Centrifugal quantum states of neutrons

Abstract

We propose a method for observation of the quasi-stationary states of neutrons, localized near the curved mirror surface. The bounding effective well is formed by the centrifugal potential and the mirror Fermi-potential. This phenomenon is an example of an exactly solvable "quantum bouncer" problem that could be studied experimentally. It could provide a promising tool for studying fundamental neutron-matter interactions, as well as quantum neutron optics and surface physics effects. We develop formalism, which describes quantitatively the neutron motion near the mirror surface. The effects of mirror roughness are taken into account.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure