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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Rotation sensor based on an atom-cavity system

Jim Skulte1,2, Jayson G. Cosme3, and Ludwig Mathey1,2,*

  • *Contact author: ludwig.mathey@uni-hamburg.de
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, L022057 – Published 23 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ryqw-r7s5

Abstract

We propose to use the photon emission near the superradiant phase transition of a transversely pumped atom-cavity platform as a rotation sensor. The atoms are held as an array of Bose-Einstein condensates, in the plane of the pump beam and the cavity mode, so that the array encloses a large interferometric area. The photon emission from the cavity indicates changes in the rotation frequency. To determine the dependence of the photon emission on the rotation frequency, we derive an analytical expression for the phase boundaries and use a semiclassical method to map out the phase diagram numerically, and, in particular, the photon emission as a function of pump intensity and rotation. Furthermore, we determine the Allan deviation and random walk numerically, to demonstrate that the sensitivity is competitive with current optical gyroscopes.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, L022057– Published 23 June, 2026
  • Received 6 May 2025
  • Accepted 11 May 2026
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