Calculated interference pattern of Ar*(3P2) atoms passing through a Stern-Gerlach interferometer at 560 ms−1. The phase object is a comoving potential pulse similar to that considered in Figure 1(a), except for the magnitude of the field which is now the variable parameter. About 260 fringes are present within the interval [0, 0.1 mT = 1 Gauss] (see the inset for a zoom over an interval of 5 milliGauss). The contrast decreases together with the overlap of the interfering wave packets (see text).
