Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10773/7078
Title: | Mathisson's helical motions for a spinning particle: Are they unphysical? |
Author: | Costa, L. Filipe Herdeiro, Carlos Natario, Jose Zilhão, Miguel |
Keywords: | Center of mass Frenkel-Mathisson-Pirani spin condition Helical motions Hidden momentum Zitterbewegung |
Issue Date: | 2012 |
Publisher: | American Physical Society |
Abstract: | It has been asserted in the literature that Mathisson's helical motions are unphysical, with the argument that their radius can be arbitrarily large. We revisit Mathisson's helical motions of a free spinning particle, and observe that such statement is unfounded. Their radius is finite and confined to the disk of centroids. We argue that the helical motions are perfectly valid and physically equivalent descriptions of the motion of a spinning body, the difference between them being the choice of the representative point of the particle, thus a gauge choice. We discuss the kinematical explanation of these motions, and we dynamically interpret them through the concept of hidden momentum. We also show that, contrary to previous claims, the frequency of the helical motions coincides, even in the relativistic limit, with the zitterbewegung frequency of the Dirac equation for the electron. |
Peer review: | yes |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10773/7078 |
DOI: | 10.1103/PhysRevD.85.024001 |
ISSN: | 1550-7998 |
Appears in Collections: | DFis - Artigos |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
PRD85(2012)024001.pdf | Main article | 523.52 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.