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Nuclear Physics B

Vortex-enhanced Zitterbewegung in relativistic Dirac wave packets

Zhongze Guo, Bei Xu, Qiang Gu

Published Jun 2, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Zitterbewegung (ZBW), arising from the interference between positive- and negative-energy solutions of the Dirac equation, is a characteristic feature of relativistic single-particle dynamics, but its explicit manifestation depends on the choice of position operator. We formulate relativistic vortex electron wave packets as coherent superpositions of Dirac plane-wave states and derive their exact spacetime evolution. For the canonical Dirac position, we show that orbital angular momentum substantially enhances and spatially structures the relative-coordinate contribution conventionally associated with ZBW. We then analyze the operator dependence of this result by separating the canonical position into a Foldy–Wouthuysen/Newton–Wigner (FW/NW) mean position and an oscillatory relative coordinate. For the vortex packets considered here, the FW/NW mean position exhibits only the ordinary centroid drift and no transverse trembling. However, the same vortex-enhanced radial scale survives in the positive-energy sector as a Berry-type geometric dressing of the projected position operator. The present work therefore identifies not a representation-independent trembling of the one-particle centroid, but a vortex-amplified remnant of Dirac interband mixing in an operationally meaningful position observable.

DOI
10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2026.117542

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Zitterbewegung (ZBW), arising from the interference between positive- and negative-energy solutions of the Dirac equation, is a characteristic feature of relativistic single-particle dynamics, but its explicit manifestation depends on the choice of position operator. We formulate relativistic vortex electron wave packets as coherent superpositions of Dirac plane-wave states and derive their exact spacetime evolution. For the canonical Dirac position, we show that orbital angular momentum substantially enhances and spatially structures the relative-coordinate contribution conventionally associated with ZBW. We then analyze the operator dependence of this result by separating the canonical position into a Foldy–Wouthuysen/Newton–Wigner (FW/NW) mean position and an oscillatory relative coordinate. For the vortex packets considered here, the FW/NW mean position exhibits only the ordinary centroid drift and no transverse trembling. However, the same vortex-enhanced radial scale survives in the positive-energy sector as a Berry-type geometric dressing of the projected position operator. The present work therefore identifies not a representation-independent trembling of the one-particle centroid, but a vortex-amplified remnant of Dirac interband mixing in an operationally meaningful position observable.
Zitterbewegung (ZBW), the trembling motion predicted by the Dirac equation, has long remained unobservable in free electrons due to its sub-Compton scale. We elaborately construct a relativistic vortex electron wave packet as a coherent superposition of both positive- and negative-energy Dirac states and derive their space-time dynamics. Our analysis demonstrates that introducing orbital angular momentum provides a mechanism for amplifying the ZBW amplitude far beyond that of conventional Gaussian packets, while maintaining coherence. The resulting relativistic vortex states unify Gaussian and Bessel-Gaussian models within a single framework and opens new possibilities for observing relativistic quantum dynamics in structured electron wave packets.
Motivated by recent interest in relativistic electron vortex states, we revisit the spin and orbital angular momentum properties of Dirac electrons. These are uniquely determined by the choice of the position operator for a relativistic electron. We consider two main approaches discussed in the literature: (i) the projection of operators onto the positive-energy subspace, which removes the Zitterbewegung effects and correctly describes spin-orbit interaction effects, and (ii) the use of Newton-Wigner-Foldy-Wouthuysen operators based on the inverse Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation. We argue that the first approach [previously described in application to Dirac vortex beams in K. Y. Bliokh et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 174802 (2011)] has a more natural physical interpretation, including spin-orbit interactions and a nonsingular zero-mass limit, than the second one [S. M. Barnett, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 114802 (2017)].
