Measurement of the Majorana effect in a molecule using a switched magneticfield and quantum beat detection

By means of quantum beat spectroscopy we investigated the dynamics of magne tic moments associated with hyperfine levels in the molecule (CS2)-C-13 und er "spin-flip conditions". Oriented molecules in a cold beam were prepared by excitation with a circularly polarized laser pulse (tau similar to 3 ns) in a weak magnetic field (B = 5.4 G). Subsequently, they were exposed to a rapid field inversion which left the magnetic moment in its initial orient ation. The initially created coherences among the excited hf levels were co nserved after field reversal and thus were explored to characterize the cha nges in the level structure due to this "Majorana spin-flip" process.