MAGIS-100

With the confirmation of gravitational waves less than a decade old, scientists are barreling ahead with new detectors to pick up ever more elusive ripples in spacetime. Fermilab’s MAGIS-100 is one such project that is already underway.

A UK consortium has partnered with Fermilab to construct a 100-meter-long quantum experiment, MAGIS-100. The experiment is under construction at Fermilab and will help scientists demonstrate the superposition of atoms and advance the search for ultralight dark-matter particles.

Fermilab signs international agreement with U.K. institutions to collaborate on building a 100-meter-long atom interferometry experiment. It will enable scientists to demonstrate the superposition of atoms and advance the search for ultralight dark-matter particles.

From Physics World, October 20, 2022: A new multiple-mirror imaging technique could greatly improve the performance of atom interferometers, making them more useful in applications ranging from dark matter detection to quality control in manufacturing. The technique was developed by researchers at SLAC and a possible use for this would be in the Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor, a 100-metre-long atom interferometer currently being installed at Fermilab.

Researchers from more than 50 countries collaborate with Fermilab to develop state-of-the-art technologies and solve the mysteries of matter, energy, space and time. Take a look at 10 ways Fermilab and its partners advanced science and technology in 2021.

From Scientific American, February 2020: Collaborators from eight institutions have come together to turn a mine shaft at Fermilab into the world’s largest atom interferometer — MAGIS-100. The researchers plan to assemble the instrument in 2021 and start harnessing lasers to expand submicroscopic strontium atoms into macroscale “atom waves” soon after. Fermilab scientist Rob Plunkett comments on the mind-boggling experiment.

From MIT Technology Review, Oct. 21, 2019: We’ve seen ripples in space-time only when the universe’s biggest events occur. Now there might be a way to spot them ahead of time. MAGIS-100 is a project designed to see whether shooting frozen atoms with lasers can be used to observe ultrasensitive signals that might be stretching through space-time. If successful, it could help usher in a new era of “atom interferometry” that could reveal some of the secrets of gravitational waves, dark matter, quantum mechanics, and other heady topics.

A collaboration led by Fermilab and Stanford University combines their expertise in quantum science and accelerator technologies to build the world’s largest atom interferometer. The instrument will push the boundaries of quantum physics into macroscopic scales, providing a gateway for dark matter searches and tests of gravitational waves.