Thomas-Wigner rotation as a holonomy for spin- 1/2 particles

verfasst von

Veiko Palge, Christian Pfeifer

Abstract

The Thomas-Wigner rotation (TWR) results from the fact that a combination of boosts leads to a nontrivial rotation of a physical system. Its origin lies in the structure of the Lorentz group. In this article we discuss the idea that the TWR can be understood in the geometric manner, being caused by the nontrivially curved relativistic momentum space, i.e., the mass shell, seen as a Riemannian manifold. We show explicitly how the TWR for a massive spin-1/2 particle can be calculated as a holonomy of the mass shell. To reach this conclusion we recall how to construct the spin bundle over the mass shell manifold. Interpreting TWR as a holonomy means it belongs to the same family of phenomena as Berry's phase.

Organisationseinheit(en)

QuantumFrontiers

Externe Organisation(en)

University of Tartu
Zentrum für angewandte Raumfahrt­technologie und Mikro­gravitation (ZARM)

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Physical Review A

Band

109

ISSN

2469-9926

Publikationsdatum

11.03.2024

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Atom- und Molekularphysik sowie Optik

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.032206 (Zugang: Unbekannt)