Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: We propose an approach to measuring gravitational mass of antihydrogen ( ) based on interferometry of time distribution of free-fall events of antiatoms. Our method consists of preparing a coherent superposition of quantum states of localized near a material surface in the gravitational field of the Earth, and then observing the time distribution of annihilation events after the free-fall of the initially prepared superposition from a given height to a detector plate. We show that the time distribution of interest is mapped to a precisely predictable velocity distribution of the initial wave packet. This approach is combined with production of a coherent superposition of gravitational states by inducing a resonant transition using an oscillating gradient magnetic field. We show that the relative accuracy of measuring the atom gravitational mass can be achieved with this approach is 10 −4 , with 10 3 antiatoms settled in lowest gravitational states.
Authors: A Yu Voronin, V V Nesvizhevsky, G Dufour, S Reynaud
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2264065692