OBSERVATION OF THE TRANSVERSE STERN–GERLACH EFFECT IN NEUTRAL POTASSIUM

Abstract

A successful transverse Stern–Gerlach experiment has been performed, using a beam of neutral potassium atoms and an inhomogeneous time-dependent magnetic field of the form[Formula: see text]A classical analysis of the Stern–Gerlach experiment is given for a rotating inhomogeneous magnetic field. In general, when space quantization is achieved, the spins are quantized along the effective magnetic field in the reference frame rotating with angular velocity ω about the z axis. For ω = 0, the direction of quantization is the z axis (conventional Stern–Gerlach experiment), while at resonance (ω = −γH0) the direction of quantization is the x axis in the rotating reference frame (transverse Stern–Gerlach experiment). The experiment, which was performed at 7.2 Mc, is described in detail.