Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “STERN-GERLACH”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

18 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Stern-Gerlach dynamics with quantum propagators

We study the quantum dynamics of a nonrelativistic neutral particle with spin in inhomogeneous external magnetic fields. We first consider fields with one-dimensional inhomogeneities, both unphysical and physical, and construct the corresponding analytic propagators. We then consider fields with two-dimensional inhomogeneities and develop an appropriate numerical propagation method. We propagate initial states exhibiting different degrees of space localization and various initial spin configurations, including both pure and mixed spin states. We study the evolution of their spin densities and identify characteristic features of spin density dynamics, such as the spatial separation of spin components, and spin localization or accumulation. We compare our approach and our results with the coverage of the Stern-Gerlach effect in the literature, and we focus on nonstandard Stern-Gerlach outcomes, such as radial separation, spin focusing, spin oscillation, and spin flipping.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Field-gradient measurement using a Stern-Gerlach atomic interferometer with butterfly geometry

Atomic interferometers have been studied as a promising device for precise sensing of external fields. Among various configurations, a particular configuration with a butterfly-shaped geometry has been designed to sensitively probe field gradients. Here, we introduce a Stern-Gerlach (SG) butterfly interferometer by incorporating magnetic field in the conventional butterfly-shaped configuration. Atomic trajectories of the interferometer can be flexibly adjusted by controlling magnetic fields to increase the sensitivity of the interferometer, while the conventional butterfly interferometer using Raman transitions can be understood as a special case. We also show that the SG interferometer can keep high contrast against a misalignment in position and momentum caused by the field gradient.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Conversion of heat to light using Townes' maser-laser engine: Quantum optics and thermodynamic analysis

It is shown that thermal energy from a heat source can be converted to useful work in the form of maser-laser light by using a combination of a Stern-Gerlach device and stimulated emissions of excited particles in a maser-laser cavity. We analyze the populations of atoms or quantum dots exiting the cavity, the photon statistics, and the internal entropy as a function of atomic transit time, using the quantum theory of masers and lasers. The power of the laser light is estimated to be sufficiently high for device applications. The thermodynamics of the heat converter is analyzed as a heat engine operating between two reservoirs of different temperature but is generalized to include the change of internal quantum states. The von Neumann entropies for the internal degree are obtained. The sum of the internal and external entropies increases after each cycle and the second law is not violated, even if the photon entropy due to finite photon number distribution is not included. An expression for efficiency relating to the Carnot efficiency is obtained. We resolve the subtle paradox on the reduction of the internal entropy with regards to the path separation after the Stern-Gerlach device.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Lagrangian geometrical optics of nonadiabatic vector waves and spin particles

Linear vector waves, both quantum and classical, experience polarization-driven bending of ray trajectories and polarization dynamics that can be interpreted as the precession of the "wave spin". Here, both phenomena are governed by an effective gauge Hamiltonian vanishing in leading-order geometrical optics. This gauge Hamiltonian can be recognized as a generalization of the Stern-Gerlach Hamiltonian that is commonly known for spin-1/2 quantum particles. The corresponding reduced Lagrangians for continuous nondissipative waves and their geometrical-optics rays are derived from the fundamental wave Lagrangian. The resulting Euler-Lagrange equations can describe simultaneous interactions of N resonant modes, where N is arbitrary, and lead to equations for the wave spin, which happens to be an (N 2 - 1)-dimensional spin vector. As a special case, classical equations for a Dirac particle (N = 2) are deduced formally, without introducing additional postulates or interpretations, from the Dirac quantum Lagrangian with the Pauli term. The model reproduces the Bargmann-Michel-Telegdi equations with added Stern-Gerlach force.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Quantum theory as the most robust description of reproducible experiments

It is shown that the basic equations of quantum theory can be obtained from a straightforward application of logical inference to experiments for which there is uncertainty about individual events and for which the frequencies of the observed events are robust with respect to small changes in the conditions under which the experiments are carried out. - Highlights: • It is shown that logical inference, that is, inductive reasoning, provides a rational explanation for the success of quantum theory. • The Schrödinger equation is obtained through logical inference applied to robust experiments. • The singlet and triplet states follow from logical inference applied to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm experiment. • Robustness also leads to the quantum theoretical description of the Stern-Gerlach experiment.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2010

Realization of a SU(2)xSU(6) System of Fermions in a Cold Atomic Gas

We report the realization of a novel degenerate Fermi mixture with an SU(2)xSU(6) symmetry in a cold atomic gas. We successfully cool the mixture of the two fermionic isotopes of ytterbium {sup 171}Yb with the nuclear spin I=1/2 and {sup 173}Yb with I=5/2 below the Fermi temperature T{sub F} as 0.46T{sub F} for {sup 171}Yb and 0.54T{sub F} for {sup 173}Yb. The same scattering lengths for different spin components make this mixture featured with the novel SU(2)xSU(6) symmetry. The nuclear spin components are separately imaged by exploiting an optical Stern-Gerlach effect. In addition, the mixture is loaded into a 3D optical lattice to implement the SU(2)xSU(6) Hubbard model. This mixture will open the door to the study of novel quantum phases such as a spinor Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer-like fermionic superfluid.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

The spin and orbital contributions to the total magnetic moments of free Fe, Co, and Ni clusters

We present size dependent spin and orbital magnetic moments of cobalt (Co{sub n}{sup +}, 8 ≤ n ≤ 22), iron (Fe{sub n}{sup +}, 7 ≤ n ≤ 17), and nickel cluster (Ni{sub n}{sup +}, 7 ≤ n ≤ 17) cations as obtained by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectroscopy of isolated clusters in the gas phase. The spin and orbital magnetic moments range between the corresponding atomic and bulk values in all three cases. We compare our findings to previous XMCD data, Stern-Gerlach data, and computational results. We discuss the application of scaling laws to the size dependent evolution of the spin and orbital magnetic moments per atom in the clusters. We find a spin scaling law “per cluster diameter,” ∼n{sup −1/3}, that interpolates between known atomic and bulk values. In remarkable contrast, the orbital moments do likewise only if the atomic asymptote is exempt. A concept of “primary” and “secondary” (induced) orbital moments is invoked for interpretation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2011

Detection and manipulation of nuclear spin states in fermionic strontium

Fermionic {sup 87}Sr has a nuclear spin of I=9/2, higher than any other element with a similar electronic structure. This large nuclear spin has many applications in quantum simulation and computation, for which preparation and detection of the spin state are requirements. For an ultracold {sup 87}Sr cloud, we show two complementary methods to characterize the spin-state mixture: optical Stern-Gerlach state separation and state-selective absorption imaging. We use these methods to optimize the preparation of a variety of spin-state mixtures by optical pumping and to measure an upper bound of the {sup 87}Sr spin-relaxation rate.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Relativistic ponderomotive Hamiltonian of a Dirac particle in a vacuum laser field

Here, we report a point-particle ponderomotive model of a Dirac electron oscillating in a high-frequency field. Starting from the Dirac Lagrangian density, we derive a reduced phase-space Lagrangian that describes the relativistic time-averaged dynamics of such a particle in a geometrical-optics laser pulse propagating in vacuum. The pulse is allowed to have an arbitrarily large amplitude provided that radiation damping and pair production are negligible. The model captures the Bargmann-Michel-Telegdi (BMT) spin dynamics, the Stern-Gerlach spin-orbital coupling, the conventional ponderomotive forces, and the interaction with large-scale background fields (if any). Agreement with the BMT spin precession equation is shown numerically. The commonly known theory in which ponderomotive effects are incorporated in the particle effective mass is reproduced as a special case when the spin-orbital coupling is negligible. This model could be useful for studying laser-plasma interactions in relativistic spin-1/2 plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Frequency shifts in gravitational resonance spectroscopy

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

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Observation of Spin Flips with a Single Trapped Proton

Radio-frequency induced spin transitions of one individual proton are observed. The spin quantum jumps are detected via the continuous Stern-Gerlach effect, which is used in an experiment with a single proton stored in a cryogenic Penning trap. This is an important milestone towards a direct high-precision measurement of the magnetic moment of the proton and a new test of the matter-antimatter symmetry in the baryon sector.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Nuclear-Polarized Hydrogen/Deuterium Molecular Source

The prototype of a nuclear-polarized hydrogen/deuterium molecular source based on the classical Stern-Gerlach design was tested at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics. Its major components are an annular nozzle cooled down to 6.5 K and two superconducting sextupole magnets. The measured flow of polarized hydrogen molecules was 3 × 10{sup 12} mol/s at a total gas flow through the nozzle of 4 ×10{sup –2} Torr L/s. The results obtained will be used to construct a more intense source of polarized molecules.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Generalized Uncertainty Principle and angular momentum

Various models of quantum gravity suggest a modification of the Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, to the so-called Generalized Uncertainty Principle, between position and momentum. In this work we show how this modification influences the theory of angular momentum in Quantum Mechanics. In particular, we compute Planck scale corrections to angular momentum eigenvalues, the hydrogen atom spectrum, the Stern–Gerlach experiment and the Clebsch–Gordan coefficients. We also examine effects of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle on multi-particle systems. - Highlights: • Corrections to the angular momentum spectra due to Generalized Uncertainty Principle. • GUP corrections to the hydrogen atom spectrum. • Experimental signatures of GUP, minimum length and Planck scale effects.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Weak values in collision theory

Weak measurements have an increasing number of applications in contemporary quantum mechanics. They were originally described as a weak interaction that slightly entangled the translational degrees of freedom of a particle to its spin, yielding surprising results after post-selection. That description often ignores the kinetic energy of the particle and its movement in three dimensions. Here, we include these elements and re-obtain the weak values within the context of collision theory by two different approaches, and prove that the results are compatible with each other and with the results from the traditional approach. To provide a more complete description, we generalize weak values into weak tensors and use them to provide a more realistic description of the Stern–Gerlach apparatus.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Logical inference derivation of the quantum theoretical description of Stern–Gerlach and Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen–Bohm experiments

Highlights: •Logical inference connects data and their description in terms of concepts. •It is used to derive the description of Stern–Gerlach experiments. •Logical inference yields the description of Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen–Bohm experiments. •These logical inference derivations do not rely on concepts of quantum theory. -- Abstract: It is shown that the quantum-theoretical descriptions of idealized Stern–Gerlach and Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen–Bohm experiments result from a logical inference treatment of robust experiments, without relying on concepts of quantum theory. For concreteness, the derivation is given for the case that the Stern–Gerlach magnet deflects the beam in three different directions, which in quantum theory corresponds to a description in terms of spin-1 particles. The logical inference description of the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen–Bohm experiment is shown to contain the quantum theoretical description as a particular case.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Separation of conditions as a prerequisite for quantum theory

We introduce the notion of “separation of conditions” meaning that a description of statistical data obtained from experiments, performed under a set of different conditions, allows for a decomposition such that each partial description depends on mutually exclusive subsets of these conditions. Descriptions that allow a separation of conditions are shown to entail the basic mathematical framework of quantum theory. The Stern–Gerlach and the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen–Bohm experiment with three, respectively nine possible outcomes are used to illustrate how the separation of conditions can be used to construct their quantum theoretical descriptions. It is shown that the mathematical structure of separated descriptions implies that, under certain restrictions, the time evolution of the data can be described by the von Neumann/Schrödinger equation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