ELECTRON STRUCTURE, ZITTERBEWEGUNG AND A NEW

NON-LINEAR DIRAC–LIKE EQUATION †

Matej PAVŠIČ∗ , Erasmo RECAMI∗∗ , Waldyr A. RODRIGUES Jr.∗∗∗

arXiv:quant-ph/9803036v1 14 Mar 1998

I.N.F.N. – Sezione di Milano, Milan, Italy.

ABSTRACT: The recent literature shows a renewed interest, with various independent
approaches, in the classical theories for spin. Considering the possible interest of those
results, at least for the electron case, we purpose in this paper to explore their physical and
mathematical meaning, by the natural and powerful language of Clifford algebras (which,
incidentally, will allow us to unify those different approaches). In such theories, the
ordinary electron is in general associated to the mean motion of a point–like “constituent”
Q, whose trajectory is a cylindrical helix. We find, in particular, that the object Q obeys
a new, non-linear Dirac–like equation, such that —when averaging over an internal cycle
(which corresponds to linearization)— it transforms into the ordinary Dirac equation
(valid for the electron as a whole).

PACS nos.: 03.70.+k ; 11.10.Qr ; 14.60.Cd .

0†
Work partially supported by INFN, CNR, MURST; by CAPES, CNPq, FAPESP; and by the
Slovenian Ministry of Science and Technology.
0∗
On leave from the J.Stefan Institute; University of Ljubljana; 61111–Ljubljana; Slovenia.
0∗∗
Also: Facoltà di Ingegneria, Università statale di Bergamo, 24044 Dalmine (BG), Italy; and
C.C.S., State University at Campinas, 13083-970 Campinas, S.P.; Brazil.
0∗∗∗
On leave from Departamento de Matemática Aplicada — Imecc; UNICAMP; 13084–Campinas,
S.P.; Brazil.

1
1. INTRODUCTION

The possibility of constructing formal classical theories for spin was already realized at
least 60 years ago, from different points of view.1 In particular, Schrödinger’s suggestion2
that the electron spin was related to its Zitterbewegung (zbw) motion has been investi-
gated by several authors3 .
In ref.4 , for instance, one meets even the proposal of models with clockwise and anti-
clockwise “inner motions” as classical analogues of quantum relativistic spinning particles
and antiparticles, respectively. The use of grassmannian variables in a classical lagrangian
formulation for spinning particles was proposed, on the contrary, by Berezin and Marinov5
and by Casalbuoni6 . Pauri,7 moreover, showed how a relativistic (or non-relativistic) spin
can enter a classical formulation, in the ordinary phase space [without resource now to
grassmannian quantities], just as a consequence of the algebraic structure of the Poincaré
(or Galilei) group. In such an interesting approach, it was found7 that a relativistic classi-
cal zbw motion can directly follow as a “spin effect” from the requirements of existence of
a lagrangian and of a covariant position in Dirac’s instant form of relativistic dynamics.
The quantum analogue of those developments had been studied in ref.8 .
The number of papers appeared on the subject of classical theories for spin, starting
from the fifties, is so large that it would be difficult to try quoting them here. A recent
approach, based on a generalization of Dirac non-linear electrodynamics, where the spin of
the electron is identified with the momentum of the Poynting vector in a soliton solution
of that theory, can be found in ref.9 .
In this paper we choose, by making recourse to the natural and powerful language of
Clifford algebras, to refer ourselves mainly to the theory by Barut and Zanghi10,11 (BZ),
which relates the spin (at least in the case of the electron) to a helical motion. Namely,
we first recast the BZ theory into the Clifford formalism, in the meantime clarifying its
physical and mathematical meanings; then, we quantize that theory for the electron case.
In particular, we derive from the BZ theory a new non-linear equation for the “spinorial
variable” of the model, which when linearized reduces to the ordinary Dirac equation.
Solutions of this non-linear equation will be discussed in another paper12 .

2. SPIN AND ELICAL MOTION

In the BZ theory,10 a classical electron is characterized, besides by the usual pair

of conjugate variables (xµ , pµ ), by a second pair of conjugate classical spinor variables
(z, iz̄), representing internal degrees of freedom, which are functions of an invariant time
parameter τ , that when convenient will be identified with the proper time of the center
of mass (CM). Quantity z was a Dirac spinor, while z̄ ≡ z † γ 0 . Barut and Zanghi, then,
introduced for a spinning particle the classical lagrangian [c = 1]

2
 1
L = 2
λi(z̄˙ z − z̄ ż) + pµ (ẋµ − z̄γ µ z) + eAµ (x)z̄γ µ z , (1)

where λ has the dimension of an action, γ µ are the Dirac matrices, and the particle
velocity is

vµ ≡ z̄γ µ z . (1’)

We are not writing down explicitly the spinorial indices of z̄ and z. Let us consider
the simple case of a free electron (Aµ = 0). Then a possible solution of the equations of
motion corresponding to the lagrangian (1) is:#1
pµ
z(τ ) = [cos mτ − iγ µ sin mτ ] z(0) , (2a)
m
pµ
z̄(τ ) = z̄(0) [cos mτ + iγ µ sin mτ ] , (2b)
m
and pµ = constant; p2 = m2 ; H = pµ z̄γ µ z ≡ pµ v µ ; and finally:

pµ pµ ẍµ (0)
ẋµ = vµ = 2
H + [ẋµ (0) − 2 H] cos 2mτ + sin 2mτ (2c)
m m 2m
(which in ref.10 appeared with two misprints). In connection with this “free” general
solution, let us remark that H is a constant of motion so that we can set H = m.
Solution (2) exhibits the classical analog of the phenomenon known as “zitterbewegung”
(zbw): in fact, the velocity vµ ≡ ẋµ contains the (expected) term pµ /m plus a term
describing an oscillatory motion with the characteristic frequency ω = 2m. The velocity
of the center of mass will be given by Wµ = pµ /m. Notice incidentally that, instead of
adopting the variables z and z̄, one can work in terms of the spin variables, i.e. in terms
of the dynamical variables (xµ , vµ , πµ , Sµν ), where:
1
vµ = ẋµ ; πµ = pµ − eAµ ; Sµν = iz̄[γ µ , γ ν ]z ,
4

so that Ṡµν = πµ vν − πν vµ and v̇µ = 4Sµν π ν . In the case of a free electron, by varying
the action corresponding to L one finds as generator of space-time rotations the conserved
quantity Jµν = Lµν + Sµν , where Sµν is just the particle spin.#2
0#1
For other solutions, see ref.12 .
0#2
Alternatively, Barut and Zanghi,10 in order to study the internal dynamics of the considered
(classical) particle, did split xµ and vµ ≡ ẋµ as follows: xµ ≡ Xµ + Qµ ; vµ ≡ Wµ + Uµ (where by
definition Wµ = Ẋµ and Uµ = Q̇µ ). In the particular case of a free particle, Ẇµ = 0; Wµ = pµ /m. One
can now interpret Xµ and pµ as the CM coordinates, and Qµ and Pµ ≡ mUµ as the relative position and
momentum, respectively. For a free particle, then, one finds that the internal variables are coordinates

3
 Let us explicitly observe that solution (2c) is the equation of a space-time cylindrical
helix, i.e. it represents in 3–space a helical motion. Let us also stress that this motion
describes (when one makes recourse to the light-like solutions: see the following) particle
spin at a classical level. In fact, such a classical system has been shown to describe, after
quantization, the Dirac electron. Namely, Barut and Pavšič13 started from the classical
hamiltonian corresponding to eq.(1):

H = z̄γ µ z(pµ − eAµ ) ; (3)

passed to its quantum version, in which the above quantities are regarded as operators;
and considered in the Schroedinger picture the equation
∂ϕ
i = Hϕ (4)
∂τ
where ϕ = ϕ(τ, x, z) is the wave function, and the operators in eq.(3) are pµ −→ −i∂/∂xµ
and iz̄ −→ −i∂/∂z. The wave function ϕ can be expanded in the z variable, around
z = 0, as follows:

ϕ(τ, x, z) = Φ̄(τ, x) + ψ̄α (τ, x)z α + ψ̄αβ (τ, x)z α z β + ...

where α, β are spinorial indices. Quantity ψ̄ ≡ ψ † γ 0 is the Dirac adjoint spinor, which
a charge ē and a mass m̄ are attributed to. By disregarding the spin–zero term Φ̄(τ, x),
and retaining only the second (spin 21 ) term, thus neglecting also the higher–spin terms,
from eq.(4) they then derived the equation

∂ ψ̄
i = (i∂µ + ēAµ )ψ̄γ µ . (5)
∂τ
Taking the Dirac adjoint of such an equation, with14 ē = −e; m̄ = −m, one ends up
just with the Dirac equation. This confirms, by the way, that the term ψ̄α z α refers to the
spin 21 case, i.e. to the case of the electron.#3

An alternative approach leading to a classical description of particles with spin is the

one by Pavšič,16,17 who made recourse to the (extrinsic) curvature of the particle world–
line in Minkowski space; so that his starting, classical lagrangian [α,β = constants]
!
√ 1 d ẋµ
L = ẋ2 (α − βK 2 ); K µ ≡ √ √ (6)
ẋ2 dτ ẋ2

oscillating with the zbw frequency 2m; and that, again, the total angular momentum Jµν = Lµν + Sµν is
a constant of motion, quantities Sµν being the spin variables.
0#3
For the case of higher spins, cf. ref.15 .

4
 √
contained the extra (kinematical) term β ẋ2 K 2 . The conserved generator of rotations,
belonging to lagrangian (6), is once more Jµν = L√ µν + Sµν , where now, however,
(2) (2) (2) µ
Sµν = ẋµ pν − ẋν pµ , while pν ≡ ∂L/∂ ẍ = 2β ẍµ / ẋ2 is the second–order canonical
momentum, conjugated to ẋµ . The equations of motion, which correspond to eq.(6) for
constant K 2 , do again admit as solution16,17 the helical motion with the zbw frequency
ω = 2m. For a suitable choice of the constant K 2 , and when the affine parameter τ is
the CM proper–time, the equations of motion result to be [vµ ≡ ẋµ ]

v̇µ = 4Sµν pν ; Ṡµν = πµ vν − πν vµ ,

i.e., they are the same (for the free case: Aµ = 0) as in the Barut–Zanghi (BZ) theory.
Moreover, the constraint due to reparametrization invariance can be written as pµ v µ −
m = 0, which reminds us of the Dirac equation; and Poisson brackets are obtained which
obey the same algebra as the Dirac γ matrices.#4 Actually, the velocity vµ can be also
expressed, in terms of the canonically conjugate variables ẋµ and p(2)
µ , as follows:

ẋµ 4βm
vµ = k √ ; k≡ (2) µ
.
ẋ2 4αβ + pµ p(2)
Then, in ref.16 there were obtained the Poisson brackets:

{v µ , v ν } = 4S µν ;

{S µν , v ρ} = g µρ v ν − g νρ v µ ,

where k was chosen in such a way that k 3 /(2βm) = 4 .

