Stern-Gerlach experiment with electric field

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the implications of replacing the magnetic field in the Stern-Gerlach experiment with an electric field. It concludes that using neutral atoms or photons would not yield significant separation due to their lack of interaction with electric fields. Charged particles, such as ions, can be deflected based on their charge, but the experiment's fundamental principles remain tied to magnetic fields. The necessity of a permanent electric dipole moment for effective separation is emphasized, along with the dominance of polarizability in neutral particles.

PREREQUISITES
  • Stern-Gerlach experiment fundamentals
  • Concept of electric dipole moment
  • Understanding of particle charge and deflection
  • Polarizability of neutral particles
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the role of electric dipole moments in particle physics
  • Explore the effects of electric fields on charged particles
  • Investigate the limitations of using electric fields in quantum experiments
  • Study the interactions of photons with electric and magnetic fields
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Physicists, students studying quantum mechanics, and researchers interested in experimental particle physics will benefit from this discussion.

superduke1200
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Hello everyone,

I was re-studying some issues that I wanted to repeat in magnetism and the moment I saw the stern gerlach experiment again, I came up with a question: what would happen if we kept this experiment exactly the same, but this time we used electric field only, instead of magnetic field? More specifically which would be the outcome if we used neutral atoms? Electrons? Photons? Ions? Would we be able to separate different ions like Ag3+ from Ag2+? And finally can we separate ions with a normal ( with normal I mean by using magnetic field only ) stern gerlach experiment?
 
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Separating ions of different charge has nothing to do with the idea of the Stern-Gerlach experiment.
Charged particles will just get deflected according to their charge.

You would need particles with a permanent electric dipole moment for the experiment. Unfortunately, I think polarizability will always win over that, if the inhomogeneous field is strong enough to see any deflection of neutral particles at all.

Photons do not interact with an electric field in any relevant way.
 
Thanks a lot for the response. In general terms that was my initial thought as well
 

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