Noncyclic geometric phase due to spatial evolution in a neutron interferometer

Journal Article · Mon Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.72.021602· OSTI ID:20718040

Filipp, Stefan ^[1]; Hasegawa, Yuji; Rauch, Helmut ^[1]; Loidl, Rudolf ^[2]

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1. Atominstitut der Oesterreichischen Universitaeten, Stadionallee 2, A-1020 Vienna (Austria)
2. Institut Laue Langevin, Boite Postale 156, F-38042 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France)

We present a split-beam neutron interferometric experiment to test the noncyclic geometric phase tied to the spatial evolution of the system: The subjacent two-dimensional Hilbert space is spanned by the two possible paths in the interferometer, and the evolution of the state is controlled by phase shifters and absorbers. A related experiment was reported previously by Hasegawa et al. [Phys Rev A 53, 2486 (1996)] to verify the cyclic spatial geometric phase. The interpretation of this experiment, namely to ascribe a geometric phase to this particular state evolution, has met with severe criticism from Wagh [Phys. Rev A 59, 1715 (1999)]. The extension to a noncyclic evolution manifests the correctness of the interpretation of the previous experiment by means of an explicit calculation of the noncyclic geometric phase in terms of paths on the Bloch-sphere.

• OSTI ID: 20718040
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 72, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.72.021602; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
HILBERT SPACE
INTERFEROMETERS
INTERFEROMETRY
NEUTRONS
PHASE SHIFT
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS