Calibrated Einstein-de Haas torsion response 2026-10-18
An original reduced model makes the calibration explicit. Let the torsion pendulum have restoring torque , with torsion constant , and viscous damping torque , with . Allow an unwanted axial torque :Here is the undamped natural angular frequency and the quality factor. The forced harmonic oscillator response must be included before a twist can be interpreted as a torque.
Using the complex amplitude convention and similarly for and , differentiation multiplies by . Substitution givesThis is the torque-to-twist transfer function. With and real positive , the twist amplitude isFor , the twist phase relative to is . At it is zero, although the reaction torque leads by . A phase measured at the mirror is not automatically the phase of the applied torque.
A fixed-amplitude reference torque measures directly. The Einstein-de Haas effect instead contains an extra factor when stays fixed. Consequently its twist amplitude peaks exactly at in this model, whereas the fixed-torque peak is at when . To verify the first statement, divide the squared denominator of by : the quantity to minimize is , minimized at . Both response curves tend to zero at high frequency; only the magnetomechanical curve also tends to zero at zero frequency.
Calibrated forced torsion: distinguish the mechanical response from the magnetic drive
. Original calculated curves, not historical measurements or fitted data. A constant reference torque and a constant-amplitude magnetic dipole moment share the same mechanical transfer function. The lower plot uses each input's own cosine as its phase reference. Markers at show equal twist amplitudes but different phases. Details.For a fully stipulated example, choose , , , , and . These teaching inputs give , , reaction torque amplitude at , andAn optical lever at distance gives small-displacement spot amplitude ; its full peak-to-peak width is . For a fast reversal from to , the same inputs give and initial , provided the external angular impulse is negligible.
One independent mechanical calibration adds known moment of inertia , keeping unchanged. If are the undamped oscillation periods before and after adding it, thenFor in the stipulated example, and , recovering the chosen and . Real damped periods require a damping correction: a free decay has angular envelope and oscillation angular frequency . Measuring that decay determines . Calibrating the optical scale, mechanical response and change of magnetic dipole moment separately is what makes the inferred gyromagnetic ratio meaningful.
Einstein-de Haas experiment 2026-10-18
In 1915, Albert Einstein and Wander Johannes de Haas suspended a soft-iron cylinder by glass fibre between coaxial coils. Alternating magnetization drove torsional resonance; a mirror reflected lamplight onto a scale. They compensated Earth's magnetic field, tilted the coils, and rotated the suspension attachment to test unwanted magnetic dipole torques. Added known moment of inertia calibrated the mechanical response.[ref]
Experimental proof of the existence of Ampère's molecular currents by Albert Einstein and Wander Johannes de Haas. §§4–5, pp. 702–706: apparatus, controls, calibration
Einstein-de Haas experiment: suspended magnet, drive and optical readout
. Original functional schematic of the first apparatus, rather than a scale reconstruction. The split coaxial coils leave an optical gap. The enlarged plan view explains the optical lever; the calibration bar is attached for a separate calibration run. Compensation windings are represented by their function. Details.Their paper acknowledges a failed phase determination and claims only ten-percent precision for the revised measurement. Its agreement with the orbital gyromagnetic ratio prediction was not a direct discovery of spin.[ref]
Experimental proof of the existence of Ampère's molecular currents by Albert Einstein and Wander Johannes de Haas. §6, pp. 706–707: phase failure; §7, pp. 707–711: resonance, precision
Comparing that orbital gyromagnetic ratio prediction with the electron spin g-factor explains why a successful qualitative demonstration of angular momentum transfer can coexist with an inadequate quantitative interpretation. The stated precision is the authors' estimate; it does not establish that all systematic errors were bounded by that amount.The general control problem follows directly from the model. Unwanted magnetic dipole torque can drive the same mechanical resonance as the desired reaction torque. In the ideal geometry and alone produce no axial cross product, but transverse magnetic dipole moments, stray transverse magnetic fields and imperfect alignment can. Nulling stray magnetic fields and deliberately varying alignment test this contribution. Merely observing a large resonant twist cannot identify its cause.
For a nearly instantaneous magnetic response, a sinusoidal magnetization makes follow the drive while is in phase quadrature. An ordinary magnetic contribution proportional to is then distinguishable by phase, after removing the mechanical frequency response. Hysteresis or delayed magnetic response can spoil this simple separation. The measured magnetization, rather than the coil electric current alone, must set the reference. Mechanical vibration, magnetostriction coupled through imperfect geometry, and changing suspension properties require separate checks; none is eliminated simply by reversing the coil electric current.

