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Some notes on the `true relativistic spin operator'

Daniel R. Terno

Published Aug 12, 2002• 1 citation
OpenAlex

Abstract

Operators that are associated with several important quantities, like angular momentum, play a double role: they are both representations of generators of the symmetry group and `observables'. We show that Dirac spin operator cannot be associated with a `spin observable' in the standard sense.

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Two roles of relativistic spin operators

Daniel R. Terno

Operators that are associated with several important quantities, such as angular momentum, play a double role: they are both generators of the symmetry group and ``observables.'' The analysis of different splittings of angular momentum into ``spin'' and ``orbital'' parts reveals the difference between these two roles. We also discuss a relation of different choices of spin observables to the violation of Bell inequalities.

arXiv:quant-ph/0208074•Physical Review A•Jan 29, 2003•65 citations

The exact meaning of the angular-momentum and spin operators in quantum mechanics

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The theory of angular momentum and spin in quantum mechanics seems to defy common-sense intuition.We render the theory intelligible again by pointing out that this apparent impenetrability merely stems from an {\em undue} parallel interpretation of the algebraic expressions for the angular-momentum and spin operators in the group representation theory of SO(3) and SU(2). E.g. the correct meaning of the quantumoperator ${\hat{L}}_{z} = {\hbar\over{\imath}}\,(x{\partial\over{\partial y}} - y{\partial\over{\partial x}} )$ is not that it is the operatorfor the $z$-component $L_{z}$ of the angular momentum ${\mathbf{L}}$, but rather the expression of the operator for the angular momentum ${\mathbf{L}}$ when it is aligned with the $z$-axis. Hence what we are used to note (erroneously) as ${\hat{L}}_{z}$ is not a scalar but a vector operator.The same applies{\em mutatis mutandis} for the spin operators. In the correct interpretation, the wholealgebraic formalism is just the group representation theory for the rotationsof three-dimensional Euclidean geometry. It is thus mere,elementary high-school mathematics (in a less usual, more technical guise) and as such totally exempt of any physics, let alone quantum mysteries.The change of interpretation has no impact on the algebraic results, such that they remain in agreement with experimental data and the algebra quantum mechanics remains correct. It is all only a matter of the correct geometrical meaning of the algebra.All these statements are proved within the framework of the group representation theory for SO(3) and SU(2) which is the basic tool used to describe rotational motion in quantum mechanics.

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Since the discovery a century ago, spin describing the intrinsic angular momentum of massive elementary particles has exposed its nature and significant roles in wide ranges of (relativistic) quantum phenomena and practical applications for future quantum technology. Emerging inconsistencies have also disclosed its telltale incomplete description. Finding relativistic spins (operators) of massive particles is a long-standing fundamental problem from the beginning of relativistic quantum mechanics. Here we present the rigorous derivation and the representation of spin operators from the spacetime symmetry. The covariant parity operation, defined by the spin operators, naturally leads to a fundamental equation equivalent to the covariant Dirac equation, which manifests existent relativistic spins. Proper understanding position operator in the Dirac theory on account of the spin operator through total angular momentum predicts no Zitterbewegung as well as conserving orbital and spin currents. The spin operators can be applicable for unraveling the inconsistencies and for exploring unveiled physics of massive particles.

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Relativistic spin operator and Dirac equation

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We give a direct link between description of Dirac particles in the abstract framework of unitary representation of the Poincaré group and description with the help of the Dirac equation. In this context we discuss in detail the spin operator for a relativistic Dirac particle. We show also that the spin operator used in quantum field theory for spin $s=1/2$ corresponds to the Foldy-Woutheysen mean-spin operator.

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On physical origin of Berry connection of free relativistic electrons

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No consensus has been reached on the appropriate operators for the spin and orbital angular momentum of free relativistic electrons. But there is a tendency to believe the existence of a spin-orbit coupling through the Berry connection. Here we show that this is not the case. Because the positive-energy solution of the Dirac equation is associated with the state of the electron, it is reasonable to postulate that only when projected onto the positive-energy subspace can observable operators on the Hilbert space of the Dirac equation represent physical quantities of the electron. On this basis, we find, after mapping the projected operators onto an irreducible representation, that the Berry connection describes the position of a quantum reference point with respect to the laboratory reference frame, relative to which the position of the electron is canonical. The orbital angular momentum of the quantum reference point about the origin of the laboratory reference frame is expressed in terms of the Berry connection. It combines with the canonical orbital angular momentum of the electron about the quantum reference point to give the orbital angular momentum of the electron about the origin of the laboratory reference frame.

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On the Dirac Theory of Spin 1/2 Particles and Its Non-Relativistic Limit

Leslie L. Foldy, Siegfried A. Wouthuysen

By a canonical transformation on the Dirac Hamiltonian for a free particle, a representation of the Dirac theory is obtained in which positive and negative energy states are separately represented by two-component wave functions. Playing an important role in the new representation are new operators for position and spin of the particle which are physically distinct from these operators in the conventional representation. The components of the time derivative of the new position operator all commute and have for eigenvalues all values between $\ensuremath{-}c$ and $c$. The new spin operator is a constant of the motion unlike the spin operator in the conventional representation. By a comparison of the new Hamiltonian with the non-relativistic Pauli-Hamiltonian for particles of spin \textonehalf{}, one finds that it is these new operators rather than the conventional ones which pass over into the position and spin operators in the Pauli theory in the non-relativistic limit. The transformation of the new representation is also made in the case of interaction of the particle with an external electromagnetic field. In this way the proper non-relativistic Hamiltonian (essentially the Pauli-Hamiltonian) is obtained in the non-relativistic limit. The same methods may be applied to a Dirac particle interacting with any type of external field (various meson fields, for example) and this allows one to find the proper non-relativistic Hamiltonian in each such case. Some light is cast on the question of why a Dirac electron shows some properties characteristic of a particle of finite extension by an examination of the relationship between the new and the conventional position operators.

