• Letter

Response tensor for a spin-dependent electron gas: Dependence on the choice of spin operator

V. M. Demcsak and D. B. Melrose
Phys. Rev. E 103, L061201 – Published 8 June 2021

Abstract

It is shown that the choice of spin operator affects the form of the response tensor describing a spin-dependent electron gas. The covariant, spin-dependent response tensor for a magnetic dipole moment-polarized electron gas (statistical distribution of electrons and positrons) is evaluated. A simultaneous eigenfunction of both the magnetic-moment spin operator and the Dirac Hamiltonian is constructed, from which explicit expressions for the magnetic-moment states and the corresponding vertex functions are derived. It is shown that a gas of electrons having a preferred magnetic-moment spin has a rotatory-type response that is gyrotropic. In contrast, when the helicity is chosen as the spin operator, the response of an electron gas with a preferred helicity spin has a rotatory response that is analogous to an optically active medium. The distinction between these spin operators does not appear in conventional treatments of spin dependence in quantum plasmas.

  • Received 19 February 2021
  • Accepted 20 May 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.103.L061201

©2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Plasma Physics

Authors & Affiliations

V. M. Demcsak* and D. B. Melrose

  • School of Physics, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia

  • *victor.demcsak@sydney.edu.au

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Issue

Vol. 103, Iss. 6 — June 2021

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