The above relations are analogous to the corresponding quantum equations, in which
v µ is replaced by the Dirac operators γ µ , and the Poisson brackets by commutators. The
classical frequency of the orbital motion is equal to the zbw frequency of the Dirac theory.

Let us finally mention that the same classical equations of motion (and the same
Poisson–bracket algebra) have been found also in a third approach, which consists in
0#4
This conclusion, referring to a half–integer spin, has been criticized in refs.18 by noticing a seeming
analogy with the case of the ordinary orbital angular momentum (which admits integer spin values only).
We believe such arguments to not apply to the present situation, where spin is the orbital momentum
(2)
in the q µ ≡ ẋµ variables space; since the corresponding, canonically conjugate momentum pµ is never
a constant of motion. [Namely, when we consider a congruence of world-lines which are solutions of the
(2) R (2) µ
equations of motion, one finds a non–zero curl of the field pµ (q), so that the phase pµ dq is not
a single–valued function. Thus, a basis of single–valued wave functions does not exist, nor the operator
(2)
representation pµ −→ +i∂/∂q µ ; and the ordinary arguments about orbital angular momentum do no
longer apply].

5
adding to the ordinary lagrangian an extra term containing Grassmann variables.19

3. ABOUT THE ELECTRON STRUCTURE

Considering the interest of the previous results (which suggest in particular that the
helical motion can have a role in the origin of spin), we purpose to explore their physical
meaning more deeply, by the very natural —and powerful— language of the Clifford
algebras:20,21 in particular of the “space-time algebra (STA)” IR1,3 . First of all, let us
preliminarily clarify why Barut and Zanghi had to introduce the Dirac spinors z in their
lagrangian, by recalling that classically the motion of a spinning top has to be individuated
by (i) the world–line σ of its center of mass (e.g., by the ordinary coordinates xµ and
the conjugate momenta pµ ), and (ii) a Frenet tetrad#5 attached22 to the world–line σ.
This continues to be true when wishing to describe the motion of a point-like spinning
particle. For the Frenet tetrad23 we have:
eµ = Rγµ R̃ = Λνµ γν ; Λνµ ∈ L↑+ (7)

where e0 is parallel to the particle velocity v (even more, e0 = v whenever one does use
as parameter τ the CM system proper–time); the tilde represents the reversion#6; and
R = R(τ ) is a “Lorentz rotation” [more precisely, R ∈ Spin+ (1, 3), and a Lorentz
transform of quantity a is given by a′ = RaR̃]. Moreover RR̃ = R̃R = 1 . The Clifford
STA fundamental unit–vectors γµ should not be confused with the Dirac matrices γ µ . Let
us also recall that, while the orthonormal vectors γµ ≡ ∂/∂xµ constitute a global tetrad
in Minkowski space-time (associated with a given inertial observer), on the contrary the
Frenet tetrad eµ is defined only along σ, in such a way that e0 is tangent to σ. At last,
it is: γ µ = η µν γν , and γ5 ≡ γ0 γ1 γ2 γ3 .
Notice that R(τ ) does contain all the essential information carried by a Dirac spinor.
In fact, out of R, a “Dirac–Hestenes” (DH) spinor24 ψDH can be constructed as follows:
1
ψDH = ρ 2 eβγ5 /2 R (8)

where ρ is a normalization factor; and eβγ5 = +1 for the electron (and −1 for the
positron); while, if ε is a primitive idempotent of the STA, any Dirac spinor ψD can be
represented in our STA as:25

ψD = ψDH ε . (9)

0#5
The use of Frenet tetrads in connection with the Dirac formalism was first investigated in ref.22 .
0#6
The main anti-automorphism in IR1,3 (called reversion), denoted by the tilde, is such that
g = B̃ Ã, and à = A when A is a scalar or a vector, while F̃ = −F when F is a 2-vector.
AB

6
For instance, the Dirac spinor z introduced by BZ is obtained from the DH spinor#7 by the
choice ε = 21 (1 + γ0 ). Incidentally, the Frenet frame can also write ρeµ = ψDH γµ ψ̃DH .
Let us stress that, to specify how does the Frenet tetrad rotate as τ varies, one has
to single out a particular R(τ ), and therefore a DH spinor ψDH , and eventually a Dirac
spinor ψD . This makes intuitively clear why the BZ Dirac–spinor z can a priori provide
a description of the “spin motion” of a classical particle.
Let us now repeat what precedes on a more formal ground. In the following, unless
differently stated, we shall indicate the DH spinors ψDH simply by ψ.

Let us translate the BZ lagrangian into the Clifford language.

In eq.(1) quantity z T = (z1 z2 z3 z4 ) is a Dirac spinor τ −→ z(τ ), and z̄ = z † γ 0 .
To perform our translation, we need a matrix representation of the Clifford space-time
algebra; this can be implemented by representing the fundamental Clifford vectors (γ0 ,
γ1 , γ2 , γ3 ) by the ordinary Dirac matrices γ µ . Choosing:
! !
11 0 0 −σi
γ0 −→ γ 0 ≡ ; γi −→ γ i ≡ ,
0 −11 σi 0
the representative in IR1,3 of Barut–Zanghi’s quantity z is

z −→ Ψ ≡ ψ ε ; ε ≡ 21 (1 + γ0 ) (10)

where ψ, and ψ̃, are represented (with ψ ψ̃ = 11) by

   
z1 −z̄2 z3 z̄4 z̄1 z̄2 −z̄3 −z̄4
 z2 z̄1 z4 −z̄3   −z2 z1 −z4 z3 
   
ψ =   ; ψ̃ =   . (11)
 z3 z̄4 z1 −z̄2   −z̄3 −z̄4 z̄1 −z̄2 
z4 −z̄3 z2 z̄1 −z4 z3 −z2 z1
The translation of the various terms in eq.(1) is then:
1 ˙
2
i(z̄ z − z ż) −→ hψ̃ ψ̇γ1 γ2 i0
pµ (ẋµ − z̄γ µ z) −→ hp(ẋ − ψγ0 ψ̃)i0
eAµ z̄γ µ z −→ e hAψγ0 ψ̃i0 ,
where h i0 means “the scalar part” of the Clifford product. Thus, the lagrangian L in
the Clifford formalism is

L = hψ̃ ψ̇γ1 γ2 + p(ẋ − ψγ0 ψ̃) + eAψγ0 ψ̃i0 , (12)

0#7
The DH spinors can be regarded as the parent spinors, since all the other spinors of common use
among physicists are got from them by operating as in eq.(9). We might call them “the fundamental
spinors”.

7
which is analogous, incidentally, to Krüger’s lagrangian26 (apart from a misprint).
As we are going to see, by “quantizing” it, also in the present formalism it is possible
(and, actually, quite easy) to derive from L the Dirac–Hestenes equation:#8

∂ ψ(x) γ1 γ2 + m ψ(x) γ0 + e A(x) ψ(x) = 0 , (13)

which is nothing but the ordinary Dirac equation written down in the Clifford
formalism.20,24 Quantity ∂ = γ µ ∂µ is the Dirac operator. Let us notice that p in
eq.(12) can be regarded as a Lagrange multiplier, when the velocity v = ẋ is represented
by ψγ0 ψ̃. The BZ theory is indeed a hamiltonian system, as proved by using Clifford
algebras in ref.27 (cf. also ref.28 ). The dynamical variables are then (ψ, ψ̃, x, p), and the
Euler–Lagrange equations yield a system of three independent equations:

ψ̇γ1 γ2 + πψγ0 = 0 (14a)

ẋ = ψγ0 ψ̃ (14b)
π̇ = eF · ẋ (14c)

where F ≡ ∂ ∧ A is the electromagnetic field (a bivector, in Hestenes’ language) and

π ≡ p−eA is the kinetic momentum. [Notice incidentally, from eq.(14b), that ẋ2 = ρ(τ )].
At this point, let us consider a velocity vector field V (x) together with its integral lines
(or stream–lines). Be σ the stream–line along which a particle moves (i.e., the particle
world–line). Then, the velocity distribution V is required to be such that its restriction
V (x)|σ to the world–line σ is the ordinary velocity v = v(τ ) of the considered particle.
If we moreover recall29,30 that any Lorentz “rotation” R can be written R = eF , where
F is a bivector, then along any stream–line σ we shall have:19
dR 1 1
Ṙ ≡ = v µ Ωµ R = ΩR , (15)
dτ 2 2
with ∂µ R = Ωµ R/2, where Ωµ ≡ 2∂µ F , and where Ω ≡ v µ Ωµ is the angular–velocity
bivector (also known, in differential geometry, as the “Darboux bivector”). Therefore,
for the tangent vector along any line σ we obtain the relevant relation:
d
= v µ ∂µ = v · ∂
dτ
The [total derivative] equation (14a) thus becomes:#8

v · ∂ψγ1 γ2 + πψγ0 = 0 , (16)

0#8
Observe that in eq.(12) it is ψ = ψ(τ ), while in eq.(13) we have ψ = ψ(x) with ψ(x) such that its
restriction ψ(x)|σ to the world–line σ coincides with ψ(τ ). Below, we shall meet the same situation,
for instance, when passing from eq.(14a) to eqs.(16)–(16’).

