Inertial and gravitational effects on a geonium atom

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how inertial and gravitational effects influence a non-relativistic Dirac particle in Earth's gravity, with implications for precision measurements of the electron g-factor in Penning trap experiments.

Contribution

It provides a detailed theoretical analysis of linear order inertial and gravitational effects on a Dirac particle, including their impact on g-factor measurements in geonium atoms.

Findings

Earth's rotation significantly affects the electron g-factor measurement.

Gravitational effects depend on cyclotron frequency and particle mass.

Corrections are potentially detectable in upcoming experiments.

Abstract

We reveal all linear order inertial and gravitational effects on a non-relativistic Dirac particle (mass $m$) on the Earth up to the order of $1/m$ in the Foldy-Wouthuysen-like expansion. Applying the result to Penning trap experiments where a Dirac particle experiences the cyclotron motion and the spin precession in a cavity, i.e., a geonium atom, we study modifications to the $g$-factor of such as the electron. It is shown that each correction from gravity has different dependence on the cyclotron frequency and the mass $m$. Therefore, their magnitude change depending on situations. In a particular case of an electron $g$-factor measurement, the dominant correction to the observed $g$-factor comes from effects of the Earth's rotation, which is $\delta g / 2 \simeq 5.2 \times 10^{-17}$. It may be detectable in the near future.