Phys. Rev. D 73, 044029 (2006) [20 pages]Quantum motion of a neutron in a waveguide in the gravitational fieldReceived 15 December 2005; published 23 February 2006 We study theoretically the quantum motion of a neutron in a horizontal waveguide in the gravitational field of the Earth. The waveguide in question is equipped with a mirror below and a rough surface absorber above. We show that such a system acts as a quantum filter, i.e. it effectively absorbs quantum states with sufficiently high transversal energy but transmits low-energy states. The states transmitted are determined mainly by the potential well formed by the gravitational field of the Earth and the mirror. The formalism developed for quantum motion in an absorbing waveguide is applied to the description of the recent experiment on the observation of the quantum states of neutrons in the Earth’s gravitational field. © 2006 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevD.73.044029
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevD.73.044029
PACS:
04.80.Cc, 04.25.Nx
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