Measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using Earth's rotation

Geerits, Niels; Sponar, Stephan; Steffen, Kyle E.; Snow, William M.; Parnell, Steven R.; Mauri, Giacomo; Smith, Gregory N.; Dalgliesh, Robert M.; de Haan, Victor

doi:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013046

Title: Measuring the angular momentum of a neutron using Earth's rotation

Journal Article · 13 January 2025 · Physical Review Research

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013046 · OSTI ID:2499837

;

; Parnell, Steven R.; Mauri, Giacomo;

; Dalgliesh, Robert M.;

A coupling between Earth's rotation and orbital angular momentum (OAM), known as the Sagnac effect, is observed in entangled neutrons produced using a spin-echo interferometer. After correction for instrument systematics the measured coupling is within 5% of theory, with an uncertainty of 7.2%. The OAM in our setup is transverse to the propagation direction and scales linearly with neutron wavelength (4–12.75 Å), so the Sagnac coupling can be varied without mechanically rotating the device, which avoids systematic errors present in previous experiments. The detected transverse OAM of our beam corresponds to $4098 \pm 295 ℏ Å^{- 1}, 10^{5}$ times lower than in the previous neutron experiments. This demonstrates the feasibility of using the Sagnac effect to definitively measure neutron OAM and paves the way towards a future observation of the quantum Sagnac effect. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

View Journal Article

Cite

Export

Save

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0023695

OSTI ID:: 2499837

Journal Information:: Physical Review Research, Journal Name: Physical Review Research Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 7; ISSN 2643-1564; ISSN PPRHAI

Publisher:: American Physical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (50)

