Integrating trapped atom interferometry with massive mechanical systems*

Progress in maintaining non-classical motional states of massive systems has enabled a variety of novel domains for exploration, from the near ground-state cooling of kilogram-scale mechanical systems to the creation of squeezing and entanglement at the microgram scale. At the same time, the ability to use dilute clouds of atoms using atomic interferometry to probe gravitational effects for extended times has now been demonstrated by integrating atomic trapping during the interferometric sequence. In this talk I will discuss how advances in both domains, when brought together, provide opportunities to explore fundamental questions regarding the entangling nature of interactions over long time (100s of seconds) and large mass scales, including specifically the presumed entangling nature of the gravitational interaction.