Coherent Spectroscopy with a Single Antiproton Spin

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Abstract Coherent quantum transition spectroscopy is a powerful tool in quantum-sensing and metrology (1), quantum information processing (2), accurate magnetometry (3), high-precision tests of the fundamental laws of nature, and searches for physics beyond the Standard Model (4). In atomic physics measurements, it was applied with great success in proton and deuteron magnetic moment measurements (5), which culminated for example in MASER spectroscopy with sub-parts per trillion resolution (6), in record-constraints on the neutron electric dipole moment (7), and many other experiments at the forefront of physics. All these experiments were performed on macroscopic ensembles of particles, while the coherent spectroscopy of a “quasifree” single nuclear spin has never been reported before. In this manuscript, we demonstrate the first non-destructive coherent quantum transition spectroscopy of the spin of a single trapped antiproton, stored in a cryogenic Penning-trap system. We apply a multi-trap technique (8), detect the antiproton spin-state using the continuous Stern-Gerlach-effect (9), and transport the particle to the homogeneous and stabilized magnetic field of a precision trap (PT). Here, we induce the coherent dynamics, and analyze the result by a quantum-projection measurement in the analysis trap (10). In our measurements, we observe for the first time Rabi-oscillations of a single nuclear magnetic moment, and achieve in time series measurements spin inversion probabilities above 80% at spin coherence times of ≈ 50s. Scans of single-particle spin resonance spectra show inversions > 70%, at transition line-widths 16 times narrower than in our previous measurements (8), limited by cyclotron frequency measurement decoherence. This achievement marks a major step towards at least 10-fold improved measurements of the proton and antiproton magnetic moments, and thus, substantially improved tests of matter/antimatter symmetry in the baryon-sector.
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Coherent Spectroscopy with a Single Antiproton Spin | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Coherent Spectroscopy with a Single Antiproton Spin Stefan Ulmer, Barbara Latacz, Stefan Erlewein, Markus Fleck, Julia Jaeger, and 19 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6198926/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Nature → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Coherent quantum transition spectroscopy is a powerful tool in quantum-sensing and metrology (1), quantum information processing (2), accurate magnetometry (3), high-precision tests of the fundamental laws of nature, and searches for physics beyond the Standard Model (4). In atomic physics measurements, it was applied with great success in proton and deuteron magnetic moment measurements (5), which culminated for example in MASER spectroscopy with sub-parts per trillion resolution (6), in record-constraints on the neutron electric dipole moment (7), and many other experiments at the forefront of physics. All these experiments were performed on macroscopic ensembles of particles, while the coherent spectroscopy of a “quasifree” single nuclear spin has never been reported before. In this manuscript, we demonstrate the first non-destructive coherent quantum transition spectroscopy of the spin of a single trapped antiproton, stored in a cryogenic Penning-trap system. We apply a multi-trap technique (8), detect the antiproton spin-state using the continuous Stern-Gerlach-effect (9), and transport the particle to the homogeneous and stabilized magnetic field of a precision trap (PT). Here, we induce the coherent dynamics, and analyze the result by a quantum-projection measurement in the analysis trap (10). In our measurements, we observe for the first time Rabi-oscillations of a single nuclear magnetic moment, and achieve in time series measurements spin inversion probabilities above 80% at spin coherence times of ≈ 50s. Scans of single-particle spin resonance spectra show inversions > 70%, at transition line-widths 16 times narrower than in our previous measurements (8), limited by cyclotron frequency measurement decoherence. This achievement marks a major step towards at least 10-fold improved measurements of the proton and antiproton magnetic moments, and thus, substantially improved tests of matter/antimatter symmetry in the baryon-sector. Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics/Quantum metrology Physical sciences/Physics/Atomic and molecular physics/Exotic atoms and molecules Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Nature → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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