Aspects of nonideal Stern-Gerlach experiment and testable ramifications

Abstract

We critically examine the quantum-mechanical modelling of a measurement process using the Stern-Gerlach (SG) setup in the most general context, probing in particular for nonideal situations, the subtleties involved in the connection between the notion of 'distinguishability' of apparatus states defined in terms of the inner product and the spatial separation among the wave packets emerging from the SG setup. The quantitative studies highlighting some of the unexplored features of this relationship are presented in terms of an appropriately defined measure for the spatial separation between the emerging wave packets. It is also indicated how the effects arising from such departures from the idealness can be empirically tested for different values of the relevant parameters.