8
which is a non-linear [partial derivative] equation, as it is easily seen by using eq.(14b)
and rewriting it in the noticeable form

(ψγ0 ψ̃) · ∂ψγ1 γ2 + πψγ0 = 0 . (16’)

Equation (16’) constitutes a new non-linear Dirac–like equation. The solutions of this
new equation will be explicitly discussed elsewhere.
Let us here observe only that the probability current J ≡ V is conserved: ∂ · V = 0,
as we shall show elsewhere.
Let us pass now to the free case (Aµ = 0), when eq.(14a) may be written

ψ̇γ1 γ2 + pψγ0 = 0 , (14’a)

and admits some simple solutions.12 Actually, in this case p is constant [cf. eq.(14c)] and
one can choose the γµ frame so that p = mγ0 is a constant vector in the direction γ0 .
Since ẋ = ψγ0 ψ̃, it follows that
1 p
v = ψpψ̃ ; = ψ −1 v ψ̃ −1 . (17)
m m
The mean value of v over a zitterbewegung period is then given by the relation

hvizbw = p/m = ψ −1 v ψ̃ −1 (18)

which resembles the ordinary quantum–mechanical mean value for the wave–function ψ −1
(recall that in Clifford algebra for any ψ it exists its inverse). Let us recall, by comparison,
that the time average of vµ given in eq.(2c) over a zbw period is evidently equal to pµ /m.
Let us explicitly stress that, due to the first one [z −→ ψε] of eqs.(10), the results
found by BZ for z are valid as well for ψ in our formalism. For instance, for BZ [cf.
µ
eq.(1’)] it was v µ = z̄γ µ z ≡ vBZ , while in the Clifford formalism [cf. eq.(11)] it is
µ
v = ψγ 0 ψ = hγ 0 ψ̃γ µ ψi0 γµ = vBZ γµ . As a consequence, σ refers in general to a
cylindrical helix (for the free case) also in our formalism.
Going back to eq.(14’a), by the second one of eqs.(17) we finally obtain our non-linear
(free) Dirac–like equation in the following form:

v · ∂ψγ1 γ2 + mψ −1 v ψ̃ −1 ψγ0 = 0 , (19)

which in the ordinary, tensorial language would write: i(Ψ̄γ µ Ψ)∂µ Ψ = γ µ pµ Ψ, where
Ψ and γ µ are now an ordinary Dirac spinor and the ordinary Dirac matrices, respectively,
and p̂µ ≡ i∂µ .

9
 In connection with this fundamental equation of motion (19), let us explicitly no-
tice the following. At a classical level, the equation of motion in the BZ theory was
eq.(14a), which held for the world–line σ. In other words, eq.(14a) was valid for one
world–line; on the contrary, eq.(19) is a field equation, satisfied by quantities ψ(x) such
that ψ(x)|σ = ψ(τ ). A change in interpretation is of course necessary when passing
from the classical to the “quantum” level: and therefore eq.(19) is now to be regarded as
valid for a congruence of world lines, that is to say, for a congruence of stream–lines of
the velocity field V = V (x). In the quantum case, the “particle” can follow any of those
integral lines, with probability amplitude ρ. In this context, it must be recalled that
a tentative interpretation of the Dirac equation within the Clifford algebra approach has
been suggested in ref.20 , and later in ref.31 . However, in the present paper we shall not
put forth, nor discuss, any interpretation of our formalism.
As we have seen, eq.(19) will hold for our helical motions. Notice moreover that, since
1
[cf. eq.(8)] it is ψ = ρ 2 eβγ5 /2 R, in the case of the helical path solution the Lorentz
“rotation” R will be the product of a pure space rotation and a boost.

It is important to observe that, if we replace v in eq.(19) by its mean value over a zbw
period, eq.(18), then we end up with the Dirac–Hestenes equation [i.e., the ordinary Dirac
equation!], valid now for the center-of-mass world–line. In fact, since hvizbw = p/m,
eq.(19) yields

p · ∂ψγ1 γ2 + mpψγ0 = 0 , (19’)

and therefore —if we recall that for the eigenfunctions of p in the DH approach20 it holds
∂ψγ1 γ2 = pψ, so that (p · ∂)ψγ1 γ2 = p∂ψγ1 γ2 — one obtains:

p(∂ψγ1 γ2 + mψγ0 ) = 0 , (19”)

which is satisfied once it holds the ordinary Dirac equation (in its Dirac–Hestenes form):

∂ψγ1 γ2 + mψγ0 = 0 . (20)

Let us observe that all the eigenfunctions of p are solutions both of eq.(19) and of the
Dirac equation.

In conclusion, our non-linear Dirac–like equation (19) is a quantum–relativistic equa-

tion, that can be regarded as “sub-microscopic” in the sense that it refers to the internal
motion of a point-like “constituent” Q. In fact, the density current ψγ 0 ψ̃, relative to the
solutions ψ of eq.(19), does oscillates in time in a helical fashion, in complete analogy
to the initial equation (2c); so that x and ẋ refer to Q. On the contrary, the ordinary
(linear) Dirac equation can be regarded as the equation describing the global motion

10
of the geometrical centre of the system (i.e., of the whole “electron”); actually, it has
been obtained from eq.(19) by linearization, that is to say, replacing the density current
v ≡ ψγ 0 ψ̃ by its time average p/m over the zbw period [cf. eqs.(17)–(18)].
At last, let us underline that, in the free case, eq.(14’a) admits also a trivial solution
σ0 , corresponding to rectilinear motion.

4. A VERY SIMPLE SOLUTION

In the free case, the equation

ψ̇γ1 γ2 + pψγ0 = 0 (14’a)

admits also a very simple solution (the limit of the ordinary helical paths when their
radius r tends to zero), which —incidentally— escaped BZ’s attention. In fact, let us
recall that in this case eq.(14c) implies p to be constant, and we were thus able to choose
p = mγ0 . As a consequence, quantities R entering any solution ψ of eq.(14’a) become
pure space rotations. Actually, if solution ψ is essentially a pure space rotation, it holds
ψγ0 ψ̃ = γ0 ρ, and eq.(14’a) becomes ψ −1 ψ̇ = mγ1 γ2 , so that one verifies that
1
ψ = ρ 2 exp[−γ2 γ1 mτ ] = ψ(0) exp[−γ2 γ1 mτ ] (21)

is a (very simple) solution of its. Moreover, from eq.(14b) it follows

v ≡ ẋ = ργ0
and we can set ρ = 1, which confirms that our trivial solution (21) corresponds to
rectilinear uniform motion, and that τ in this case is just the proper–time along the
particle world–line σ0 . (In this case, of course, the zbw disappears).
But, recalling eq.(16), equation (14’a) in the free case may read

v · ∂ψγ1 γ2 + mvψγ0 = 0
and finally (using an argument analogous to the one leading to eq.(19”))

v(∂ψγ1 γ2 + mψγ0 ) = 0 ,
which is satisfied once it holds the equation

∂ψγ1 γ2 + mψγ0 = 0 (20’)

11
which, as expected, is just the Dirac equation in the Clifford formalism.

Before going on, we want to explicitly put forth the following observation. Let us first
recall that in our formalism the (Lorenz force) equation of motion for a charged particle
moving with velocity w in an electromagnetic field F is
e
ẇ = F ·w . (22)
m
Now, for all the free–particle solution of the BZ theory in the Clifford language, it holds
the “Darboux relation”:

ėµ = Ω · eµ , (23)

so that the “sub–microscopic” point–like object Q, moving along the helical path σ, is
endowed [cf. eq.(15)] with the angular–velocity bivector

1 1
Ω = 2
ėµ ∧ eµ = 2
ėµ eµ , (24)

as it follows by recalling that eµ can always be written, like in eq.(7), as eµ = Rγµ R̃.
Finally, let us observe that eq.(23) yields in particular ė0 = Ω · e0 , which is formally
identical to eq.(22). Thus, the formal, algebraic way we chose [see eq.(22)] for describing
that the system as a whole possesses a non-vanishing magnetic dipole structure suggests
that the bivector field Ω may be regarded as a kind of internal electromagnetic–like field,
which keeps the “sub–microscopic” object Q moving along the helix.32 In other words, Q
may be considered as confining itself along σ [i.e., along a circular orbit, in the electron
CM], via the generation of the internal, electromagnetic–like field
m
Fint ≡ ėµ ∧ eµ .
2e
We shall further discuss this point elsewhere.

5. ABOUT HESTENES’ INTERPRETATION

In connection with our new equation (16’), or rather with its (free) form (19), we met
solutions corresponding —in the free case— to helical motions with constant radius r; as
well as a limiting solution, eq.(21), for r → 0. We have seen above that the latter is a
solution also of the ordinary (free) Dirac equation.
Actually, the solution of the Dirac equation for a free electron in its rest frame can be
written in the present formalism as:20

12
 ψ(x) = ψ(0) exp[−γ2 γ1 mτ ] (25)

which coincides with our eq.(21) along the world–line σ0 .

It is interesting to examine how in refs.20 , even if confronting themselves only with
the usual (linear) Dirac equation and with eq.(25), those authors were led to propose
for the electron the existence of internal helical motions. It was first noticed that, in
correspondence with solution (25), it is ė0 = 0; ė3 = 0, so that e0 , e3 are constants;
while e2 , e3 are rotating 9 in the e2 e1 plane (i.e., in the spin plane20 ) with the zbw frequency
ω = 2m [h̄ = c = 1]:

e1 (τ ) = e1 (0) cos 2mτ + e2 (0) sin 2mτ

(26)
e2 (τ ) = e2 (0) cos 2mτ − e1 (0) sin 2mτ

as follows from eq.(7) with R = exp[−γ2 γ1 mτ ]. Incidentally, by recalling that in the

Clifford formalism the spin bivector S is given by
h̄ h̄
S = Rγ2 γ1 R̃ = e2 e1 , (27)
2 2
whilst the angular–velocity bivector Ω is given by eq.(24), one then gets

p·v = Ω·S = m, (28)

which seems to suggest20 the electron rest–mass to have an (internal) kinetic origin!
Hestenes could do nothing but asking himself (following Lorentz33,34 ): what is rotat-
ing?
If something was rotating inside the electron, since v = e0 refers in this case to the
electron mean motion, i.e., is the velocity of the whole electron, in refs.20 it was assumed
for the velocity of the internal “constituent” Q the value

u = e0 − e2 ; e0 ≡ v (29)

which is a light–like quantity. Eq.(29) represents a null vector since e0 2 = +1; e2 2 = −1

(quite analogously, they could have chosen u = e0 − e1 ). Notice that the ordinary Dirac
current will correspond to the average ū of velocity u over a zbw period; i.e., due to
eqs.(26), to: ū = e0 = v, as expected. However, if we set u ≡ ζ̇, then one gets20

ζ(τ ) = (eΩτ − 1)R0 + ζ0 , (30)

13
which is just the parametric equation of a light–like helix ζ(τ ) = x(τ ) + R(τ ) centered
on the stream–line σ0 with radius RH given by [ω = 2m]:
−e1 −u̇
RH (τ ) = eΩτ R0 = = 2 . (31)
ω ω
The parameters in eqs.(30)-(31) were chosen by Hestenes20 in such a way that the helix
diameter equals the Compton wavelength of the electron, and the angular momentum of
the zbw motion yields the correct electron spin. It is possible, incidentally, that such
a motion be also at the origin of the electric charge; in any case, we saw that, if the
electron is associated with a clock-wise rotation, then the positron will be associated with
an anti–clock-wise rotation, with respect to the motion direction.
Choice (29), of course, suits perfectly well with the standard discussions about the
velocity operator35 for the Dirac equation, and as a consequence does naturally allow
considering that helical motion as the classical analog of zbw. Moreover, when making
recourse to the light-like solutions, the electron spin can be regarded as totally originating
from the zbw motion, since the intrinsic term ∆µν entering the BZ theory(10) does vanish
as the zbw speed tends to c.

