Tractor Atom Interferometry

A method is presented for measuring motion of a moving body using an atom interferometer. The method includes: positioning at least one atom in a cavity of the atom interferometer, where the atom interferometer is attached to the moving body; splitting the at least one atom into a pair of wave-function components; guiding the pair of wave-function components along respective paths in the cavity such that the pair of wave-function components are confined spatially along the respective paths in all degrees of freedom and without interruption; coherently recombining the pair of wave-function components into the at least one atom; and measuring a property of the at least one atom after the pair of wave-function components have been recombined into the at least one atom, where the property of the at least one atom is indicative of motion of the moving body.