Published July 2004 | Version v1
Journal article

Spatial localization and relativistic transformation of quantum spins

  • 1. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China)
  • 2. Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Lower Kent Ridge, Singapore 119260 (Singapore)

Description

The purity of a reduced state for spins that is pure in the rest frame will most likely appear to degrade because spin and momentum become mixed when viewed by a moving observer. We show that such a boost-induced decrease in spin purity observed in a moving reference frame is intrinsically related to the spatial localization properties of the wave package observed in the rest frame. Furthermore, we prove that, for any localized pure state with separable spin and momentum in the rest frame, its reduced density matrix for spins inevitably appears to be mixed whenever viewed from a moving reference frame

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review. A
Journal Volume
70
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
p. 012111-012111.5
ISSN
1050-2947
CODEN
PLRAAN

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
36084879
Subject category
S74: ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS; S71: CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS;
Descriptors DEI
DENSITY MATRIX; ENERGY LEVELS; INFORMATION THEORY; QUANTUM MECHANICS; RELATIVISTIC RANGE; SPIN; TRANSFORMATIONS
Descriptors DEC
ANGULAR MOMENTUM; ENERGY RANGE; MATRICES; MECHANICS; PARTICLE PROPERTIES

Optional Information

Notes
(c) 2004 The American Physical Society