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Observation of Gyroscopic Coupling in a Nonspinning Levitated Ferromagnet

Felix Ahrens and Andrea Vinante*

  • *Contact author: andrea.vinante@cnr.it
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 146703 – Published 10 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/hdh6-r1gy

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.

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Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Focus

A Macroscopic Magnet Precesses

Published 10 April, 2026

An isolated magnet’s intrinsic angular momentum induces gyroscopic motion, an observation that could lead to ultrasensitive magnetometers.

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Supplemental Material

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 146703– Published 10 April, 2026
  • Received 28 April 2025
  • Accepted 19 November 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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