Ultracold atom interferometry with pulses of variable duration

We offer interferometry models for thermal ensembles with one-body losses and the phenomenological inclusion of perturbations covering most of the thermal atom experiments. A possible extension to the many-body case is briefly discussed. The Ramsey pulses are assumed to have variable durations and the detuning during the pulses is distinguished from the detuning during evolution. Consequently, the pulses are not restricted to resonant operation and give more flexibility to optimize the interferometer to particular experimental conditions. On this basis another model is devised in which the contrast loss due to the unequal one-body population decays is canceled by the application of a nonstandard splitting pulse. For the importance of its practical implications, an analogous spin-echo model is also provided. The developed models are suitable for the analysis of atomic clocks and a broad range of sensing applications; they are particularly useful for trapped-atom interferometers.