Measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using Earth's rotation
A coupling between Earth's rotation and orbital angular momentum (OAM), known as the Sagnac effect, is observed in entangled neutrons produced using a spin-echo interferometer. After correction for instrument systematics the measured coupling is within 5% of theory, with an uncertainty of 7.2%....
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013046 |
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| author | Niels Geerits Stephan Sponar Kyle E. Steffen William M. Snow Steven R. Parnell Giacomo Mauri Gregory N. Smith Robert M. Dalgliesh Victor de Haan |
| author_facet | Niels Geerits Stephan Sponar Kyle E. Steffen William M. Snow Steven R. Parnell Giacomo Mauri Gregory N. Smith Robert M. Dalgliesh Victor de Haan |
| author_sort | Niels Geerits |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A coupling between Earth's rotation and orbital angular momentum (OAM), known as the Sagnac effect, is observed in entangled neutrons produced using a spin-echo interferometer. After correction for instrument systematics the measured coupling is within 5% of theory, with an uncertainty of 7.2%. The OAM in our setup is transverse to the propagation direction and scales linearly with neutron wavelength (4–12.75 Å), so the Sagnac coupling can be varied without mechanically rotating the device, which avoids systematic errors present in previous experiments. The detected transverse OAM of our beam corresponds to 4098±295ℏÅ^{−1},10^{5} times lower than in the previous neutron experiments. This demonstrates the feasibility of using the Sagnac effect to definitively measure neutron OAM and paves the way towards a future observation of the quantum Sagnac effect. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a4cd15411b1a4126b1eaf3f7730c41c0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-a4cd15411b1a4126b1eaf3f7730c41c02025-01-13T15:07:48ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642025-01-017101304610.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013046Measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using Earth's rotationNiels GeeritsStephan SponarKyle E. SteffenWilliam M. SnowSteven R. ParnellGiacomo MauriGregory N. SmithRobert M. DalglieshVictor de HaanA coupling between Earth's rotation and orbital angular momentum (OAM), known as the Sagnac effect, is observed in entangled neutrons produced using a spin-echo interferometer. After correction for instrument systematics the measured coupling is within 5% of theory, with an uncertainty of 7.2%. The OAM in our setup is transverse to the propagation direction and scales linearly with neutron wavelength (4–12.75 Å), so the Sagnac coupling can be varied without mechanically rotating the device, which avoids systematic errors present in previous experiments. The detected transverse OAM of our beam corresponds to 4098±295ℏÅ^{−1},10^{5} times lower than in the previous neutron experiments. This demonstrates the feasibility of using the Sagnac effect to definitively measure neutron OAM and paves the way towards a future observation of the quantum Sagnac effect.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013046 |
| spellingShingle | Niels Geerits Stephan Sponar Kyle E. Steffen William M. Snow Steven R. Parnell Giacomo Mauri Gregory N. Smith Robert M. Dalgliesh Victor de Haan Measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using Earth's rotation Physical Review Research |
| title | Measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using Earth's rotation |
| title_full | Measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using Earth's rotation |
| title_fullStr | Measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using Earth's rotation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using Earth's rotation |
| title_short | Measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using Earth's rotation |
| title_sort | measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using earth s rotation |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013046 |
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