The broad band resonant spin echo interferometer, CANISIUS, is presented. CANISIUS is built in a versatile way, such that it can be operated in both a continuous broad band beam or a pulsed Time of Flight beam. This versatility also extends to the modes available to the instrument, such as Neutron Resonant Spin Echo, Spin Echo (Modulated) Small Angle Neutron Scattering and coherent averaging to produce structured wavefunctions for scattering. The instrument may also be used as an interferometer, to probe fundamental questions in quantum mechanics. In this paper we detail both the continuous and Time of Flight options of the instruments. In addition we demonstrate the applicability of our interferometer to ultra small angle scattering in a white beam. Finally we demonstrate a new spin echo interferometry tool, which uses incomplete recombination of the two path states to generate composite wavefunctions with special structure. In particular we show that this method produces neutron wavefunctions that exist in a superposition of two quantum mechanical OAM modes, l =+1 or -1 We illustrate that just as this method can be used to generate certain structured waves, it may also be used to characterize the structure of the input wavefunction.
The broad band resonant spin echo interferometer, CANISIUS, is presented. CANISIUS is built in a versatile way, such that it can be operated in both a continuous broad band beam or a pulsed Time of Flight beam. This versatility also extends to the modes available to the instrument, such as Neutron Resonant Spin Echo, Spin Echo (Modulated) Small Angle Neutron Scattering and coherent averaging to produce structured wavefunctions for scattering. The instrument may also be used as an interferometer, to probe fundamental questions in quantum mechanics. In this paper we detail both the continuous and Time of Flight options of the instruments. In addition we demonstrate the applicability of our interferometer to ultra small angle scattering in a white beam. Finally we demonstrate a new spin echo interferometry tool, which uses incomplete recombination of the two path states to generate composite wavefunctions with special structure. In particular we show that this method produces neutron wavefunctions that exist in a superposition of two quantum mechanical OAM modes, l =+1 or -1 We illustrate that just as this method can be used to generate certain structured waves, it may also be used to characterize the structure of the input wavefunction.
The broadband resonant spin echo interferometer, Coherent Averaging Neutron Instrument for Spin-echo Interferometry and fUndamental Science (CANISIUS), is presented. CANISIUS is located at the 250 kW Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics research facility of the Atominstitut, TU Wien, Austria. It is built in a versatile way, such that it can be operated in both a continuous broadband beam and a pulsed time of flight beam. This versatility also extends to the modes available to the instrument, such as neutron resonant spin echo, spin echo (modulated) small angle neutron scattering, and coherent averaging to produce structured wavefunctions for scattering. The instrument may also be used as an interferometer, to probe fundamental questions in quantum mechanics. In this paper, we detail both the continuous and time of flight options of the instrument. In addition, we demonstrate the applicability of our interferometer to ultra small angle scattering in a white beam. Finally, we demonstrate a new spin echo interferometry tool, which uses incomplete recombination of the two path states to generate composite wavefunctions with special structure. In particular, we show that this method produces neutron wavefunctions that exist in a superposition of two quantum mechanical orbital angular momentum modes, ℓ = ±1. We illustrate that just as this method can be used to generate certain structured waves, it may also be used to characterize the structure of the input wavefunction.
Abstract Among the various areas of neutron optical research, neutron interferometry has provided some of the most challenging and spectacular developments. In most cases, separated coherent beams are used which are produced either by wavefront division (Young’s type) or by amplitude division (Mach− Zehnder type). These beams are subsequently coherently superposed after passing through regions of space where the neutron wavefunction is modified in phase and amplitude by various interactions: nuclear, magnetic, electromagnetic, gravitational, or by geometry and topology (as in Aharonov−Bohm-type experiments). Various types of neutron interferometers that have been tested are shown in Fig. 2.1. The first neutron interferometer was based upon wavefront division and biprism deflection, but it had several constraints for interferometric applications mainly due to the small beam separation (100 μm) (Maier-Leibnitz and Springer 1962). Nevertheless, this method gained further interest for diffraction experiments from macroscopic objects and for the detection of weak interaction effects where the long flight paths (10 m) enhance the sensitivity for the measurements of these effects (Gähler et al. 1980; Klein et al. 1981a). The perfect-crystal interferometer (Rauch et al. 1974) provides widely separated coherent beams and has become a standard method for advanced neutron optical investigations. The development of diffraction and phase grating interferometers extended the Mach-Zehnder interferometer method to very slow neutrons (loffe et al. 1985; Gruber et al. 1989). The superposition of spin-up and spin-down states in the longitudinal direction provides the basis for Larmor and Ramsey interferometry, where no lateral beam splitting is necessary. The well-known spin-echo systems (Mezei 1972) and zero-field spin-echo systems (Gähler and Golub 1987; Dubbers et al. 1989) are examples of such interferometers, which also play an important role in atom interferometry (Bord é 1989; Kasevich and Chu 1991; Riehle et al. 1991).