Physical Review•Apr 1, 1950•2,183 citations
Operators that are associated with several important quantities, like angular momentum, play a double role: they are both representations of generators of the symmetry group and observables'. We show that Dirac spin operator cannot be associated with a spin observable' in the standard sense.
The theory of angular momentum and spin in quantum mechanics seems to defy common-sense intuition.We render the theory intelligible again by pointing out that this apparent impenetrability merely stems from an {\em undue} parallel interpretation of the algebraic expressions for the angular-momentum and spin operators in the group representation theory of SO(3) and SU(2). E.g. the correct meaning of the quantumoperator L^z=ℏı (x∂∂y−y∂∂x){\hat{L}}_{z} = {\hbar\over{\imath}}\,(x{\partial\over{\partial y}} - y{\partial\over{\partial x}} )L^z​=ℏ​(x∂y∂​−y∂x∂​) is not that it is the operatorfor the zzz-component LzL_{z}Lz​ of the angular momentum L{\mathbf{L}}L, but rather the expression of the operator for the angular momentum L{\mathbf{L}}L when it is aligned with the zzz-axis. Hence what we are used to note (erroneously) as L^z{\hat{L}}_{z}L^z​ is not a scalar but a vector operator.The same applies{\em mutatis mutandis} for the spin operators. In the correct interpretation, the wholealgebraic formalism is just the group representation theory for the rotationsof three-dimensional Euclidean geometry. It is thus mere,elementary high-school mathematics (in a less usual, more technical guise) and as such totally exempt of any physics, let alone quantum mysteries.The change of interpretation has no impact on the algebraic results, such that they remain in agreement with experimental data and the algebra quantum mechanics remains correct. It is all only a matter of the correct geometrical meaning of the algebra.All these statements are proved within the framework of the group representation theory for SO(3) and SU(2) which is the basic tool used to describe rotational motion in quantum mechanics.
Since the discovery a century ago, spin describing the intrinsic angular momentum of massive elementary particles has exposed its nature and significant roles in wide ranges of (relativistic) quantum phenomena and practical applications for future quantum technology. Emerging inconsistencies have also disclosed its telltale incomplete description. Finding relativistic spins (operators) of massive particles is a long-standing fundamental problem from the beginning of relativistic quantum mechanics. Here we present the rigorous derivation and the representation of spin operators from the spacetime symmetry. The covariant parity operation, defined by the spin operators, naturally leads to a fundamental equation equivalent to the covariant Dirac equation, which manifests existent relativistic spins. Proper understanding position operator in the Dirac theory on account of the spin operator through total angular momentum predicts no Zitterbewegung as well as conserving orbital and spin currents. The spin operators can be applicable for unraveling the inconsistencies and for exploring unveiled physics of massive particles.
We give a direct link between description of Dirac particles in the abstract framework of unitary representation of the Poincaré group and description with the help of the Dirac equation. In this context we discuss in detail the spin operator for a relativistic Dirac particle. We show also that the spin operator used in quantum field theory for spin s=1/2s=1/2s=1/2 corresponds to the Foldy-Woutheysen mean-spin operator.
No consensus has been reached on the appropriate operators for the spin and orbital angular momentum of free relativistic electrons. But there is a tendency to believe the existence of a spin-orbit coupling through the Berry connection. Here we show that this is not the case. Because the positive-energy solution of the Dirac equation is associated with the state of the electron, it is reasonable to postulate that only when projected onto the positive-energy subspace can observable operators on the Hilbert space of the Dirac equation represent physical quantities of the electron. On this basis, we find, after mapping the projected operators onto an irreducible representation, that the Berry connection describes the position of a quantum reference point with respect to the laboratory reference frame, relative to which the position of the electron is canonical. The orbital angular momentum of the quantum reference point about the origin of the laboratory reference frame is expressed in terms of the Berry connection. It combines with the canonical orbital angular momentum of the electron about the quantum reference point to give the orbital angular momentum of the electron about the origin of the laboratory reference frame.
By a canonical transformation on the Dirac Hamiltonian for a free particle, a representation of the Dirac theory is obtained in which positive and negative energy states are separately represented by two-component wave functions. Playing an important role in the new representation are new operators for position and spin of the particle which are physically distinct from these operators in the conventional representation. The components of the time derivative of the new position operator all commute and have for eigenvalues all values between $\ensuremath{-}c$ and ccc. The new spin operator is a constant of the motion unlike the spin operator in the conventional representation. By a comparison of the new Hamiltonian with the non-relativistic Pauli-Hamiltonian for particles of spin \textonehalf{}, one finds that it is these new operators rather than the conventional ones which pass over into the position and spin operators in the Pauli theory in the non-relativistic limit. The transformation of the new representation is also made in the case of interaction of the particle with an external electromagnetic field. In this way the proper non-relativistic Hamiltonian (essentially the Pauli-Hamiltonian) is obtained in the non-relativistic limit. The same methods may be applied to a Dirac particle interacting with any type of external field (various meson fields, for example) and this allows one to find the proper non-relativistic Hamiltonian in each such case. Some light is cast on the question of why a Dirac electron shows some properties characteristic of a particle of finite extension by an examination of the relationship between the new and the conventional position operators.