Belic, Ankit Beniwal, Jose Bernabeu, Francesco Bertinelli, Andrea Bertoldi, Ikbal Ahamed Biswas, Diego Blas, Patrick Boegel, Aleksandar Bogojevic, Jonas Böhm, Samuel Böhringer, Kai Bongs, Philippe Bouyer, Christian Brand, Apostolos Brimis, Oliver Buchmueller, Luigi Cacciapuoti, Sergio Calatroni, Benjamin Canuel, Chiara Caprini, Ana Caramete, Laurentiu Caramete, Matteo Carlesso, John Carlton, Mateo Casariego, Vassilis Charmandaris, Yu-Ao Chen, Maria Luisa Chiofalo, Alessia Cimbri, Jonathon Coleman, Florin Lucian Constantin, Carlo Contaldi, Yanou Cui, Elisa Da Ros, Gavin Davies, Esther del Pino Rosendo, Christian Deppner, Andrei Derevianko, Claudia de Rham, Albert De Roeck, Daniel Derr, Fabio Di Pumpo, Goran Djordjevic, Babette Dobrich, Peter Domokos, Peter Dornan, Michael Doser, Giannis Drougakis, Jacob Dunningham, Alisher Duspayev, Sajan Easo, Joshua Eby, Maxim Efremov, Tord Ekelof, Gedminas Elertas, John Ellis, David Evans, Pavel Fadeev, Mattia Fanì, Farida Fassi, Marco Fattori, Pierre Fayet, Daniel Felea, Jie Feng, Alexander Friedrich, Elina Fuchs, Naceur Gaaloul, Dongfeng Gao, Susan Gardner, Barry Garraway, Alexandre Gauguet, Sandra Gerlach, Matthias Gersemann, Valerie Gibson, Enno Giese, Gian Francesco Giudice, Eric Glasbrenner, Mustafa Gündogan, Martin G Haehnelt, Timo Hakulinen, Klemens Hammerer, Ekim Taylan Hanımeli, Tiffany Harte, Leonie Hawkins, Aurelien Hees, Jaret Heise, Victoria Henderson, Sven Herrmann, Thomas Hird, Jason Hogan, Bodil Holst, Michael Holynski, Kamran Hussain, Gregor Janson, Peter Jeglič, Fedor Jelezko, Michael Kagan, Matti Kalliokoski, Mark Kasevich, Alex Kehagias, Eva Kilian, Soumen Koley, Bernd Konrad, Joachim Kopp, Georgy Kornakov, Tim Kovachy, Markus Krutzik, Mukesh Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Claus Laemmerzahl, Greg Landsberg, Mehdi Langlois, Bryony Lanigan, Samuel Lellouch, Bruno Leone, Christophe Le Poncin Lafitte, Marek Lewicki, Bastian Leykauf, Ali Lezeik, Lucas Lombriser, Luis López, Elias López Asamar, Cristian López Monjaraz, Gaetano Luciano, Mohammed Mahmoud Mohammed, Azadeh Maleknejad, Krutzik Markus, Jacques Marteau, Didier Massonnet, Anupam Mazumdar, Christopher McCabe, Matthias Meister, Jonathan Menu, Giuseppe Messineo, Salvatore Micalizio, Peter Millington, Milan Milosevic, Jeremiah Mitchell, Mario Montero, Gavin Morley, Jürgen Müller, Özgür Müstecaplıoğlu, Wei-Tou Ni, Johannes Noller, Senad Odžak, Daniel Oi, Yasser Omar, Julia Pahl, Sean Paling, Saurabh Pandey, George Pappas, Vinay Pareek, Elizabeth Pasatembou, Emanuele Pelucchi, Franck Pereira dos Santos, Baptist Piest, Igor Pikovski, Apostolos Pilaftsis, Robert Plunkett, Rosa Poggiani, Marco Prevedelli, Julia Puputti, Vishnupriya Puthiya Veettil, John Quenby, Johann Rafelski, Surjeet Rajendran, Ernst Maria Rasel, Haifa Rejeb Sfar, Serge Reynaud, Andrea Richaud, Tangui Rodzinka, Albert Roura, Jan Rudolph, Dylan Sabulsky, Marianna Safronova, Luigi Santamaria, Manuel Schilling, Vladimir Schkolnik, Wolfgang Schleich, Dennis Schlippert, Ulrich Schneider, Florian Schreck, Christian Schubert, Nico Schwersenz, Aleksei Semakin, Olga Sergijenko, Lijing Shao, Ian Shipsey, Rajeev Singh, Augusto Smerzi, Carlos F Sopuerta, Alessandro Spallicci, Petruta Stefanescu, Nikolaos Stergioulas, Jannik Ströhle, Christian Struckmann, Silvia Tentindo, Henry Throssell, Guglielmo M Tino, Jonathan Tinsley, Ovidiu Tintareanu Mircea, Kimberly Tkalčec, Andrew Tolley, Vincenza Tornatore, Alejandro Torres-Orjuela, Philipp Treutlein, Andrea Trombettoni, Yu-Dai Tsai, Christian Ufrecht, Stefan Ulmer, Daniel Valuch, Ville Vaskonen, Veronica Vazquez Aceves, Nikolay Vitanov, Christian Vogt, Wolf von Klitzing, András Vukics, Reinhold Walser, Jin Wang, Niels Warburton, Alexander Webber-Date, André Wenzlawski, Michael Werner, Jason Williams, Patrcik Windapssinger, Peter Wolf, Lisa Wörner, André Xuereb, Mohamed Yahia, Emmanuel Zambrini Cruzeiro, Moslem Zarei, Mingsheng Zhan, Lin Zhou, Jure Zupan, Erik Zupanič
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Details from ArXiV

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