arXiv · 0705.3784
Generalized Stern-Gerlach Effect for Chiral Molecules
Abstract
The Stern-Gerlach effect is well-known as spin-dependent splitting of a beam of atoms with magnetic moments by a magnetic-field gradient. Here, we show that an induced gauge potential may lead to a similar effect for chiral molecules. In the presence of three inhomogeneous light fields, the center-of-mass of a three-level chiral molecule is subject to an optically induced gauge potential, and the internal dynamics of the molecules can be described as an adiabatic evolution in the reduced pseudo-spin subspace of the two lowest energy levels. We demonstrate numerically that such an induced gauge potential can lead to observable pseudo-spin dependent and chirality-dependent generalized Stern-Gerlach effects for mixed left- and right-handed chiral molecules under realistic conditions.
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Yong Li, C. Bruder, C. P. Sun. 2007-10-02. Generalized Stern-Gerlach Effect for Chiral Molecules. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.99.130403
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