We describe an experiment that strongly supports a two-path interferometric model in which the spin-up and spin-down components of each neutron propagate coherently along spatially separated parallel paths in a typical neutron spin echo small angle scattering (SESANS) experiment. Specifically, we show that the usual semi-classical, single-path treatment of Larmor precession of a polarized neutron in an external magnetic field predicts a damping as a function of the spin echo length of the SESANS signal obtained with a periodic phase grating when the transverse width of the neutron wave packet is finite. However, no such damping is observed experimentally, implying either that the Larmor model is incorrect or that the transverse extent of the wave packet is very large. In contrast, we demonstrate theoretically that a quantum-mechanical interferometric model in which the two mode-entangled (i.e. intraparticle entangled) spin states of a single neutron are separated in space when they interact with the grating accurately predicts the measured SESANS signal, which is independent of the wave packet width.
We describe an experiment that strongly supports a two-path interferometric model in which the spin-up and spin-down components of each neutron propagate coherently along spatially separated parallel paths in a typical neutron spin-echo small-angle scattering (SESANS) experiment. Specifically, we show that the usual semi-classical, single-path treatment of Larmor precession of a polarized neutron in an external magnetic field predicts a damping as a function of the spin-echo length of the SESANS signal obtained with a periodic phase grating when the transverse width of the neutron wave packet is finite. However, no such damping is observed experimentally, implying either that the Larmor model is incorrect or that the transverse extent of the wave packet is very large. In contrast, we demonstrate theoretically that a quantum-mechanical interferometric model in which the two mode-entangled (i.e., intraparticle entangled) spin states of a single neutron are separated in space when they interact with the grating accurately predicts the measured SESANS signal, which is independent of the wave packet width.
The curious dual nature of the neutron (sometimes a particle, sometimes a wave) is wonderfully manifested in the various non-local interference effects observed in neutron interferometry. Here we deal with unavoidable quantum losses as they appear in neutron phase-echo and spin rotation experiments. In all cases of an interaction, parasitic beams are produced which cannot be recombined with the original beam in an ideal way. This means that a complete reconstruction of the original state would, in principle, be impossible. Thus a kind of intrinsic irreversibility occurs, even when the original quantum state survives to a very high extent. Even small interaction potentials can have huge effects when they are applied periodically and resonance effects appear. This gives various constraints for repetitive measurements and prevents a complete freezing of a quantum state in Zeno-like experiments. Additionally, a spectral change occurs, due to the dispersive action of the interaction, which has to be taken into account when many repetitive measurements are considered. A dedicated proposal for a repetitive neutron spin rotation experiment within a perfect crystal resonator will be analysed in detail. Unavoidable losses due to quantum phenomena can be separated from losses caused by experimental imperfections.
Neutrons are important probes of mater and quantum physics. They are particularly powerful at characterizing magnetic structures. In order to extend the applications of neutron physics as a quantum probes/sensors we have developed methods based on Quantum Information Processing for preparing structured waves such as orbital and spin-orbit states of neutrons. Such states may be prepared for the beam as a whole, or with reference to the coherence length of the neutron wavepacket, which is much smaller than the width of useful beams. I will describe experiments to prepare and characterize neutron beams with specific orbital and spin-orbit structure based on neutron interferometry and will show how we can apply these methods to other type of probes such as light.