However, such approach by Hestenes, even if inspiring and rich of physical intuition,
seems rather ad hoc and in need of a few assumptions [particularly with regard to eqs.(29)
and (31)]. In our opinion, to get a sounder theoretical ground, it is to be linked with our
eqs.(16’), (19) and the related discussion above.

In the original BZ theory, there exist particular initial conditions yielding as a limiting
case a light–like velocity v µ = z̄γ µ z; that is, such that v µ vµ = 0, as it can be checked
from eq.(2b). [For instance, in ref.24 light–like helical paths have been obtained in corre-
spondence with Majorana (singular) DH spinors ψ]. However, in our Clifford formalism,
which makes recourse to the Frenet tetrad, quantity v was bound to be time–like. We
may, of course, allow for a light–like v; but, in this case, we have to change the explicit
representation of the velocity vector in the BZ lagrangian: for instance, to comply with
Hestenes’ assumption (29), we have just to set: v = ψγ0 ψ̃ − ψγ2 ψ̃, so that eq.(12) has
to be rewritten accordingly as follows:

L = hψ̃ ψ̇γ1 γ2 + p(ẋ − ψγ0 ψ̃ + ψγ2 ψ̃) + eA(ψγ0 ψ̃ − ψγ2 ψ̃)i0 . (12’)

But choice (29) of ref.20 is just one possibility; for example, one might choose

u = e0 − e1 − e2 (32)

and in this case we would get for the rotating point–object Q a space–like velocity u,
whose mean value ū would still be

14
 ū = e0 .

This would correspond in our Clifford formalism to representing the velocity vector as
v = ψγ0 ψ̃ − ψγ1 ψ̃ − ψγ2 ψ̃, and modifying the lagrangian (12’) accordingly.
In any case, one may observe that also with the choice (29) the light–like u results from
the composition of a time–like velocity e0 with a space–like velocity e2 . Some interesting
work in this direction did already appear in refs.36 , by Campolattaro.

6. FURTHER REMARKS

We mentioned, at the beginning, about further methods for introducing —partially, at

least— an helical motion as the classical limit of the “spin motion”. We want here to show,
at last, how to represent in the Clifford formalism the extrinsic curvature approach,16,17
corresponding to lagrangian (6), due to its interest for the development of the present
work.
Let us first recall that in classical differential geometry one defines23 the Frenet frame
{eµ } of a non-null curve σ by the so–called Frenet equations, which with respect to proper
time τ write [besides ẋ = e0 = v]:

ẍ = ė0 = K1 e1 ; ė1 = −K1 e0 + K2 e2 ; ė2 = −K2 e1 + K3 e3 ; ė3 = −K3 e2 (33)

where the i-th curvatures Ki (i=1,2,3) are scalar functions chosen in such a way that
ej 2 = −1, with j=1,2,3. Quantity K1 is often called curvature, and K2 , K3 torsions
(recall that in the 3–dimensional space one meets only K1 and K2 , called curvature and
torsion, respectively). Inserting eqs.(33) into eq.(24), we get for the Darboux (angular–
velocity) bivector:

Ω = K1 e1 e0 + K2 e2 e1 + K3 e3 e2 , (34)

so that one can build the following scalar function

Ω · Ω = K12 − K22 − K32 = (ėµ ∧ eµ ) · (ėν ∧ eν ) . (34’)

At this point, one may notice that the square, K 2 , of the “extrinsic curvature” entering
eq.(6) is equal to −K12 , so that the lagrangian adopted in refs.16 results —after the present
analysis— to take advantage only of the first part,

ẍ2 = ė20 = −K12 ,

15
of the Lorentz invariant (34’). On the contrary, in our formalism the whole invariant Ω · Ω
suggests itself as the suitable, complete lagrangian for the problem at issue; and in future
work we shall exploit it, in particular comparing the expected results with Plyushchay’s.37
For the moment, let us stress here only the possibly important result that the lagrangian
L = Ω · Ω does coincide (factors apart) along the particle world–line σ with the auto–
interaction term38

θ5 (dθµ ∧ θµ ) · (dθν ∧ θν )

of the Einstein–Hilbert lagrangian density written (in the Clifford bundle formalism) in
terms of tetrads of 1-form fields θµ . Quantity θ5 ≡ θ0 θ1 θ2 θ3 is the volume element.
Finally, we can examine within our formalism the third approach: that one utilizing
Grassmann variables.19 For instance, if we recall that the Grassmann product is nothing
but the external part Ar ∧ Bs = hAr Bs i|r−s| of the Clifford product (where Ar , Bs are a
r-vector and a s-vector, respectively), then the Ikemori lagrangian19 can be immediately
translated into the Clifford language and shown to be equivalent to the BZ lagrangian,
apart from the constraint p2 = m2 .
Further considerations about the solutions of our non-linear, Dirac–like, new equation
and the interesting consequences of the present formalism are in preparation and will
appear elsewhere.

7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors acknowledge the important collaboration of G.D. Maccarrone, S. Sambataro,

R.M. Santilli and particularly of J. Vaz and G. Salesi. They are also grateful to Asim
O. Barut, A. Campolattaro, R.H.A. Farias, E. Giannetto, R.L. Monaco, P. Lounesto, A.
Insolia, E. Majorana jr., J.E. Maiorino, E.C. de Oliveira, M. Pignanelli, G.M. Prosperi,
M. Sambataro, Q.G. de Souza and M.T. Vasconselos for stimulating discussions. Two
of them (M.P. and W.A.R.) thank moreover I.N.F.N.–Sezione di Catania, Catania, Italy,
for kind hospitality during the preparation of the first draft of this work.

16
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L.H. Kramers: Quantentheorie des Electron und der Strahlung (1938); H. Hönl and
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[2] E. Schrödinger: Sitzunber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Phys.-Math. Kl. 24 (1930) 418. Cf.
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[4] H.C. Corben: Phys. Rev. 121 (1961) 1833.

[5] F.A. Berezin and M.S. Marinov: JETP Lett. 21 (1975) 320.

[6] R. Casalbuoni: Nuovo Cimento 33 (1976) 389.

[7] M. Pauri: in Group Theoretical Methods in Physics, Lectures Notes in Physics,

vol. 135, p.615, ed. by J.Ehlers, K.Hepp, R.Kippenhahn, H.A.Weidenmüller and
J.Zittartz (Springer-Verlag; Berlin, 1980). See also E.P. Wigner: Ann. of Phys. 40
(1939) 149.

[8] T.F. Jordan and N. Mukunda: Phys. Rev. 132 (1963) 1842.

[9] W.A. Rodrigues Jr., J. Vaz Jr. and E. Recami: Found. Phys. 23 (1993) 469.

[10] A.O. Barut and N. Zanghi: Phys. Rev. Lett. 52 (1984) 2009.

[11] F. Riewe: Lett. Nuovo Cimento 1 (1971) 807.

[12] W.A. Rodrigues Jr., J. Vaz Jr., E. Recami and G. Salesi: “About Zitterbewegung
and Electron Structure”, Phys. Lett. B318 (1993) 623-628. See also M. Pavšič,
E. Recami, W.A. Rodrigues Jr., G.D. Maccarrone, F. Raciti and G. Salesi: “Spin
and electron structure”, Phys. Letters B 318 (1993) 481-488; M.Pavšič, E.Recami
and W.A.Rodrigues: “Electron structure, Zitterbewegung, and a new non-linear,
Dirac–like equation for the electron”, Hadronic J. 18 (1995) 97-118. See also the
more recent works G.Salesi and E.Recami: “Field theory of the spinning electron:
I - The Internal motions”, Phys. Letters A190 (1994) 137-143; A195 (1994) E389;
”Hydrodynamical reformulation and quantum limit of the Barut–Zanghi theory”,
Found. Phys. Lett. 10 (1997) 533-546; E.Recami and G. Salesi: “Field theory of
the spinning electron: II - The new, non-linear, Dirac-like equations”, Adv. Appl.
Cliff. Alg. 6 (1996) 27-36; E.Recami and G.Salesi: ”Hydrodynamics and kinematics
of spinning particles”, Physical Review A57 (1998, Jan.), issue no.1; ”Velocity field

17
 and operator in (non-relativistic) quantum mechanics”, Found. of Phys. 28 (1998),
no.5.

[13] A.O. Barut and M. Pavšič: Class. Quant. Grav. 4 (1987) L131.

[14] Cf., e.g., E. Recami and G. Ziino: Nuovo Cim. A33 (1976) 205.

[15] A.O. Barut: Phys. Lett. B237 (1990) 436.

[16] M. Pavšič: Phys. Lett. B205 (1988) 231; B221 (1989) 264; Class. Quant. Grav. 7
(1990) L187.

[17] M. Pavšič: (in preparation). Cf. also H. Arodź, A. Sitarz and P. Wegrzyn: Acta
Phys. Pol. B20 (1989) 921; M.S. Plyushchay: Phys. Lett. B236 (1990) 291.

[18] J. Isberg, U. Lindström, H. Nordström and J. Grundberg: Mod. Phys. Lett. A5

(1990) 2491; M.S. Plyushchay: Phys. Lett. B235 (1990) 50.

[19] A.O. Barut and M. Pavšič: Phys. Lett. B216 (1989) 297; H. Ikemori: Phys. Lett.
B199 (1987) 239; F.A. Berezin and M.S. Marinov: Ann. of Phys. 104 (1977) 336.

[20] D. Hestenes: Found. Phys. 20 (1990) 1213. See also D. Hestenes: Found. Phys. 15
(1985) 63; J. Math. Phys. 14 (1973) 893; and R. Gurtler and D. Hestenes: J. Math.
Phys. 16 (1975) 573.

[21] D. Hestenes: Space–Time Algebra (Gordon & Breach; New York, 1966); New Foun-
dations for Classical Mechanics (Reidel; Dordrecht, 1989). See also A. Crumeyrolle:
Orthogonal and Symplectic Clifford Algebras: Spinor Structures (Kluwer; Dordrecht,
1990).

