Comment on ``Atomic gravitational wave interferometric sensor''

The use of laser interferometers for detecting and studying gravitational-wave signals from many types of astronomical sources is being pursued actively by a number of groups in different countries. However, it has been suggested recently that cooled atom clouds in atom interferometers could be used to replace the test masses in space-based gravitational-wave detectors and the end mirrors in ground-based detectors [S. Dimopoulos, P. W. Graham, J. M. Hogan, M. A. Kasevich, and S. Rajendran, Phys. Rev. DPRVDAQ1550-7998 78, 122002 (2008).10.1103/PhysRevD.78.122002]. Some new error sources that apparently have not been included in proposals of atom interferometer gravitational-wave detectors will be discussed in this comment. They are based on additional effects of aberrations in the laser wave fronts that interact with the atom clouds.