Continuous Stern-Gerlach effect: Principle and idealized apparatus

Abstract

A nondestructive type of Stern-Gerlach effect for an individual electron is described that has been thoroughly demonstrated in experiments at the University of Washington. This "continuous Stern-Gerlach effect" makes use of an inhomogeneous magnetic field provided by a weak auxiliary magnetic bottle and is nondestructive in contrast to all previous versions of the effect. As in the classic Stern-Gerlach effect, changes in the spin state are detected via changes in classical particle trajectories; however, what is observed now is not a deflection of the orbit but rather a change of its frequency in the storage well. A simplified model of the continuous Stern-Gerlach effect at zero temperature is introduced to develop the relation between minimum measurement time required for determination of spin state, driven oscillation amplitude, and zero-point fluctuations in the storage well. The problem of the reduction of the wavefunction by the interaction of the electron with the apparatus is addressed following W. Pauli.