Centrifugal quantum states of neutrons

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to observe quasi-stationary neutron states near curved mirrors, forming a centrifugal potential well, enabling experimental study of fundamental neutron interactions and quantum surface effects.

Contribution

It introduces a formalism for analyzing neutron motion near curved mirrors, accounting for roughness, and suggests an experimentally feasible way to observe quantum states.

Findings

Neutron states are localized near curved mirror surfaces.

The centrifugal potential creates an effective quantum well.

The formalism includes effects of mirror roughness.

Abstract

We propose a method for observation of the quasi-stationary states of neutrons, localized near the curved mirror surface. The bounding effective well is formed by the centrifugal potential and the mirror Fermi-potential. This phenomenon is an example of an exactly solvable "quantum bouncer" problem that could be studied experimentally. It could provide a promising tool for studying fundamental neutron-matter interactions, as well as quantum neutron optics and surface physics effects. We develop formalism, which describes quantitatively the neutron motion near the mirror surface. The effects of mirror roughness are taken into account.