= Atom interferometer
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An <atom interferometer> supplies atomic preparation, coherent splitting and recombination, and a readout of the output populations. In a light-pulse apparatus, a cooled atomic cloud interacts with controlled <laser> pulses during flight, and state-selective detection measures the populations after the final pulse.
For ideal equal interfering amplitudes, one output has <probability> $P=[1+\mathcal V\cos\Delta\phi]/2$, where $\Delta\phi$ is the relative <wave phase> and $\mathcal V$ the <interferometric visibility>. Scanning a <laser> <phase> produces fringes. Vibrations, <phase> noise, unequal path populations and information distinguishing the paths can reduce their visibility; simply detecting two atomic groups does not establish <wave interference>.
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