A New Kind of Telescope for the Cosmos
LONDON — In a breakthrough published in Nature, physicists at Imperial College London have demonstrated for the first time that a key principle behind next-generation quantum sensors can work under realistic experimental conditions — potentially unlocking humanity's ability to see the invisible parts of the universe.
The research, part of the Atom Interferometer Observatory and Network (AION) collaboration, shows that comparing two atom interferometers can effectively cancel experimental noise, making it possible to recover signals even when each individual measurement is buried in static.
How It Works
Atom interferometers use lasers to split clouds of ultracold atoms — cooled to near absolute zero — and then recombine them, measuring tiny changes in their motion with extraordinary precision. These changes could reveal the passage of a gravitational wave or the presence of a dark matter field.
But the technique faces a fundamental problem: the laser that controls the experiment creates phase noise far larger than the signals physicists hope to detect. It's like trying to hear a whisper at a rock concert.
The AION team's solution is elegant: use two atom clouds at different locations measured with the same laser, then compare them. Shared noise cancels out, while real signals remain.
Stress-Testing the Concept
The Imperial team, led by the Ultracold Strontium Laboratory, built a tabletop prototype that recreated conditions expected in much larger future experiments. They intentionally added noise far beyond what clock lasers naturally produce — simulating the extreme environment of long-baseline detectors.
Each interferometer alone became unusable. But when compared, the signal reappeared. The combined measurement reached the fundamental limit set by quantum physics.
'We've known for a long time that quantum sensors can help us understand the universe, but it's only recently that it's become possible to build them with the resolution needed,' said Dr. Charles Baynham, co-lead of the laboratory. 'I can't wait for the day when signals from an atom are telling us about a black hole that merged millions of years ago.'
A Roadmap to the Biggest Questions in Physics
The success validates a central design principle for several major international projects:
- AION (UK) — Building technologies for scalable quantum sensors at Imperial College - MAGIS at Fermilab (US) — Closely related atom interferometer experiments - AICE at CERN — A proposed facility using similar techniques across much longer distances, which would open a new direction for CERN by applying quantum sensing to fundamental physics
'We have taken some of the most precise instruments ever built — atomic clocks and atom interferometers — and shown that they can be repurposed to open entirely new windows onto the invisible parts of our Universe,' said Dr. Richard Hobson, co-lead of the laboratory.
What This Means
Dark matter makes up about 85% of all matter in the universe, yet it has never been directly detected. Gravitational waves from the early universe could reveal what happened moments after the Big Bang — but they remain out of reach of current observatories like LIGO.
These quantum sensors could study gravitational wave frequency bands that are currently inaccessible, and search for entirely new forms of matter.
Professor Oliver Buchmueller, Principal Investigator of the AION collaboration, called the work 'an important milestone towards future large-scale quantum sensors for fundamental physics' and said it demonstrates techniques relevant for facilities under development internationally.
The research was published in Nature on June 17, 2026, and supported by the UK's Quantum Technologies for Fundamental Physics program.
