INFLUENCE OF THE GRAVITATIONAL FIELD ON THE QUANTUM STATES OF THE ELECTRON IN A PENNING TRAP
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Published:1996-06-07
Issue:17
Volume:11
Page:1429-1443
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ISSN:0217-7323
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Container-title:Modern Physics Letters A
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Mod. Phys. Lett. A
Author:
STAUDT R.1,
SCHRÖDER U.E.1
Affiliation:
1. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Robert Mayer – Str. 8, D-60054 Frankfurt a. M., Germany
Abstract
Starting from the general covariant Dirac equation with minimal coupling of an electromagnetic field the corrections to the energy levels of the electron in a Penning trap caused by the gravitational field of the Earth are computed. Our discussion shows that the resulting effect is detectable only at the specific eigenfrequencies of the electron. The relative shift of these frequencies due to the gravitational field is found to be 2.1×10–9. It is briefly indicated how this effect in principle could be observed in suitable experiments performed with higher precision.
Publisher
World Scientific Pub Co Pte Lt
Subject
General Physics and Astronomy,Astronomy and Astrophysics,Nuclear and High Energy Physics