Oscillatory multiband dynamics of free particles: The ubiquity of zitterbewegung effects
Journal Article
·
· Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
- Department of Physics, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115 (United States) and Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106 (United States)
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 zitterbewegung. We present a theoretical analysis of rather different Hamiltonians with gapped and/or spin-split energy spectrum (including the Rashba, Luttinger, and Kane Hamiltonians) that exhibit analogs of zitterbewegung as a common feature. We find that the amplitude of oscillations of the Heisenberg velocity operator v(t) generally equals the uncertainty for a simultaneous measurement of two linearly independent components of v. It is also shown that many features of zitterbewegung are shared by the simple and well-known Landau Hamiltonian, describing the dynamics of two-dimensional (2D) electron systems in the presence of a magnetic field perpendicular to the plane. Finally, we also discuss the oscillatory dynamics of 2D electrons arising from the interplay of Rashba spin splitting and a perpendicular magnetic field.
- OSTI ID:
- 21045877
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Journal Issue: 20 Vol. 75; ISSN 1098-0121
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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