Related papers: Optical simulation of the free Dirac equation
We present a general model allowing "quantum simulation" of one-dimensional Dirac models with 2- and 4-component spinors using ultracold atoms in driven 1D tilted optical latices. The resulting Dirac physics is illustrated by one of its…
This article investigates some solutions of the time-dependent free Dirac equation. Visualizations of these solutions immediately reveal strange phenomena that are caused by the interference of positive- and negative-energy waves. The…
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 [I. I. Cot\u aescu, Eur. Phys. J. C (2022)…
An optical analogue of Zitterbewegung (ZB), i.e. of the trembling motion of Dirac electrons caused by the interference between positive and negative energy states, is proposed for spatial beam propagation in binary waveguide arrays. In this…
The Dirac equation is a cornerstone in the history of physics, merging successfully quantum mechanics with special relativity, providing a natural description of the electron spin and predicting the existence of anti-matter. Furthermore, it…
We seek the {\em immediate} description of chiral oscillations in terms of the trembling motion described by the velocity (Dirac) operator {\boldmath$\alpha$}. By taking into account the complete set of Dirac equation solutions which…
Zitterbewegung, a force-free trembling motion first predicted for relativistic fermions like electrons, was an unexpected consequence of the Dirac equation's unification of quantum mechanics and special relativity. Though the oscillatory…
By considering mirror oscillation in a "tripod-scheme" laser-atom system, we advocate explorative studies of driven Dirac-like equations. Both analytical and numerical studies show that mirror oscillation can be used to drive an effective…
In this paper we construct an analytical separation (diagonalization) of the full (minimal coupling) Dirac equation into particle and antiparticle components. The diagonalization is analytic in that it is achieved without transforming the…
In terms of a photon wave function corresponding to the (1, 0)+(0, 1) representation of the Lorentz group, the radiation and Coulomb fields within a source-free region can be described unitedly by a Lorentz-covariant Dirac-like equation. In…
Zitterbewegung oscillation (ZB), namely, the jittering center-of-mass motion predicted by free space Dirac (or Dirac-like) equations, has been studied in several different contexts. It is shown here that ZB can be converted to directed…
One-electron 3+1 and 2+1 Dirac equations are used to calculate the motion of a relativistic electron in a vacuum in the presence of an external magnetic field. First, calculations are carried on an operator level and exact analytical…
This paper presents a relativistic symmetrical interpretation of the Dirac equation in 1+1 dimensions which predicts no zitterbewegung for a free spin-1/2 particle. This could resolve the longstanding puzzle of zitterbewegung in…
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…
In the Dirac theory for the motion of free relativistic electrons, highly oscillatory components appear in the time evolution of physical observables such as position, velocity, and spin angular momentum. This effect is known as…
The worldline of a free electron is revealed by applying Dirac's velocity operator to its Dirac wave function whose space-time arguments are expressed in a proper time by a Lorentz transformation. This motion can be decomposed into two…
We present a method of simulating the Dirac equation in 3+1 dimensions for a free spin-1/2 particle in a single trapped ion. The Dirac bispinor is represented by four ionic internal states, and position and momentum of the Dirac particle…
We develop a dynamic description of an effective Dirac theory in metamaterials, in which the wavefunction is modeled by the corresponding electric and magnetic field in the metamaterial. This electro-magnetic field can be probed in the…
Spacetime Algebra (STA) provides unified, matrix-free spinor methods for rotational dynamics in classical theory as well as quantum mechanics. That makes it an ideal tool for studying particle models of zitterbewegung and using them to…
Although zitterbewegung -- the jittery motion of relativistic particles -- is known since 1930 and was predicted in solid state systems long ago, it has been directly measured so far only in so-called quantum simulators, i.e. quantum…