Re: Do free particles have spin?

From: Old Man (nomail_at_nomail.net)
Date: 09/26/04 

Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 20:04:14 -0500

"David Rutherford" <drutherford@softcom.net> wrote in message
news:ts-dnWN56rwlOcjcRVn-rg@softcom.net...
>
>
> Paul Draper wrote:
>
> > David Rutherford <drutherford@softcom.net> wrote in message
news:<w4mdnSYXV63XwsncRVn-pA@softcom.net>...
> >
> >>Is there any evidence for the existence of particle spin for free
> >>particles, that is, for particles not bound to atoms? If so, please give
> >>references or links.
> >>
> >>--
> >
> >
> > SLAC's collider has been firing polarized electrons at each other for
some time now.
>
> Thanks Paul. From what I've read, at least for photons, polarization and
> spin are two different things. For photons, the spin axis is in the
> direction of travel and the polarization axis is perpendicular to the
> direction of travel.

Electromagnetic waves, which consist of photons,
can have linear transverse polarization. A photon
cannot. A photon has only circular polarization,
either in the direction of propagation, or opposed
to it, as indicated by the direction of its spin vector.

Is that also true for electrons?

A massive particle is allowed to have a transverse
spin component.

> Dave Rutherford

[Old Man]

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