[22] F. Gursey: Nuovo Cimento 5 (1957) 784.

[23] See D. Hestenes and G. Sobczyk: Clifford Algebra to Geometric Calculus (Reidel;
Dordrecht, 1984), Chapt. 6.

[24] D. Hestenes: J. Math. Phys. 14 (1973) 893; 16 (1975) 556. Cf. also W.A. Rodrigues
jr. and E.C. Oliveira: Int. J. Theor. Phys. 29 (1990) 397.

[25] V.L. Figuereido, E.C. Oliveira and W.A. Rodrigues Jr.: Int. J. Theor. Phys. 29
(1990) 371.

[26] H. Krüger: in The Electron, ed. by D. Hestenes and A. Weingartshofer (Kluwer;

Dordrecht, 1991), p.49. See also the contributions by R. Boudet and S. Gull into the
same volume.

18
[27] J. Vaz, Jr. and W.A. Rodrigues Jr.: “Clifford Algebra Approach to the Barut-Zanghi
Models as a Hamiltonian System”, preprint RP 11/93 (Imecc-UNICAMP; Campinas,
S.P., 1993).

[28] J. Rawnsley: Lett. Math. Phys. 24 331 (1992).

[29] J.R.R. Zeni and W.A. Rodrigues Jr.: Int. J. Mod. Phys. A7 (1992) 1793.

[30] J. Vaz Jr. and W.A. Rodrigues Jr.: Int. J. Theor. Phys. 6 945 (1993).

[31] S. Gull, A. Lasenby and C. Doran: “Electron Paths, Tunnelling and Diffraction in
the Spacetime Algebra”, to appear in Found. Phys. (1993).

[32] Cf. also, e.g., G. Szamosi and D. Trevisan: preprint (Univ. of Windsor, Ontario;
1978).

[33] See e.g. H.A. Lorentz: Theory of Electrons, 2nd edition (Teubner; Leipzig, 1916),
p.2. Cf. also refs.35 .

[34] Cf. also W.A. Rodrigues Jr., J. Vaz Jr. and E. Recami: “Free Maxwell equations,
Dirac equation, and Non-dispersive de Broglie Wave–Packets”, in Courants, Amers,
Écueils en Microphysique, ed. by G. & P.Lochak (Paris, 1994), pp. 379-392 .

[35] See e.g. S.S. Schweber: An Introduction to Relativistic Quantum Field Theory
(Harper & Row; New York, 1961), p.91; J.D. Bjorken and S.D. Drell: Relativis-
tic Quantum Mechanics (McGraw–Hill; New York, 1964).

[36] A. Campolattaro: Int. J. Theor. Phys. 29 (1990) 141, and refs. therein.

[37] M.S. Plyushchay: Phys. Lett. B235 (1990) 47.

[38] W.A. Rodrigues Jr. and Q.A.G. de Souza: Found. Phys. 23 (1993) 1465.

19
Physics Letters B 318 ( 1993 ) 6 2 3 - 6 2 8 PHYSICS LETTERS B
North-Holland

A b o u t zitterbewegung and electron structure *

Waldyr A. Rodrigues Jr, Jayme Vaz Jr.
Departamento de Matemdtica Aplicada, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13081-970 Campinas, S.P., Brazil

Erasmo Recami i and Giovanni Salesi

INFN - Sezione di Catania, 57 Corsitalia, 95129-Catania, Italy

Received 22 June 1993

Editor:. R. Gatto

We start from the spinning electron model by Barut and Zanghi, which has been recently translated into the Clifford
algebra language. We "complete" such a translation, first of all, by expressing in the Clifford formalism a particular
Barut-Zanghi (BZ) solution, which refers (at the classical limit) to an "internal" helical motion with a time-like
speed (and is here shown to originate from the superposition of positive and negative frequency solutions of the Dirac
equation). Then, we show how to construct solutions of the Dirac equation describing helical motions with light-like
speed, which meet very well the standard interpretation of the velocity operator in the Dirac equation theory (and
agree with the solution proposed by Hestenes, on the basis - however - of ad-hoc assumptions that are unnecessary in
the present approach). The above results appear to support the conjecture that the zitterbewegung motion (a helical
motion, at the classical limit) is responsible for the electron spin.

1. I n t r o d u c t i o n ated the electron spin and zbw - at the classical limit

- with a canonical system [a point Q moving along a
The mysterious zitterbewegung motion, associ- cylindrical helix] which after quantization describes
ated since long with the electron structure, seems the Dirac electron [4]. In ref. [7], Pav~i~ et al. pre-
to be responsible for the electron spin. Indeed, sented a thoughtful study o f the above results in terms
Schr6dinger [1 ] proposed the electron spin to be a o f the Clifford algebra formalism; however, they [7]
consequence o f a local circulatory motion, constitut- left many questions still open, and the aim o f this note
ing the zitterbewegung (zbw) and resulting from the is addressing a few o f them.
interference between positive and negative energy so- First of all, let us recall that Hestenes' analysis [5]
lutions o f the Dirac equation. Such an issue turned was based on his reformulation [ 5,6,8,9 ] o f Dirac the-
out to be o f renewed interest, following recent work, ory in terms of the so-called "Clifford s p a c e - t i m e alge-
e.g., by Barut et al. [ 2 - 4 ] , Hestenes [5,6], and Pavgi~ bra (STA)" •1,3. For details about the Dirac-Hestenes
et al. [7]. Let us recall that the pair o f conjugate vari- ( D H ) spinors and the Clifford bundle formalism
ables (x ~, Pu ) is not enough to characterize the spin- (used also below), see e.g. refs. [ 10-14]. In Hestenes'
ning particle. In fact, after introducing the additional papers [5,6] on his "zbw interpretation of quantum
classical spinor variables (z, iT) (where z is a Dirac mechanics", an ad-hoc assumption appeared, when he
spinor; and ~ - z ' y ° ) , Barut and Zanghi [2] associ- identified the electron velocity with the light-like vec-
tor u = e0 - e2, with ei = ~/7i~, (i = 0,2), where
Work partially supported by INFN, CNR, MURST and ~/is a (plane-wave) DH spinor field [5,6,10-12] sat-
by CNPq, FAPESP. isfying the Dirac-Hestenes equation (i.e., the equa-
Also: Facolt/l di Ingegneria, Universitfi Statale di Berg-
tion representing the ordinary Dirac equation in the
amo, Dalmine (BG), Italy, and Department of Ap-
plied Mathematics, State University at Campinas; 13083 Clifford formalism). Then, he represented the elec-
Campinas, S.P., Brazil. tron internal structure by a light-like helical motion

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. 623

Volume 318, number 4 PHYSICS LETTERS B 16 December 1993

o f a sub-microscopic "constituent" Q, such that (for where e0 is parallel to the panicle velocity v (even
a suitable choice of the helix parameters) the helix di- more, e0 = v when we can use as parameter T the par-
ameter equals the electron Compton wavelength and ticle proper-time). In eq. ( 1 ), the tilde d e n o t e s t h e re-
the angular m o m e n t u m of the zbw yields the correct version operation in the STA; namely: A B = B A , and
electron spin. At last, he directly associated the com- A = A ifA is a scalar or a vector, while ff = - F when
plex phase factor of the electron wave-function with F is a 2-vector. Quantity R = R ( z ) is a "Lorentz
the zbw motion. rotation" [18] (more precisely, R E S p i n + ( l , 3 )
We are going to show, among other things, that SL(2,C), and a Lorentz transform of quantity a is
Hestenes' ad-hoc assumption, namely that u = e0-e2, given by a' --- R a R ) . Moreover R R = _RR = 1.
is not necessary. More in general, below we shall show: The Clifford STA fundamental unit-vectors 7u, inci-
(i) how to construct in the center-of-mass (CM) frame dentally, should not be confused with the Dirac ma-
a particular solution o f the D H equation which cor- trices 7u. Let us also recall that, while the orthonor-
responds (at the classical limit) to a helical motion mal vectors 7u -- O / O x u constitute a global tetrad in
with a time-like velocity. It will result to be super- Minkowski space-time (associated with a given iner-
positions ~l of positive and negative energy solutions tial observer), on the contrary the Frenet tetrad eu is
o f the DH equation; that is to say (as thoroughly ex- defined only along a, in such a way that e0 is tangent
plained in ref. [15], only on the basis of relativistic to a. At last, it is: yu = r/uvyv, and 75 = 7071~2~3 is
classical physics), superpositions of particle and an- the volume element of the STA.
tiparticle solutions of the Dirac equation. This sug- If 7b E C4 is an ordinary Dirac spinor, in the STA
gests, as already pointed out in ref. [7], the BZ model it will be represented by
to be indeed equivalent in the CM frame to Dirac's
theory; (2)
(ii) that there exist also solutions of the DH equation
that correspond at the classical limit to a helical path where ~, c R 1,3 + is called a Dirac-Hestenes spinor
with the light speed c, in which case the velocity op- [8,14] and e is an appropriate primitive idempotent
erator [16] (as expected in ref. [5]) can actually be of RL3. It is noticeable that the spinor field ~' car-
identified with u = e0 - e2. ries all the essential information contained in ~ (and
~D, and - when it is nonsingular, g/~ # 0 - it ad-
mits [8,9] a remarkable canonical decomposition in
2. Spin and electron structure terms of a Lorentz rotation R, a duality transforma-
tion [19] e pzS/2, and a dilation v/~:
Let us start by recalling that - as shown by us in
ref. [7 ] - the dynamical behaviour o f a spinning point- ql = p°/2)e~r5/2R. (3)
like particle, that follows a world-line a = a ( r ) , must
be individuated - besides by the canonical variables In eq. (3), the normalization factor p belongs to R+;
(x ~, pu ) - also by the Frenet tetrad [ 7,17 ] quantity fl is the Takabayasi angle [20]; and e ~y5 =
+ 1 for the electron (and - 1 for the positron). Then,
eu = R T ~ R = A u~y . , A u~ E tr+ , (1) the Frenet tetrad can also be written

~1 Not everybody may like the appearance of such a super- peu = ~Tu~- (4)
position. It should be clearly noticed, however, that in
a generic frame our "helical" wave-functions have to be Now, let us take as the lagrangian for a classical spin-
expressed as superpositions of positive and negative fre- ning particle, interacting with the electromagnetic po-
quency solutions (of the Dirac equation) only whcn we tential A (a l-vector) the expression [7]
want to regard themselves - as done in this paper - as
solutions of the Dirac equation (17). On the contrary,
when we regard those "helical" wave-functions as solu- /~ = (~//~172 + P ( ) f - ~70~) + eA~70~7}o, (5)
tions of our new, non-linear, Dirac-like equation (6'),
no superposition of that kind is needed: cf. ref. [7]; this which is the translation [7] of the BZ lagrangian [2]
can be considered a further point in favour of eq. (6 ~). into the Clifford bundle formalism [cf. also ref. [21 ] ].

