6533b7d8fe1ef96bd126afa5

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Quantum motion of a neutron in a wave-guide in the gravitational field

Valery NesvizhevskyHartmut AbeleA. Yu. VoroninAlexander WestphalA. K. PetukhovK.v. ProtasovS. Baeßler

subject

PhysicsQuantum PhysicsNuclear and High Energy Physics010308 nuclear & particles physicsFOS: Physical sciences04.80.Cc 04.25.Nx01 natural scienceslaw.inventionFormalism (philosophy of mathematics)Gravitational fieldQuantum statelawQuantum mechanicsRough surface[PHYS.HPHE]Physics [physics]/High Energy Physics - Phenomenology [hep-ph]0103 physical sciencesNeutron010306 general physicsQuantum Physics (quant-ph)WaveguideQuantumGravitational redshift

description

We study theoretically the quantum motion of a neutron in a horizontal waveguide in the gravitational field of the Earth. The waveguide in question is equipped with a mirror below and a rough surface absorber above. We show that such a system acts as a quantum filter, i.e. it effectively absorbs quantum states with sufficiently high transversal energy but transmits low-energy states. The states transmitted are determined mainly by the potential well formed by the gravitational field of the Earth and the mirror. The formalism developed for quantum motion in an absorbing waveguide is applied to the description of the recent experiment on the observation of the quantum states of neutrons in the Earth's gravitational field.

https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/0512129