Quantum effects occurring when ultracold neutrons are stored on a plane

Presman V.S, I. Karimov

А. С. Герасимов, M.V. Kazarnovskii

Aleksandr I Frank, Viktor G. Nosov

The problem of storing ultracold neutrons over a plane magnetic mirror in the presence of gravity is considered. For neutrons with a definite polarization, the sum of the magnetic and gravitational potentials can have a minimum and, hence, form a magnetic gravitational trap. For low energies of vertical motion, the neutron state in this well is quantized. The possibility of accomplishing the corresponding quantum gravitational experiment is analyzed.

Yvan Castin, Jean Dalibard, Claude N. Cohen-Tannoudji

S. Afach, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban +44 more

We describe a spin-echo method for ultracold neutrons (UCNs) confined in a precession chamber and exposed to a |B_0 | = 1uT magnetic field. We demonstrate a gravity-dependent spin dephasing by applying small vertical magnetic field gradients. The method gives access to the energy spectrum of stored UCNs, which can be crucial for the assessment of systematic effects in precision experiments such as searches for an electric dipole moment of the neutron.

V. K. Ignatovich