Abstract We investigate the effect of spinor preparation of a localized one-dimensional Gaussian Dirac packet on its positive and negative energy spectral content and subsequent free evolution. The normalized constant spinor is varied and projected onto the eigenspaces of the free Dirac Hamiltonian keeping the scalar Gaussian envelope fixed. This procedure leads to a compact geometric expression for the integrated negative energy fraction in terms of a Gaussian averaged Dirac direction. The result identifies the constant spinor with the smallest negative energy content. Yet, for a packet with finite momentum width, it remains distinct from a completely positive energy packet, which requires a momentum dependent spinor. The spectral decomposition is then related to branch separated density evolution, coherent current interference, overlap decay, and leading dispersive broadening. These analytical results are then tested against the direct numerical quadrature of the exact spectral representation, retaining the full momentum dependence of the dispersion relation and the eigenspinors. The study, in general, reveals two qualitatively distinct effects. First, the density separates because the two energy branches move in opposite directions. Secondly, the zitterbewegung-like current arises from coherent interference between the branches through the mixed current matrix element. Overall, the formulation provides a concise preparation-resolved reference for more general Dirac wave-packet problems.
Zitterbewegung of massless particles with an arbitrary spin is analyzed in various representations. Dynamics of the group velocity of a massless particle as a whole and of the corresponding radius vector is determined. This radius vector defines any fixed point of the envelope of the moving wave packet characterizing the particle and its group velocity differs from the group velocities of any points of the wavefront. We consider free massless scalar and Dirac particles, the photon, and massive and massless particles with an arbitrary spin and describe them in different representations. For particles with an arbitrary spin, the generalized Feshbach-Villars representation and the Foldy-Wouthuysen one are used. Zitterbewegung takes place in any representation except for the Foldy-Wouthuysen one. Formulas describing the motion of a ``trembling'' free particle are the same in any representation. In the Foldy-Wouthuysen representation, the operators of the velocity and momentum of a free particle are proportional and Zitterbewegung does not take place. Since the radius vector (position) and velocity operators are the quantum-mechanical counterparts of the classical position and velocity just in the Foldy-Wouthuysen representation, Zitterbewegung is not observable. The same conclusion has been previously made for free massive particles. For relativistic massive particles with spins 0, 1/2, 1 and massless particles with spins 0, 1/2 in arbitrarily strong electromagnetic fields, independent of the external fields Zitterbewegung does not appear in the Foldy-Wouthuysen representation either. This conclusion is made for leading terms in the Hamiltonian proportional to the zero and first powers of the Planck constant and for such terms proportional to ${\ensuremath{\hbar}}^{2}$ which describe contact interactions.
Abstract The Pryce (e) spin and position operators of the quantum theory of Dirac's free field were re-defined and studied recently with the help of a new spin symmetry and suitable spectral representations [Eur. Phys. J. C 82, 1073 (2022)]. This approach is generalized here, associating a pair of integral operators acting directly on particle and antiparticle wave spinors in momentum representation to any integral operator in configuration representation, acting on mode spinors. This framework allows an effective quantization procedure, giving a large set of one-particle operators with physical meaning as the spin and orbital parts of the isometry generators, the Pauli-Lubanski and position operators, or other spin-type operators proposed to date. Special attention is paid to the operators that mix the particle and antiparticle sectors whose off-diagonal associated operators have oscillating terms producing Zitterbevegung. The principal operators of this type, including the usual coordinate operator, are derived here for the first time. As an application, it is shown that an apparatus measuring these new observables may prepare and detect one-particle wave packets moving uniformly without Zitterbewegung or spin dynamics, spreading in time normally as any other relativistic or even non-relativistic wave packet.
The Assessment of the interpretation of Zitterbewegung for free particle solution using various models has been carried out in this work where we firstly considered by using the free particle solution for which Dirac equation and projection operator were carried out.. ln this case, it was invariably revealed that the solution have two doubly degenerate eigenvalues representing positive and negative state that was further support by the analysis which was carried out using Heisenberg’s equation and the representation in relativistic velocity and semi-classical equation of motion for acceleration., but in this second case, the results obtained were observed to have two terms, first terms standing in for rapidly oscillatory motion and the second term representing average motion of the particle in x-direction. The first term in the expression is the one deemed to signify zitterbewegung which is one considered to be sas a result of the fluctuation resulting from the interference between negative and positive energy state while the other term is the normal state terms signifying the average motion of the particle. This therefore confirms the explicit nature of using Dirac equation in handling problems involving the behavior of free particles in field as compared to the use of semiclassical equation of motion.