Optical and Quantum Sensing and Precision Metrology II
Numerical modeling of the multi-stage Stern–Gerlach experiment by Frisch and Segrè using co-quantum dynamics via the Schrödinger equation
Zhe He, Kelvin Titimbo, David C. Garrett, S. Suleyman Kahraman, Lihong V. Wang
Abstract
The 1922 experiment of Stern and Gerlach that initially provided evidence of the quantization of the angular momentum is now a prototypical example of quantum measurement. Frisch and Segrè in 1932 extended the experiment to include two Stern–Gerlach apparatuses separated by an inner rotation chamber, in which a varying magnetic field produces partial electron spin flipping. To this day, quantum mechanical treatments inadequately predict the experimental observations. Here, we use a theory termed co-quantum dynamics (CQD) to numerically model spin flip in the multi-stage Stern–Gerlach experiment conducted by Frisch and Segrè. Our simulation solves the Schrödinger equation with electron-nuclear interactions according to CQD and utilizes a branching condition (extended Pauli exclusion principle) postulated by CQD to predict the collapse of electron spins; the outcome agrees with the measurements of the fraction of spin flipping and supports CQD as a potential model for electron spin evolution and collapse.