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Europhysics Letters (EPL)

Reinterpretation of the effects of the Earth's rotation and gravity on the neutron-interferometry experiment

Ching-Chuan Su

Published Oct 1, 2002• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The phase shift of matter wave due to the Earth's rotation and gravity has been demonstrated in the neutron-interferometry experiments where the Bragg reflection of the neutron wave from crystals is used to form a closed path. In the literature, the rotation-induced phase shift is ascribed to an extra energy term associated with angular momentum in the Hamiltonian. In this investigation, based on a classical treatment of the collision of neutrons with the lattice planes, the modifications in the particle velocity due to the Earth's rotation as well as those due to gravity are calculated. Then, in conjunction with the relation between the particle velocity and the propagation vector of matter wave, it is shown that the corresponding phase shifts in matter wave are in accord with the interference experiments. Thereby, based on the velocity modification due to collision, a reinterpretation of the effects of the Earth's rotation and gravity on the neutron-wave interference is presented. Meanwhile, a null effect of the Earth's orbital motion is predicted.

DOI
10.1209/epl/i2002-00333-0

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The phase shift of matter wave due to the Earth's rotation and gravity has been demonstrated in the neutron-interferometry experiments where the Bragg reflection of the neutron wave from crystals is used to form a closed path. In the literature, the rotation-induced phase shift is ascribed to an extra energy term associated with angular momentum in the Hamiltonian. In this investigation, based on a classical treatment of the collision of neutrons with the lattice planes, the modifications in the particle velocity due to the Earth's rotation as well as those due to gravity are calculated. Then, in conjunction with the relation between the particle velocity and the propagation vector of matter wave, it is shown that the corresponding phase shifts in matter wave are in accord with the interference experiments. Thereby, based on the velocity modification due to collision, a reinterpretation of the effects of the Earth's rotation and gravity on the neutron-wave interference is presented. Meanwhile, a null effect of the Earth's orbital motion is predicted.
Abstract The fundamental dual nature of neutrons –sometimes a particle (when detected) and sometimes a wave (when traversing the interferometer) – is wonderfully mani-fested by the non-local nature of the neutron interferometry experiments discussed in this chapter. We begin with a discussion of the series of experiments, called gravitationally induced quantum interference, in Section 7.1. Then in Section 7.2, the effect of the Earth’s rotation on the phase of a neutron de Broglie wave is described. This is the quantum mechanical analogue of the Michelson et al. (1925) experiment with light. An experiment in which this Sagnac phase shift was observed due to rotation of the interferometer on a turntable phase within the laboratory frame is also discussed (Atwood et al. 1984). An experiment related to the small effective mass of the neutron propagating in a crystal under Bragg reflecting conditions and its deflection due to the Coriolis force is discussed in Section 7.2.3 (Raum et al. 1997). Acceleration-induced interference, which is related to the gravity experiments by the principle of equivalence, is discussed in Section 7.3 (Bonse and Wroblewski 1983). Phase shifts caused by the motion of matter within the interferometer are related to the optical Fizeau effect. Several neutron Fizeau-type experiments are discussed in Section 7.4.
Based on the local-ether wave equation for free particle, the dispersion of matter wave is examined. From the dispersion relation, the angular frequency and wavelength of matter wave are derived. These formulas look like the postulates of de Broglie in conjunction with the Lorentz mass-variation law. However, the fundamental difference is that for terrestrial particles their speeds are referred specifically to a geocentric inertial frame and hence incorporate the speed due to earth's rotation. Thus the local-ether model predicts an east-west directional anisotropy both in mass and wavelength. Meanwhile, in spite of the restriction on reference frame, the local-ether model can account for the matter-wave interference experiments of the Bragg reflection and the Sagnac effect. For electron wave, the effects of earth's rotation are negligible and the derived Bragg angle is actually in accord with the Davisson-Germer experiment, as examined within the present precision. On the other hand, the local-ether model leads to a directional anisotropy in the Bragg angle in neutron diffraction. The predicted anisotropy due to earth's rotation then provide a means to test the local-ether wave equation.
One of the significant successes in the field of neutron interferometry has been the experimental observation of the phase shift of a neutron de Broglie wave due to the action of the Earth's gravitational field. Past experiments have clearly demonstrated the effect and verified the quantum-mechanical equivalence of gravitational and inertial masses to a precision of about 1%. In this experiment the gravitationally induced phase shift of the neutron is measured with a statistical uncertainty of order 1 part in 1000 in two different interferometers. Nearly harmonic pairs of neutron wavelengths are used to measure and compensate for effects due to the distortion of the interferometer as it is tilted about the incident beam direction. A discrepancy between the theoretically predicted and experimentally measured values of the phase shift due to gravity is observed at the 1% level. Extensions to the theoretical description of the shape of a neutron interferogram as a function of tilt in a gravitational field are discussed and compared with experiment.
Experiments involving quantum interference of neutron de Broglie waves, having a wavelength A , extending over macroscopic distances of order are described. In particular I discuss interference induced by the Earth's gravitational field and by its rotation (Sagnac effect), the topological phase shifts resulting from the diffraction of the neutron, carrying its magnetic moment , around a charged electrode (Aharonov--Casher effect) and then finally during its passage through a pulsed magnetic field (scalar Aharonov--Bohm effect).
We report the results of a neutron interferometry experiment where for the first time (to our knowledge) a phase shift of a neutron de Broglie wave induced by moving matter has been successfully measured. This experiment is the quantum-mechanical analog of the optical Fizeau effect. The observed phase shift is caused by the motion of matter itself, and not by the motion of its boundaries. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. Some unexpected and previously unreported neutron wave interference effects observed during the experiment are also reported.
Since the invention of perfect crystal neutron interferometry this technique has become an important tool in the realization of many textbook experiments in quantum mechanics. Widely separated coherent beams of thermal neutrons are produced and superposed by dynamical Bragg diffraction from a properly shaped perfect crystal. The observed interference patterns show the characteristic coherence properties of matter waves which arc influenced by the individual particle and by the properties of the experimental device. The verification of the 4π-periodicity of spinor wavefunctions and the realization of thc spin-superposition experiment on B macroscopic scale has become feasible by this technique. A new kind of a quantum beat effect with an energy sensitivity of 2.7 × 20−-19 eV has been observed in a double coil resonance experiment. The influence of gravity and of the Earth's rotation on the wavefunction become visible at a level of an elementary particle with non-zero mass. All the results are in agreement with the formulation of quantum mechanics but, nevertheless, they stimulate discussion about its interpretation. The particle-wave dualism becomes obvious on a macroscopic scale and with a beam of massive particles.