Stern-Gerlach Experiment-1921

 No Lorentz Force ( 𝑭𝑭 = 𝐪𝐪𝒗𝒗 × 𝑩𝑩) acts on a Neutral Silver Atom

 Only Magnetic Moment of atom interacts with external 𝑩𝑩 field
 Electron Configuration of Silver atom
𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐𝒔𝒔𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐𝒑𝒑𝟔𝟔 𝟑𝟑𝒔𝒔𝟐𝟐 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟔𝟔 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟒𝟒𝒔𝒔𝟏𝟏 𝟒𝟒𝒑𝒑𝟔𝟔 𝟒𝟒𝒅𝒅𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓𝒔𝒔𝟏𝟏
So a neutral Silver atom has ZERO total orbital momentum
 If electron at 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟏𝟏 has a magnetic moment, we can measure it
Postulation of Spin from Stern-Gerlach Experiment
The potential energy of the Electron Spin Magnetic Moment in
a magnetic field applied in the z direction is given by

𝑔𝑔
𝑈𝑈 = −µ ∙ 𝑩𝑩 = −𝜇𝜇 𝐵𝐵 𝐵𝐵𝑧𝑧=± 𝜇𝜇 𝐵𝐵 𝐵𝐵𝑧𝑧
2
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝐵𝐵𝑧𝑧
Force on Atom : 𝑭𝑭𝒛𝒛 = =± 𝜇𝜇 𝐵𝐵
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕

 The atoms—specifically, the unpaired outer electron have a magnetic dipole

moment
 electrons acted like tiny bar magnets with a tiny intrinsic amount of angular
ħ
momentum, equal to
2
 The electrons were deflected either up or down by a constant amount,
 in roughly equal numbers. Apparently, the z component of the electron’s
spin is quantized: it can take only one of two discrete values. We say that
the spin is either up or down in the z direction.

 If electrons were really bar magnets, they could be oriented in any direction. The
component oriented along the magnetic field gradient would determine the force
on the electron, and hence how much it would be deflected.
 If electrons were like ordinary magnets with random orientations, they would show
a continuous distribution of paths. The photographic plate in the Stern-Gerlach
experiment would have shown a continuous distribution of impact positions.

How does the electron obtain a magnetic

moment if it has zero angular momentum
and therefore produces no "current loop" to
produce a magnetic moment?
Samuel A. Goudsmit and George E. Uhlenbeck(1925) : Intrinsic Angular Momentum and concept of SPIN

A ball of charge could have a magnetic moment if it were

spinning such that the charge at the edges produced an effective
current loop

Classical Interaction Energy due to orbiting electron in the Magnetic field= H

−𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞
Loop Current= 𝐴𝐴𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = 𝜋𝜋𝑟𝑟2 𝑞𝑞ħ Quantum Hermitian Operator
2𝝿𝝿𝝿𝝿 𝜇𝜇𝐵𝐵 = = 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 𝑳𝑳∙𝑩𝑩
2𝑚𝑚 𝑒𝑒 H = −µ ∙ 𝑩𝑩=𝜇𝜇𝐵𝐵
ħ
−𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 −𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 𝐿𝐿
Magnetic moment µ = 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 × 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = × 𝜋𝜋𝑟𝑟2=− ×𝑚𝑚 𝑒𝑒 𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣 = 𝜇𝜇𝐵𝐵
2𝝿𝝿𝝿𝝿 2𝝿𝝿𝝿𝝿 ħ
𝒍𝒍=0,1,2,..n-1
𝑩𝑩
𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 𝑎𝑎 𝑩𝑩 𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇 in z direction, total Hamiltonian for the atom: H=𝑯𝑯𝟎𝟎 + 𝝁𝝁𝑩𝑩 ħ𝒛𝒛 𝑳𝑳𝒛𝒛
𝟏𝟏
𝒔𝒔 = , −𝒔𝒔 ≤ m𝒍𝒍 ≤ 𝒔𝒔
Corresponding Energy Eigen Functions E = 𝑬𝑬 𝟎𝟎 + 𝝁𝝁𝑩𝑩 𝑩𝑩𝒛𝒛 for m = − l,…+l 𝟐𝟐

m𝒍𝒍 = − 1

m𝒍𝒍 = 0
𝐵𝐵 = 0
2l +1 Degenerate states with m𝒍𝒍 = +1
m𝒍𝒍 = − l,…+l
𝐵𝐵 ≠ 0
2l +1 Distinct energy states
 Reference
• https://arxiv.org/pdf/1609.09311.pdf
• http://physics.mq.edu.au/~jcresser/Phys301/Chapters/Chapter6.pdf
• http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~tbrun/Course/lecture02.pdf
• https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/331992/stern-gerlach-original-experiment-doubts-on-the-beam-splitting
• https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/33830/the-stern-gerlach-experiment-revisited?rq=1
• http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/spin.html
• http://slideplayer.com/slide/12009639/
• http://slideplayer.com/slide/5162501/