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arXiv:1506.08702 · New Journal of Physics

Parallel axis theorem for free-space electron wavefunctions

Colin Greenshields, Sonja Franke‐Arnold, Robert L. Stamps

Published Sep 10, 2015• 32 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We consider the orbital angular momentum of a free electron vortex moving in a uniform magnetic field. We identify three contributions to this angular momentum: the canonical orbital angular momentum associated with the vortex, the angular momentum of the cyclotron orbit of the wavefunction, and a diamagnetic angular momentum. The cyclotron and diamagnetic angular momenta are found to be separable according to the parallel axis theorem. This means that rotations can occur with respect to two or more axes simultaneously, which can be observed with superpositions of vortex states.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/17/9/093015

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