Velocity operator and velocity field for spinning particles in (non-relativistic) quantum mechanics

摘要

Starting from the formal expressions of the hydrodynamical (or local) quantities employed in the applications of Clifford Algebras to quantum mechanics, the paper introduces - in terms of the ordinary tensorial framework - a new definition for the field of a generic quantity. By translating from Clifford into tensor algebra, a new (non-relativistic) velocity operator for a spin 1/2 particle is also proposed. This operator is the sum of the ordinary part p/m describing the mean motion (the motion of the center-of-mass), and of a second part associated with the so-called Zitterbewegung, which is the spin internal motion observed in the center-of- mass frame. This spin component of the velocity operator is non-zero not only in the Pauli theoretical framework, i.e. in presence of external magnetic fields and spin precession, but also in the Schroedinger case, when the wave-function is a spin eigenstate. In the latter case, one gets a decomposition of the velocity field for the Madelueng fluid into two distinct parts: which the constitutes the non-relativistic analogue of the Gordon decomposition for the Dirac current.