938 research outputs found

    Quantum ballistic experiment on antihydrogen fall

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    We study an interferometric approach to measure gravitational mass of antihydrogen. The method consists of preparing a coherent superposition of antihydrogen quantum state localized near a material surface in the gravitational field of the Earth, and then observing the time distribution of annihilation events followed after the free fall of an initially prepared superposition from a given height to the detector plate. We show that a corresponding time distribution is related to the momentum distribution in the initial state that allows its precise measurement. This approach is combined with a method of production of a coherent superposition of gravitational states by inducing a resonant transition using oscillating gradient magnetic field. We estimate an accuracy of measuring the gravitational mass of antihydrogen atom which could be deduced from such a measurement.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1403.478

    A New Constraint for the Coupling of Axion-like particles to Matter via Ultra-Cold Neutron Gravitational Experiments

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    We present a new constraint for the axion monopole-dipole coupling in the range of 1 micrometer to a few millimeters, previously unavailable for experimental study. The constraint was obtained using our recent results on the observation of neutron quantum states in the Earth's gravitational field. We exploit the ultimate sensitivity of ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) in the lowest gravitational states above a material surface to any additional interaction between the UCN and the matter, if the characteristic interaction range is within the mentioned domain. In particular, we find that the upper limit for the axion monopole-dipole coupling constant is (g_p g_s)/(\hbar c)<2 x 10^{-15} for the axion mass in the ``promising'' axion mass region of ~1 meV.Comment: 5 pages 3 figure

    Gravitational resonance spectroscopy with an oscillating magnetic field gradient in the GRANIT flow through arrangement

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    Gravitational resonance spectroscopy consists in measuring the energy spectrum of bouncing ultracold neutrons above a mirror by inducing resonant transitions between different discrete quantum levels. We discuss how to induce the resonances with a flow through arrangement in the GRANIT spectrometer, excited by an oscillating magnetic field gradient. The spectroscopy could be realized in two distinct modes (so called DC and AC) using the same device to produce the magnetic excitation. We present calculations demonstrating the feasibility of the newly proposed AC mode

    Quantum reflection of antihydrogen from nanoporous media

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    We study quantum reflection of antihydrogen atoms from nanoporous media due to the Casimir-Polder (CP) potential. Using a simple effective medium model, we show a dramatic increase of the probability of quantum reflection of antihydrogen atoms if the porosity of the medium increases. We discuss the limiting case of reflections at small energies, which have interesting applications for trapping and guiding antihydrogen using material walls

    Frequency shifts in gravitational resonance spectroscopy

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    Quantum states of ultracold neutrons in the gravitational field are to be characterized through gravitational resonance spectroscopy. This paper discusses systematic effects that appear in the spectroscopic measurements. The discussed frequency shifts, which we call Stern-Gerlach shift, interference shift, and spectator state shift, appear in conceivable measurement schemes and have general importance. These shifts have to be taken into account in precision experiments
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