Neutron Interference in the Gravitational Field of a Ring Laser

Robert Fischetti (University of Connecticut)

The neutron split-beam interferometer has proven to be particularly useful in measuring small Newtonian gravitational effects such as those studied by Colella, Overhauser, and Werner (COW). The development of the ring laser has led to numerous applications in many areas of physics including a recent general relativistic prediction of the gravitational field produced by the electromagnetic radiation in a ring laser. In this talk I introduce a new general technique based on a canonical transformation of the Dirac equation for the gravitational field of a general linearized space-time. I then apply this new technique to calculate the phase shift due to the interference of two neutron beams in the gravitational field of a ring laser.

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