Intrinsic spin, gravity, and new fundamental forces

by Prof. Derek Kimball

California State University - East Bay

at Quantum optics seminar

Wed, 22 May 2019, 15:00
Sacta-Rashi Building for Physics (54), room 207

Abstract

Intrinsic spin is a purely quantum mechanical property and, as far as we know, gravity is a purely classical effect. Given the theoretical difficulty in unifying quantum field theory and general relativity, it is possible that experiments probing the effect of gravity on spins might discover something unexpected. Furthermore, new fundamental forces between spin and mass can be mediated by hypothetical light bosons such as axions. Axions and their relatives are motivated by some of the most important mysteries in modern physics: the nature of dark matter and dark energy, the strong-CP problem, the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe, the hierarchy problem, and the unification of fundamental forces. Precision measurements of atomic spin precession can be used to search for spin-gravity and spin-mass couplings. Here we discuss a recent measurement of the gravitational dipole moment of the proton and a novel proposal to use a micron-scale, precessing ferromagnetic needle to search for spin-dependent interactions with unprecedented sensitivity.

Created on 19-05-2019 by Folman, Ron (folman)
Updaded on 19-05-2019 by Folman, Ron (folman)