Observation of Gyroscopic Coupling in a Nonspinning Levitated Ferromagnet
Felix Ahrens, Andrea Vinante
Abstract
A nonspinning permanent ferromagnet is predicted to behave as a gyroscope at sufficiently low frequencies, which can be seen as a manifestation of gyromagnetism. This yet unexplored regime, conjectured for the first time by Maxwell [A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1873).], has recently been proposed for ultrasensitive magnetometry and for atomiclike quantum stabilization of a levitated nanomagnet in a static field. Here, we observe signatures of gyroscopic effects in the rotational dynamics of a nonspinning permanent ferromagnet levitated in a superconducting trap. Specifically, we detect spin-rotation coupling between different librational modes, leading to elliptical trajectories, in good agreement with theoretical predictions. From our measurements, we can infer both the intrinsic angular momentum of the levitated magnet and its gyromagnetic g factor.