624
Volume 318, number 4 PHYSICS LETTERS B 16 December 1993

In eq. (5), ( )0 means "the scalar part" o f the Clifford which clearly shows the presence o f an internal heli-
product; the dot represents the derivation with respect cal motion (i.e., at the classical level, of the zbw phe-
to the invariant time-parameter z; and p can be re- nomenon).
garded as a Lagrange multiplier. Let us note, more- In eq. (14) we have H = v - p =constant. If the
over, that the BZ model is also a hamiltonian system, constant is chosen to be m,
as shown in refs. [22,23] by means o f Clifford alge-
bras. Then, the Euler-Lagrange equations yield a sys- lt = p.v = m, (15)
tem o f three independent equations:
and - more important - if now ~ ( x ) is a D H spinor
~7172 + ~zq/70 = 0, (6) f i e l d such that its restriction to the world-line a yields
~ ( r ) , namely Vio(x) = ~u(r), then eq. (13) writes
= v/70~, (7)
~u(x) = c o s ( p , x ) ~'(0) + sin(p . x ) 7o ~ ( 0 ) Y07W2,
ir = e F . . ~ , (8)
(lY)
where n -- p - e A is the kinetic momentum; F = 0 AA
is the electromagnetic field (a bivector, in Hestenes' which now is a quantum wave-function, solution, as
language); 0 = 7uOu is the Dirac operator; and sym- we are going to see, o f the Dirac equation! In fact, it is:
bols • and A denote the internal and external prod-
uct, respectively, in the STA. The system ( 6 ) - ( 8 ) is dq/ _ vUOu ~ = (v . 0 ) qJ, (16)
0- dr
just that which appeared in ref. [2], but written [7]
in terms o f the STA language. and, for any eigen-spinors q / o f / ~ , - 0~' 71~'2 = P~',
Let us pass to the free case, A = 0, for which one one gets [7] by using the equalities (v -0)~7172 =
gets (v ./~)¢u = (v . p ) ~ = m~, that eq. (9) transforms
into the ordinary Dirac equation in its Dirac-Hestenes
~//~1)~2 + P~//)~0 = 0 , (9) form [ 5 - 8 ] :

=
(10) 0~ylY2+ m~uy0 = 0. (17)

,3=0. (11) Notice once more that, while eq. (9) refers to ~ =
q/(r), on the contrary, the quantum equation (17)
If we choose the 7u frame in such a way that refers to the spinor field ~u = q/(x) [such that
~ l a ( x ) = ~0'(r)]. Then, eq. (13') is an actual solu-
P = mTo, (12) tion o f e q . (17); while eq. (13) - if you want - can be
is a constant vector in the 7o direction, with p2 = m 2, said to be a solution o f e q . (17) when this equation
then for the system ( 9 ) - ( 1 1 ) we find the solution is restricted along the stream-line tr (i.e., the world-
line o f the "sub-microscopic" object Q). When mov-
~ ( r ) = c o s ( m r ) ~'(0) + s i n ( m r ) 70~'(0) 7o7W2, ing from the classical to the quantum interpretation,
bearing in m i n d the F e y n m a n paths formalism, one
(13) has to pass from considering a single helical path to
where q/(0) is a constant spinor, which translates into consider a congruence of helical paths*2.
the Clifford language the solution [2] found by BZ Let us go back, for a moment, to the system ( 6 ) -
for their analogous system o f equations. In the case (9). We may notice that - using eq. (16) - the (total
of solution (13), it holds:
*2 Such a congruence of helical paths can be regarded as
p/-/ constituting a quantum "fluid"; in such a fluid, how-
v(r) - ~ ( r ) = -~- + v(O) - ~ cos(2mr) ever, we would have a flux of energy-momentum and
angular momentum also along the normal to the velocity
stream-lines. Therefore, this fluid would be a Weyssen-
+-~-m~)(O) s i n ( 2 m r ) , (14) hoff fluid [24], rather than a "Dirac fluid" [23].

625
Volume 318, number 4 PHYSICS LETTERS B 16 December 1993

derivative) equation (6) can be rewritten [7] in the Since

(partial derivative) noticeable form
~ ( o ) ~ ( 0 ) = p+ - p _ (22)
(gtTOl"Y) ' OglY,72 -I- :R~70 = 0, (6')
we can put, for simplicity, p+ - p_ = 1. In this case,
which is a non-linear, Dirac-like equation. ~,÷(0) = v/-f~ and ~ _ ( 0 ) = v/'ffL--717o. Then, by
using eq. (14), from eq. (21) it follows that

3. Time-like helical motions v ( 0 ) = (p+ + p _ ) 7 0 + 2 Pv/-~-P- y t ,

Let us prove, now, that solution ~ ( x ) o f e q . (17), ~ ( 0 ) = 4m v / - ~ p_ 71, (23)

which reduces to the ~u(T) given by eq. (13) on the
world-line tr o f the point-like constituent Q, is in- H=m(p+ +p_), (24)
deed a superposition #l of positive and negative en-
and we end up with
ergy states, i.e., o f particle and antiparticle states (for
a purely kinematical reinterpretation o f the negative
energy states in terms o f antiparticles, without any re- v ( z ) = (p+ + P-)7o + 2 Pv/-fi-~ff-S- [71 c o s ( 2 m z )
course to a "Dirac sea", cf. ref. [15] ). Indeed, ~ ( z )
+ 72 s i n ( 2 m z ) ] , (25)
can be written in the CM frame as
for which it is v 2 (z) = 1 (so that we got a special time-
V(T) = ½[~U(0)+ 7o~'(0)y0] exp(71Y2mz) like case). For the spin bivector S = (h/2)~y271~
and the spin vector s = ( h / 2 ) ~ ' y 3 ~ , we have in this
+ ½ [~u(0) - 70~'(0)y0] e x p ( - y l Y 2 m z ) . (18) case

But quantities
S = ½(p+ + p- )727, + ~ [7071 s i n ( 2 m z )

½[~'+70~'70] - A+(~,) (19) - 7o72 c o s ( 2 m r ) ], (26)

are nothing but the positive and negative energy pro-

s = ½Y3, [h = 11. (27)
jection operators [14] A+, A_ E End(Rl,3), respec-
tively; so that eq. (18) can read The velocity v ( r ) =- dx/dv, with x ( z ) = xU(r)yu, is
easily integrated, from eq. (25), to give
~ ( z ) = V/+ (0) exp(yly2mz)
x ( z ) = (p+ + p - ) r y o + v / ~ P - - [Tlsin(2mz)
+ ~-(0) exp(-Tlyzmz), (20) m
- y 2 c o s ( 2 m z ) ] + x0, (28)
where ~u± (0) = A+ [~u(0)], which proves our claim.
It follows that any ~u(x), such that ~ l , ( x ) = ~u(r), is which is the parametric equation of a helix, whose
a solution o f the D H equation (17) in the CM frame. diameter is D = 2m p v / - ~ - . Eq. (24) suggests to
It is clear that one can now construct "helical" so- introduce a renormalized mass M - m (p+ + p - ). If
lutions o f the D H equation with time-like velocity, one assumed the m a x i m u m diameter o f that helix to
that manifest a zbw phenomenon. Quantity z, let us be the electron Compton wave-length, one would get
repeat, is here an invariant time-parameter. Now, to for the new mass M the upper limit M = m v ~ .
construct a time-like solution, let us take as a concrete It is worth observing that, from eq. (28), for L -
example: x A p we have

~u(0) - ~ + v ~ - ylzO, v~ - x/-~(o) • L = p~+p- [TRY0s i n ( 2 m z ) - Y2y0cos(2mz)],

(21) (29)

626
Volume 318, number 4 PHYSICS LETTERS B 16 December 1993

where we neglected the constant contribution mx0A70. and one can verify that in this case the helix diameter
Notice that L # 0, so that L alone is not conserved; is actually the Compton wave-length of the electron!
however, in view ofeq. (26), we obtain that the total For L = x/x p we obtain again
angular m o m e n t u m J is conserved:
L = ½ [717osin(2mz) - 727oCOs(2mz)],
J - L + S = ½ (p+ + p_ ) ~271 , J = O, (30)
L#o, (37)
which implies a nutation of the spin plane. Under the
above assumption (that the maximum helix diameter whilst the conserved quantity is
be the electron Compton wave-length), one would get
IJI- [j.y]~/2 ~ v~/2. J=L+S= ½~271, J =0, (38)

which again implies a nutation of the spin plane.

4. Light-like helical motions In conclusion, we showed how to construct in the
CM frame solutions of the Dirac equation associ-
Finally, let us show how one can obtain solutions of ated (at the classical limit) to a helical motion with
the BZ model with speed of the helical motion equal the light speed c. And, in particular, we got re-
to the light speed c. To this aim, it is enough to choose suits quite similar to Hestenes' without his ad-hoc
p+ = p_ = 1/2, so that p+ - p_ = 0. [In this case, assumptions [5] [by making recourse, however, to
~ ( 0 ) = (1 + ~'170)/v~ is a singular spinor, actually a superposition **~ of particle and antiparticle [ 15 ]
a Majorana spinor since the charge conjugation oper- solutions of the DH equation. Indeed, the part of
ator C is such [14] that C~, = ~71)'0 ]. the velocity v(z) responsible for the zbw, namely
In fact, from eq. (14) one then gets [71 cos(2mz) + ~2sin(2mz)], is given by
an interference term ~t+~0~_ + ~t_70~+, in which
V ( 0 ) = ~0 "~ 71, '/')(0) = 2 m y ~ , (31) quantities ~,+ = x/-p-~exp(~,172mz) and ~u_ =
x/P-S- 7170 exp ( - 7~y2mz) are the positive-energy (par-
ticle) and negative-energy (antiparticle [ 15 ] ) states].
n~m~ (32)

which yield for the velocity ~::

Acknowledgement
v ( z ) = ~0 + 71 cos(2mz) + ~2 s i n ( 2 m r ) , (33)
The authors are grateful for discussions with A. Bug-
in which now v2(r) = 0 (light-like case). One can ini, R. Garattini, L. Lo Monaco, G.D. Maccarrone,
see that, after a convenient rotation, it is possible to J.E. Maiorino, M. Paynim, R. Pucci, F. Raciti, M. Sam-
write v as v = e0 - e 2 , like in Hestenes' papers [5,6]. bataro, Q.A.G. de Souza, and particularly to E.C. de
Moreover, we now have Oliveira, M. Pauri and S. Sambataro.