Photons, Orbital Angular Momentum, and Neutrons Cappelletti, Ronald L.; Vinson, John physica status solidi (b), Vol. 258, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1002/pssb.202000257	journal	September 2020
Novel SANS instrument using Neutron Spin Echo Rekveldt, M. Theo Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Vol. 114, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-583X(96)00213-3	journal	July 1996
Test of adiabatic spin flippers for application at pulsed neutron sources Kraan, W. H.; Grigoriev, S. V.; Rekveldt, M. Th. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 510, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(03)01812-6	journal	September 2003
Space-time description of neutron spin echo spectrometry Gähler, R.; Golub, R.; Habicht, K. Physica B: Condensed Matter, Vol. 229, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-4526(96)00509-1	journal	December 1996
The plain truth about forming a plane wave of neutrons Wagh, Apoorva G.; Abbas, Sohrab; Treimer, Wolfgang Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 634, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2010.06.269	journal	April 2011
Combined SANS–SESANS, from 1nm to 0.1mm in one instrument Bouwman, Wim G.; Duif, Chris P.; Plomp, Jeroen Physica B: Condensed Matter, Vol. 406, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2010.11.069	journal	June 2011
Transverse and longitudinal angular momenta of light Bliokh, Konstantin Y.; Nori, Franco Physics Reports, Vol. 592 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physrep.2015.06.003	journal	August 2015
Controlling neutron orbital angular momentum Clark, Charles W.; Barankov, Roman; Huber, Michael G. Nature, Vol. 525, Issue 7570 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15265	journal	September 2015
Unveiling contextual realities by microscopically entangling a neutron Shen, J.; Kuhn, S. J.; Dalgliesh, R. M. Nature Communications, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14741-y	journal	February 2020
Spin-rotation coupling observed in neutron interferometry Danner, Armin; Demirel, Bülent; Kersten, Wenzel npj Quantum Information, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-020-0254-8	journal	February 2020
Phase vortex lattices in neutron interferometry Geerits, Niels; Lemmel, Hartmut; Berger, Anna-Sophie Communications Physics, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-023-01318-6	journal	August 2023
Time of flight modulation of intensity by zero effort on Larmor Geerits, N.; Parnell, S. R.; Thijs, M. A. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 90, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5123987	journal	December 2019
Generation and detection of spin-orbit coupled neutron beams Sarenac, Dusan; Kapahi, Connor; Chen, Wangchun Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 116, Issue 41 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1906861116	journal	September 2019
The Effect of the Earth's Rotation on the Velocity of Light, II. Michelson, A. A.; Gale, Henry G. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 61 https://doi.org/10.1086/142879	journal	January 1925
Measurement of the spin–rotation coupling in neutron polarimetry Demirel, Bülent; Sponar, Stephan; Hasegawa, Yuji New Journal of Physics, Vol. 17, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/2/023065	journal	February 2015
Polarization analysis on the LET cold neutron spectrometer using a ³ He spin-filter: first results Cassella, G.; Stewart, J. R.; Paternò, G. M. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 1316 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1316/1/012007	journal	October 2019
Polarisation analysis on the LET time-of-flight spectrometer Nilsen, G. J.; Košata, J.; Devonport, M. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 862 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/862/1/012019	journal	June 2017
Parity Nonconservation in Nuclei Michel, F. Curtis Physical Review, Vol. 133, Issue 2B https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.133.B329	journal	January 1964
Operator analysis of contextuality-witness measurements for multimode-entangled single-neutron interferometry Lu, Shufan; Irfan, Abu Ashik Md.; Shen, Jiazhou Physical Review A, Vol. 101, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.101.042318	journal	April 2020
Twisting neutral particles with electric fields Geerits, Niels; Sponar, Stephan Physical Review A, Vol. 103, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.103.022205	journal	February 2021
Experimental evidence for the two-path description of neutron spin echo McKay, S.; Irfan, A. A. M.; Le Thien, Q. Physical Review A, Vol. 109, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.042420	journal	April 2024
Wien filter: A wave-packet-shifting device for restoring longitudinal coherence in charged-matter-wave interferometers Nicklaus, Marc; Hasselbach, Franz Physical Review A, Vol. 48, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.48.152	journal	July 1993
Measurement and characterization of the three-dimensional coherence function in neutron interferometry Rauch, H.; Wölwitsch, H.; Kaiser, H. Physical Review A, Vol. 53, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.53.902	journal	February 1996
Neutron wave-interference experiments with adiabatic passage of neutron spin through resonant coils Grigoriev, S. V.; Kreuger, R.; Kraan, W. H. Physical Review A, Vol. 64, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.64.013614	journal	June 2001
Engineering of triply entangled states in a single-neutron system Hasegawa, Yuji; Loidl, Rudolf; Badurek, Gerald Physical Review A, Vol. 81, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.81.032121	journal	March 2010
Measurement of gravitation-induced quantum interference for neutrons in a spin-echo spectrometer de Haan, Victor-O.; Plomp, Jeroen; van Well, Ad A. Physical Review A, Vol. 89, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.89.063611	journal	June 2014
Schwinger scattering of twisted neutrons by nuclei Afanasev, Andrei V.; Karlovets, D. V.; Serbo, V. G. Physical Review C, Vol. 100, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.100.051601	journal	November 2019
Elastic scattering of twisted neutrons by nuclei Afanasev, A. V.; Karlovets, D. V.; Serbo, V. G. Physical Review C, Vol. 103, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.103.054612	journal	May 2021
Method for the definitive detection of orbital angular momentum states in neutrons by spin-polarized He3 Jach, Terrence; Vinson, John Physical Review C, Vol. 105, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.105.L061601	journal	June 2022
Search for exotic spin-dependent couplings of the neutron with matter using spin-echo based neutron interferometry Parnell, S. R.; van Well, A. A.; Plomp, J. Physical Review D, Vol. 101, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.101.122002	journal	June 2020
Intrinsic Orbital Angular Momentum States of Neutrons Cappelletti, Ronald L.; Jach, Terrence; Vinson, John Physical Review Letters, Vol. 120, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.090402	journal	March 2018
Experimental Engineering of Arbitrary Qudit States with Discrete-Time Quantum Walks Giordani, Taira; Polino, Emanuele; Emiliani, Sabrina Physical Review Letters, Vol. 122, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.020503	journal	January 2019
Manipulation of Giant Multipole Resonances via Vortex γ Photons Lu, Zhi-Wei; Guo, Liang; Li, Zheng-Zheng Physical Review Letters, Vol. 131, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.202502	journal	November 2023
Compton Wavelength of Superconducting Electrons Zimmerman, J. E.; Mercereau, J. E. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.14.887	journal	May 1965
Effect of Earth's Rotation on the Quantum Mechanical Phase of the Neutron Werner, S. A.; Staudenmann, J. -L.; Colella, R. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 42, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.42.1103	journal	April 1979
Neutron interferometry in a rotating frame of reference Mashhoon, Bahram Physical Review Letters, Vol. 61, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.61.2639	journal	December 1988
Optical Ramsey spectroscopy in a rotating frame: Sagnac effect in a matter-wave interferometer Riehle, F.; Kisters, Th.; Witte, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 67, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.67.177	journal	July 1991
Measurement of the Rotational Frequency Shift Imparted to a Rotating Light Beam Possessing Orbital Angular Momentum Courtial, J.; Dholakia, K.; Robertson, D. A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 80, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.3217	journal	April 1998
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Nature of the Orbital Angular Momentum of a Light Beam O'Neil, A. T.; MacVicar, I.; Allen, L. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 88, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.053601	journal	January 2002
Measuring the Orbital Angular Momentum of a Single Photon Leach, Jonathan; Padgett, Miles J.; Barnett, Stephen M. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 88, Issue 25 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.257901	journal	June 2002
Neutron-state entanglement with overlapping paths Kuhn, S. J.; McKay, S.; Shen, J. Physical Review Research, Vol. 3, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.023227	journal	June 2021
Sagnac Effect Post, E. J. Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 39, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.39.475	journal	April 1967
Spin echo modulated small-angle neutron scattering using superconducting magnetic Wollaston prisms Li, Fankang; Parnell, Steven R.; Bai, Hongyu Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 49, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576715021573	journal	February 2016
Paraxial beams of spinning light Berry, Michael V. International Conference on Singular Optics, SPIE Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317704	conference	August 1998
Accurate measurement of the Sagnac effect for matter waves Gautier, Romain; Guessoum, Mohamed; Sidorenkov, Leonid A. Science Advances, Vol. 8, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn8009	journal	June 2022
Experimental realization of neutron helical waves Sarenac, Dusan; Henderson, Melissa E.; Ekinci, Huseyin Science Advances, Vol. 8, Issue 46 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.add2002	journal	November 2022
Experimental observation of Earth’s rotation with quantum entanglement Silvestri, Raffaele; Yu, Haocun; Strömberg, Teodor Science Advances, Vol. 10, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado0215	journal	June 2024
The Polarizing Sagnac Interferometer: a tool for light orbital angular momentum sorting and spin-orbit photon processing Slussarenko, S.; D'Ambrosio, V.; Piccirillo, B. Optics Express, Vol. 18, Issue 26 https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.18.027205	journal	December 2010
Single-path Sagnac interferometer with Dove prism for orbital-angular-momentum photon manipulation Wang, Fang-Xiang; Chen, Wei; Li, Ya-Ping Optics Express, Vol. 25, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.25.024946	journal	October 2017
Computerized simulation of 2-dimensional phase contrast images using spiral phase plates in neutron interferometry Treimer, Wolfgang; Haußer, Frank; Suda, Martin Zeitschrift für Naturforschung A, Vol. 79, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1515/zna-2024-0142	journal	August 2024