Abstract

Einstein’s theory of general relativity and quantum theory form the two major pillars of modern physics. However, certain inertial properties of a particle’s intrinsic spin are inconspicuous while the inertial properties of mass are well known. Here, by performing a neutron interferometric experiment, we observe phase shifts arising as a consequence of the spin’s coupling with the angular velocity of a rotating magnetic field. This coupling is a purely quantum mechanical extension of the Sagnac effect. The resulting phase shifts linearly depend on the frequency of the rotation of the magnetic field. Our results agree with the predictions derived from the Pauli–Schrödinger equation.

Details

Title
Spin-rotation coupling observed in neutron interferometry
Author
Danner Armin 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Demirel Bülent 1 ; Wenzel, Kersten 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Lemmel Hartmut 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Wagner, Richard 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Sponar Stephan 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hasegawa Yuji 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Atominstitut, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria (GRID:grid.5329.d) (ISNI:0000 0001 2348 4034) 
2  Atominstitut, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria (GRID:grid.5329.d) (ISNI:0000 0001 2348 4034); Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France (GRID:grid.156520.5) (ISNI:0000 0004 0647 2236) 
3  Atominstitut, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria (GRID:grid.5329.d) (ISNI:0000 0001 2348 4034); Hokkaido University, Department of Applied Physics, Kita-ku, Japan (GRID:grid.39158.36) (ISNI:0000 0001 2173 7691) 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20566387
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-020-0254-8
ProQuest document ID
2488773292
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.