S = ½7271 + ½[~'0Yl s i n ( 2 m z ) - 70~2cos(2mr)],

References
(34)
[ 1] E. Schroedinger, Sitzunber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Phys.-
s = ½73, [h = 11. (35) Math. K1. 24 (1930) 418;
cf. also A.H. Compton, Phys. Rev. 11 (1917) 330; 14
(1919) 20, 247.
Integration of eq. (33), now, yields
[2] A.O. Barut and N. Zanghi, Phys. Rev. Lett. 52 (1984)
2009.
1 [3] A.O. Barut and A.J. Bracken, Phys. Rev. D 23 (1981)
x ( z ) = Zyo+ ~ [ylsin(2mz)-y2cos(2rnz)] + Xo,
2454; D24 (1981) 3333;
(36) see also F. Riewe, Left. Nuovo Cim. 1 (1971) 807.

627
Volume 318, number 4 PHYSICS LETTERS B 16 December 1993

[4] A.O. Barut and M. Pavgi~: Class. Quant. Grav. 4 [13] Q.A.G. de Souza and W.A. Rodrigues Jr., The Dirac
(1987) LI31; operator, and the structure of Riemann-Cartan-
cf. also J. Rawnsley, Lett. Math. Phys. 24 (1992) 331. Weyl spaces, preprint RP-32/92 (Imecc-Unicamp,
[5] D. Hestenes, Found. Phys. 20 (1990) 1213; Campinas, SP, 1992), submitted for publication.
cf. also A. Campolattaro, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 29 (1990) [14] P. Lounesto, Clifford algebras and Hestenes spinors,
141; to appear in Found. Phys.
M. Pauri, in: Group Theoretical Met;hods in Physics, [15] See E. Recami, Found. Phys. 8 (1978) 329;
Lecture Notes in Physics, Vol. 135, p. 615, E. Recami and W.A. Rodrigues, Found. Phys. 12
ed. by J.Ehlers, K.Hepp, R.Kippenhahn and H.A. (1982) 709; 13 (1983) 533;
Weidenmiiller (Springer-Verlag; Berlin, 1980); M. Pavgi~ and E. Recami, Lett. Nuovo Cim. 34 (1982)
W.H. Bostick, in: Teoreticheskaya Fizika, ed. by Ts.l. 357;
Gutsunaieva (Russian University Peoples' Friendship R. Mignani and E. Recami, Lett. Nuovo Cim. 18
Press, Moscow, 1992) p. 96; (1977) 5;
H. Jehle, Phys. Rev. D 3 (1971) 306; D 6 (1972) 441. A. Garuccio et al., Lett. Nuovo Cim. 27 (1980) 60.
[61 D. Hestenes, in: The electron, ed. by D. Hestenes and [16] See e.g.J.J. Sakurai, Advanced quantum mechanics
A. Weingartenhofer (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991 ), p. 21; (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1967).
see also R. Boudet, in: The electron, ed. by D. Hestenes [17] D. Hestenes and G. Sobczyk, Clifford Algebra to
and A. Weingartenhofer (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991), Geometric Calculus (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1984).
0.21. [18] J.R.R. Zeni and W.A. Rodrigues Jr., Int. J. Mod. Phys.
[7] M. Paynim, E. Recami, W.A. Rodrigues Jr., G.D. Macc- A 7 (1992) 1793.
arrone, F. Raciti and G. Salesi, Phys. Lett. B 318 [ 19 ] J. Vaz Jr. and W.A. Rodrigues Jr., On the equivalence
(1993) 481. of Dirac and Maxwell equations, and Quantum
[8] D. Hestenes, Space-Time Algebra (Gordon & Breach, mechanics, to appear in Int. J. Theor. Phys. 6 (1993).
New York, 1966); New Foundations for Classical [201 T. Takabayasi, Progr. Theor. Phys. Suppl. 4 (1957) 1;
Mechanics (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1989); J. Math. Phys. see also R. Boudet, The Role of the Duality Rotation in
14 (1973) 893; 16 (1975) 556, 573. the Dirac Theory, in: The electron, ed. by D. Hestenes
[9] W.A. Rodrigues Jr. and E.C. Oliveira, Int. J. Theor. and A. Weingartenhofer (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991 ).
Phys. 29 (1990) 397. [21 ] S.F. Gull, Charged Particles at Potential Steps, in: The
[ 10] A. Maia Jr., E. Recami, W.A. Rodrigues Jr. and M.A.F. electron, ed. by D. Hestenes and A. Weingartenhofer
Rosa, J. Math. Phys. 31 (1990) 502, and references (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991).
therein. [22] J. Rawnsley, Lett. Math. Phys. 24 (1992) 331.
[ 11 ] V.L. Figuereido, E.C. Oliveira and W.A. Rodrigues Jr., [23] J. Vaz Jr. and W.A. Rodrigues Jr., Clifford Algebra
Int. J. Theor. Phys. 29 (1990) 371. Approach to the Barut-Zanghi Model as a Hamiltonian
[12] W.A. Rodrigues Jr. and V.L. Figuereido, Int. J. Theor. System, submitted for publication.
Phys. 29 (1990) 413. [ 24 ] J. Weyssenhoff and A. Raabe, Acta Phys. Pol. 9 (1947)
7.

628
Physic~ Letters B 318 ( 1993 ) 481-488 PHYSICS LETTERS B
North-HoUand

Spin and electron structure*

M a t e j P a v i i ~ l, E r a s m o R e c a m i 2, W a l d y r A. R o d r i g u e s J r 3
INFN, Sezione di Catania, 57 Corsitalia, 95129-Catania, Italy

G. Daniele Maccarrone, Fabio Raciti and Giovanni Salesi

Dipartimento di Fisica, Universith di Catania, Catania, Italy

Received 11 November 1992; revised manuscript received 15 October 1993

Editor: R. Gatto

The recent literature shows a renewed interest, with various independent approaches, in the classical models for spin.
Considering the possible interest of those results, at least for the electron case, we purpose in this paper to explore their
physical and mathematical meaning, by the natural and powerful language of Clifford algebras (which, incidentally, will
allow us to unify those different approaches). In such models, the ordinary electron is in general associated to the mean
motion of a point-like "constituent" Q, whose trajectory is a cylindrical helix. We find, in particular, that the object
Q obeys a new, non-linear Dirac-like equation, such that - when averaging over an internal cycle (which corresponds
to linearization) - it transforms into the ordinary Dirac equation (valid, of course, for the electron as a whole).

1. Introduction lagrangian formulation for spinning particles was pro-

posed, on the contrary, by Berezin and M a r i n o v [ 5 ]
The possibility of constructing formal classical and by Casalbuoni [6 ]. Pauri [ 7 ], moreover, showed
models o f spin was already realized at least 60 years how a relativistic (or non-relativistic) spin can enter
ago, from different points o f view [ 1 ]. In particular, a classical formulation, in the ordinary phase space
Schr6dinger's suggestion [2] that the electron spin (without resource now to grassmannian quantities),
was related to its Zitterbewegung (zbw) m o t i o n has just as a consequence of the algebraic structure of the
been investigated by several authors [3]. Poincar6 (or Galilei) group. In such an interesting
In ref. [4], for instance, one meets even the pro- approach, it was found [7 ] that a relativistic classical
posal of models with clockwise and anticlockwise "in- zbw motion can directly follow as a "spin effect" from
ner motions" as classical analogues of q u a n t u m rel- the requirements of existence o f a lagrangian and o f
ativistic spinning particles and antiparticles, respec- a covariant position in Dirac's instant form o f rela-
tively. The use o f g r a s s m a n n i a n variables in a classical tivistic dynamics. The quantum analogue o f those de-
velopments had been studied in ref. [ 8 ].
The number o f papers appeared on the subject o f
* Work partially supported by INFN, CNR, MURST, by classical models for spin, starting from the fifties, is
FUNREI, CNPq, FAPESP, and by the Slovanian Min-
istry of Science and Technology. so large that it would be difficult to try quoting them
1 On leave from the J. Stcfan Institute, University of Ljubl- here. A recent approach, based on a generalization o f
jana, 61111-Ljubljana, Slovenia. Dirac non-linear electrodynamics, where the spin o f
2 Also: Department of Applied Mathematics, State Uni- the electron is identified with the m o m e n t u m o f the
versity at Campinas, 13083-Campinas, S.P., Brazil; De- Poynting vector in a soliton solution o f that theory,
partment of Physics, State University at Catania, 95129-
can be found in ref. [9].
Catania, Italy; and: Facolta di Ingegneria, Universita
degli studi di Bergaxao, Bergamo, Italy. In this paper we choose, by making recourse to
3 On leave from Departamento de MatemKtica Aplicada the natural and powerful language o f Clifford alge-
- Imecc, UNICAMP, 13083-Campinas, S.P., Brazil. bras, to refer ourselves mainly to the model by Barut

