A Modified Stern-Gerlach Experiment Using a Quantum Two-State Magnetic Field

TL;DR

This paper proposes a quantum-modified Stern-Gerlach experiment using a superposition magnetic field, demonstrating quantum effects on spin measurement and nonlocality without wavefunction collapse.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup with a quantum superposition magnetic field to explore quantum spin behavior and nonlocal correlations.

Findings

Discrete target distribution similar to classical Stern-Gerlach

Establishes quantization of spin angular momentum

Shows nonlocal correlations without wavefunction collapse

Abstract

The Stern-Gerlach experiment has played an important role in our understanding of quantum behavior. We propose and analyze a modified version of this experiment where the magnetic field of the detector is in a quantum superposition, which may be experimentally realized using a superconducting flux qubit. We show that if incident spin-$1/2$ particles couple with the two-state magnetic field, a discrete target distribution results that resembles the distribution in the classical Stern-Gerlach experiment. As an application of the general result, we compute the distribution for a square waveform of the incident fermion. This experimental setup allows us to establish: (1) the quantization of the intrinsic angular momentum of a spin-$1/2$ particle, and (2) a correlation between EPR pairs leading to nonlocality, without necessarily collapsing the particle's spin wavefunction.