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)