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arXiv:hep-th/0701091

Chiral oscillations in terms of the zitterbewegung effect

Alex E. Bernardini

Published Jan 10, 2007• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We seek the {\em immediate} description of chiral oscillations in terms of the trembling motion described by the velocity (Dirac) operator {\boldmath$α$}. By taking into account the complete set of Dirac equation solutions which results in a free propagating Dirac wave packet composed by positive and negative frequency components, we report about the well-established {\em zitterbewegung} results and indicate how chiral oscillations can be expressed in terms of the well know quantum oscillating variables. We conclude with the interpretation of chiral oscillations as position very rapid oscillation projections onto the longitudinally decomposed direction of the motion.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.hep-th/0701091

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We seek the {\em immediate} description of chiral oscillations in terms of the trembling motion described by the velocity (Dirac) operator {\boldmathααα}. By taking into account the complete set of Dirac equation solutions which results in a free propagating Dirac wave packet composed by positive and negative frequency components, we report about the well-established {\em zitterbewegung} results and indicate how chiral oscillations can be expressed in terms of the well know quantum oscillating variables. We conclude with the interpretation of chiral oscillations as position very rapid oscillation projections onto the longitudinally decomposed direction of the motion.
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Abstract In this article, we show that the wave equation for a free Dirac electron can be represented in a form that is analogous to Maxwell’s electrodynamics. The electron bispinor wavefunction is explicitly expressed in terms of its real and imaginary components. This leads us to incorporate into it appropriate scalar and pseudo-scalar fields in advance, so that a full symmetry may be accomplished. The Dirac equation then takes on a form similar to that of a set of inhomogeneous Maxwell’s equations involving a particular self-source. We relate plane wave solutions of these equations to waves corresponding to free Dirac electrons, identifying the longitudinal component of the electron motion, together with the corresponding Zitterbewegung (“trembling motion”).
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.
We seek a quantum-theoretic expression for the probability that a "fermionic" particle which is initially in a well-defined flavor, linear combination of mass-eigenstates, will be found, at later times, in another flavor state. We approach this problem by using the Dirac equation as evolution equation for the mass-eigenstates. The Dirac formalism is useful and essential in keeping clear many of the conceptual aspects of quantum oscillation phenomena that naturally arise in a relativistic spin one-half particle theory. Our study leads to the conclusion that the fermionic nature of the particles and the interference between positive and negative frequency components of mass-eigenstate wave packets modify the standard oscillation probability, obtained by implicitly assuming a "scalar" nature of the mass-eigenstates. Nevertheless, under particular assumptions, i.e. ultra-relativistic particles, strictly peaked momentum distributions and minimal slippage, these modifications introduce correction factors proportional to [Formula: see text] which are practically un-detectable by any experimental analysis.
The Klein-Gordon equation is used to calculate the Zitterbewegung (ZB, trembling motion) of spin-zero particles in the absence of fields and in the presence of an external magnetic field. Both Hamiltonian and wave formalisms are employed to describe ZB and their results are compared. It is demonstrated that if one uses wave packets to represent particles, then the ZB motion has a decaying behavior. It is also shown that the trembling motion is caused by an interference of two subpackets composed of positive- and negative-energy states, which propagate with different velocities. In the presence of a magnetic field, the quantization of the energy spectrum results in many interband frequencies contributing to ZB oscillations and the motion follows a collapse-revival pattern. In the limit of nonrelativistic velocities, the interband ZB components vanish and the motion is reduced to cyclotron oscillations. The exact dynamics of a charged Klein-Gordon (KG) particle in the presence of a magnetic field is described on an operator level. The trembling motion of a KG particle in the absence of fields is simulated using a classical model proposed by Morse and Feshbach---it is shown that a variance of a Gaussian wave packet exhibits ZB oscillations.