Semiclassical theory of spin-orbit coupling

Journal Article · Mon Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Physical Review A. General Physics; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.45.7697· OSTI ID:7105968

Littlejohn, R G; Flynn, W G ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)

Newly developed methods for finding the semiclassical or WKB eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for vector wave fields are applied to spinning particles moving in central potentials subject to spin-orbit forces. The new methods are like the familiar Bohr-Sommerfeld or Einstein-Brillouin-Keller quantization methods for scalar wave fields, but involve additional issues relating to Berry's phase, gauge structures, and monopolelike singularities. All these extra issues occur in the asymptotics of spin-orbit coupling. The role of angular momentum and conservation laws is particularly interesting, due to the role played by gauge fields in the classical-quantum correspondence. The work presented is a contribution to ongoing semiclassical studies of shell structure in nuclei and other fermion systems such as metal clusters, as well as an example of the general methods of semiclassical vector wave quantization.

• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 7105968
• Journal Information: Physical Review A. General Physics; (United States), Journal Name: Physical Review A. General Physics; (United States) Vol. 45:11; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

663120* -- Nuclear Structure Models & Methods-- (1992-)
664100 -- Theory of Electronic Structure of Atoms & Molecules-- (1992-)
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
CONSERVATION LAWS
COUPLING
EIGENSTATES
EIGENVALUES
ELEMENTS
FERMIONS
GAUGE INVARIANCE
INTERMEDIATE COUPLING
INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES
L-S COUPLING
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METALS
NUCLEAR MODELS
QUANTIZATION
SEMICLASSICAL APPROXIMATION
SHELL MODELS
SOLID CLUSTERS
SYMMETRY
WKB APPROXIMATION