What is the relativistic spin operator?

Although the spin is regarded as a fundamental property of the electron, there is no universally accepted spin operator within the framework of relativistic quantum mechanics. We investigate the properties of different proposals for a relativistic spin operator. It is shown that most candidates are...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNew journal of physics Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 43012 - 9
Main Authors Bauke, Heiko, Ahrens, Sven, H Keitel, Christoph, Grobe, Rainer
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bristol IOP Publishing 11.04.2014
Subjects
03.65.Pm
31.15.aj
31.30.J
Algebra
Angular momentum
Charging
Electron spin
Ground state
Hydrogen storage
hydrogen-like ions
Operators
Operators (mathematics)
Physics
Proposals
Quantum mechanics
Relativism
Relativistic effects
relativistic quantum mechanics
spin
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Summary:Although the spin is regarded as a fundamental property of the electron, there is no universally accepted spin operator within the framework of relativistic quantum mechanics. We investigate the properties of different proposals for a relativistic spin operator. It is shown that most candidates are lacking essential features of proper angular momentum operators, leading to spurious zitterbewegung (quivering motion) or violation of the angular momentum algebra. Only the Foldy-Wouthuysen operator and the Pryce operator qualify as proper relativistic spin operators. We demonstrate that ground states of highly charged hydrogen-like ions can be utilized to identify a legitimate relativistic spin operator experimentally.
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ISSN:1367-2630
1367-2630
DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/16/4/043012