Quantum ballistic experiment on antihydrogen fall

Abstract

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