Polarized neutron interferometry: A survey

Abstract

A brief summarizing review is given of all those neutron interferometric experiments performed hitherto which explicitly use the spin-$\text{1}\text{2}$ particle properties of the neutron. It covers topics as the verification of the 4π-periodicity of spinors, the cooperative action of nuclear phase shift and spin-rotation on the neutron wave function, the demonstration of the quantum mechanical principles of fermion spin-state superposition and the more recent double resonance experiments where the two interfering beams propagate through spatially separated oscillatory magnetic fields. Finally a proposal will be presented also for a so-called “late-choice” experiment with polarized neutrons.