0370-2693/93/$ 06.00 ~ 1993-Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved 481
 Volume 318, number 3 PHYSICS LETTERS B 9 December 1993

and Zanghi [10,1 I] (BZ), which relates the spin (at and pu = constant; p2 = m2; H = puTyUz = PuVg;
least in the case of the electron) to a helical motion. and finally:
Namely, we first recast the BZ model into the Clif-
ford formalism, in the meantime clarifying its phys-
ical and mathematical meanings; then, we quantize
:~ = v u = ~-~ H + (~ u ( 0 ) - ~ - ~ ]cos2mz

that model for the electron case. In particular, we de- ~u(O) s i n 2 m r

rive from the BZ model a new non-linear equation for + ~ (2c)
the "spinorial variable" of the model, which when lin-
earized reduces to the ordinary Dirac equation. Solu- (which in ref. [ 10] appeared with two misprints). In
connection with this "free" general solution, let us re-
tions of this non-linear equation will be discussed in
forthcoming papers [ 12 ]. mark that H is a constant of motion so that we can set
H = m. Solution (2) exhibits the classical analog of
the phenomenon known as "zitterbewegung" (zbw):
in fact, the velocity vu = xa contains the (expected)
2. Spin and helical motion term p u / m plus a term describing an oscillatory mo-
tion with the characteristic frequency to = 2m. The
In the BZ model [10], a classical electron is char- velocity of the center o f mass will be given by Wu =
acterized, besides by the usual pair of conjugate vari- p u / m . Notice incidentally that, instead of adopting
ables (xU,pu), by a second pair of conjugate classical the variables z and T, one can work in terms o f the
spinor variables (z, iT), representing internal degrees
spin variables, i.e. in terms of the dynamical variables
of freedom, which are functions of an invariant time (xu, vu, Ztu,Su~ ), where
parameter r, that when convenient will be identified
with the proper time o f the center of mass (CM). vu = Jcu, nu = P u - e A u , Sm, = ¼iT[Tu, r ~ ] z ,
Quantity z was a Dirac spinor, while 2 = zt~, °. Barut
and Zanghi, then, introduced for a spinning particle so that Su~ = ~uv~ - rr~vu and ~)u = 4Su~ n~. In the
the classical lagrangian (c = 1 ) case of a free electron, by varying the action corre-
sponding to Z; one finds as generator of space-time
rotations the conserved quantity Ju~ = Lu~ + Su~,
L = ½2i ( ~ z - Tz, ) + Pu (jcu _ TyU z ) + e A u ( x ) T 7 u z ,
where Su~ is just the particle spin #2 .
(1) Let us explicitly observe that solution (2c) is the
equation of a space-time cylindrical helix, i.e. it rep-
where 2 has the dimension of an action, yu are the resents in 3-space a helical motion. Let us also stress
Dirac matrices, and the particle velocity is that this motion describes particle spin at a classical
level. In fact, such a classical system has been shown
v u = Ty u z . (1') by Barut and Pavgi~ [13] (of. also refs. [14,15]) to
describe, after quantization, the Dirac electron [ 13-
We are not writing down explicitly the spinorial 15].
indices o f t and z. Let us consider the simple case of a
free electron (Au = 0). Then a possible solution o f the ,2 Alternatively, Barnt and Zanghi [ 10 ], in order to study
equations of motion corresponding to the lagrangian the internal dynamics of the considered (classical) par-
(1) is #1 ticle, did split x a and vu = -rv as follows: x a =_ X a +
Qu; vu - Wu + Uu (where by definition Wu = J(u and
Uu = Qu ). In the particular ease ofafi'eeparticle, I~"u =
z(z)= (cosmz-i~,U~sinmT)z(O), (2a) 0; Wu = pu/m. One can now interpret X u and Pu as the
CM coordinates, and Qu and Pu =- mUu as the relative
position and momentum, respectively. For a free parti-
cle, then, one finds that the internal variables are coor-
T ( z ) = ~ ( 0 ) ( c o s m z + i3,u-~ s i n r n z ) , (2b) dinates oscillating with the zbw frequency 2m; and that,
again, the total angular momentum Ju~ = Luv + Suv
is a constant of motion, quantities Su~ being the spin
#1 For other solutions, see rcf. [12]. variables.

482
Volume 318, number 3 PHYSICS LETTERS B 9 December 1993

An alternative approach leading to a classical de- Minkowski s p a c e - t i m e (associated with a given iner-
scription o f panicles with spin was put forth by tial observer), on the contrary the Frenet tetrad eu is
Pav~i~ [ 16-18], by making recourse to the (extrin- defined only along a, in such a way that e0 is tangent
sic) curvature o f the p a n i c l e world-line in Minkowski to a. At last, it is: 7~ = qu"7~, and 75 -= 70717273.
space. Let us finally mention that the same classical Notice that R (z) does contain all the essential in-
equations of m o t i o n (and the same Poisson-bracket formation carried by a Dirac spinor. In fact, out o f
algebra) have been found also in a third approach, R, a " D i r a c - H e s t e n e s " ( D H ) s p i n o r [24] ~TDHcan be
which consists in adding to the ordinary lagrangian constructed as follows:
an extra term containing Grassmann variables [ 19].
~//DH = pl/2e#rS/2R, (4)

3. About the electron structure where p is a normalization factor; and e#r5 = + 1 for
the electron (and - 1 for the positron); while, if e is
Considering the interest o f the previous results a primitive idempotent o f the STA, any Dirac spinor
(which suggest in particular that the helical m o t i o n YD can be represented in our STA as [25]
can have a role in the origin o f spin), we purpose to ex-
plore their physical meaning more deeply, by the very ~D = ~/DHe. (5)
natural - and powerful - language o f the Clifford al-
F o r instance, the Dirac spinor z introduced by BZ is
gebras [20,21 ]: in particular o f the " s p a c e - t i m e alge-
obtained from the D H spinor #s by the choice e =
bra ( S T A ) " g~1,3. First o f all, let us preliminarily clar-
½(1 + 70). Incidentally, the Frenet frame can also
ify why Barut and Zanghi had to introduce the Dirac
write pe u = ~'t)HVu~t)H.
spinors z in their lagranglan, by recalling that classi-
Let us stress that, to specify how does the Frenet
cally the m o t i o n o f a spinning top has to be individu-
tetrad rotate as r varies, one has to single out a par-
ated by (i) the world-line e o f its center o f mass (e.g.,
ticular R ( r ) , and therefore a D H spinor ¢/t)n, and
by the ordinary coordinates x ~ and the conjugate mo-
eventually a Dirac spinor C/t). This makes intuitively
menta pu), and (ii) a Frenet tetrad *.3 attached [22]
clear why the BZ Dirac-spinor z provides a good de-
to the world-line e. This continues to be true when
scription o f the "spin motion" o f a classical panicle.
wishing to describe the m o t i o n o f a point-like spin-
Let us now repeat what precedes on a more formal
ning particle. F o r the Frenet tetrad [23] we have
ground. In the following, unless differently stated, we
shall indicate the D H spinors Vim simply by ¥.
e~ = RT.k = A u"v v , A u~ L ~ , (3)
Let us translate the BZ lagrangian into the Clifford
where e0 is parallel to the particle velocity v (even language.
more, e0 = v whenever one does use as p a r a m e t e r z In eq. (1) quantity z r = (ZlZ2Z3Z4) is a Dirac
the system C M proper-time); the tilde represents the spinor z ~ z ( z ) , and ~ = z t y °. To perform our
reversion #a" and R R ( z ) is a "Lorentz rotation" translation, we need a matrix representation o f the
[more precisely, R E S p i n + ( 1 , 3 ) , and a Lorentz Clifford s p a c e - t i m e algebra; this can be i m p l e m e n t e d
transform o f quantity a is given by a ' = RaR]. More- by representing the fundamental Clifford vectors (70,
over R R = R R = 1. The Clifford STA fundamental 7b 72, 73) by the ordinary Dirac matrices yu. Choosing:
unit-vectors 7u should not be confused with the Dirac
matrices 7u. Let us also recall that, while the orthonor- 70 ~ 70 - 0 - '
mal vectors 7u - O/Ox u constitute a global tetrad in

.3 The use of Frenet tetrads in connection with the Dirac 7i ~ 7i --

(0:)
O"i
formalism was first investigated in ref. [22].
*.4 The main anti-automorphism in Rl,3 (called reversion),
**5 The DH spinors can be regarded as the parent spinors,
denoted by the tilde, is such that A~'B= BA, and A = A since all the other spinors of common use among physi-
when A is a scalar or a vector, while ff = - F when F cists are got from them by operating as in eq. (5). We
is a 2-vector. might call them "the fundamental spinors".

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Volume 3 18, number 3 PHYSICS LETTERSB 9 December 1993

the representative in WI,3 of Barut-Zanghi’s quantity w yo@. The BZ model is indeed a hamiltonian sys-
z is tem, as proved by using Clifford algebras in ref. [ 271
(cf. also ref. [ 28 ] ) . The dynamical variables are then
Z-YEW.?, E= ;u + Yo) (6) ( I, @ , x, p 1, and the Euler-Lagrange equations yield
a system of three independent equations:
where v, and p, are represented (with ~9 = ll ) by
(i/YlY2 + XWYO = 0, (1W
/ z1 -72 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
z3 y4 \

71 z4 -73
Ti = PYOF, (lob)
w= f:
74 Zl -z2 ’

-73 z2
i ‘74 71 I i = eF.j;, (1Oc)

where F E a A A is the electromagnetic field (a

bivector, in Hestenes’ language) and R = p - eA

I
-z2 Zl -z4 z3
WC (7)
-73 --IF4 FI -=2 * is the kinetic momentum. [Notice incidentally, from
-z4 z3 -z2 Zl J eq. (lob), that jc2 = p(r).]
At this point, let us consider a velocity vector field
The translation of the various terms in eq. ( 1) is
V (x ) together with its integral lines (or stream-lines).
then:
Be cr the stream-line along which a particle moves
ii(iz - zi) - (~WUlY2)O
(i.e., the particle world-line). Then, the velocity dis-
P,W - Wz) - (PG -
tribution V is required to be such that its restriction
wroia)o zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

eA,Zy ”z - e WYO$O
V (x ) ,o to the world-line u is the ordinary velocity
v = v (z) of the considered particle.
where ( )Omeans “the scalar part” of the Clifford prod- If we moreover recall [29,30] that any Lorentz “ro-
uct. Thus, the lagrangian L: in the Clifford formalism tation” R can be written R = e3, where 7 is a bivec-
is for, then along any stream-line IJ we shall have [ 191

-C = (@!hYz + P(x - WV& + eAW Yo@ )o, (8) R= g = f&&R = ;QR, (11)

which is analogous, incidentally, to Kruger’s la- with i3,R = S&R/2, where s;Z, = 2&F, and where
grangian [ 261 (apart from a misprint). 8 = v”sZ, is the angular-velocity bivector (also
As we are going to see, by “quantizing” it, also in known, in differential geometry, as the “Darboux
the present formalism it is possible (and, actually, bivector”). Therefore, for the tangent vector along any
quite easy) to derive from .Cthe Dirac-Hestenes equa- line o we obtain the relevant relation
tion #’ d
-& = #a, = v a.

a v(x) YIYZ + m v(x) YO+ eA(x) v(x) = 0, (9) The (total derivative) equation (lOa) thus
becomese6
which is nothing but the ordinary Dirac equation writ-
ten down in the Clifford formalism [20,24]. Quan-
v .BWYlYI + KY/Y0 = 0, (12)
tity a = y”&, is the Dirac operator. Let us notice
that p in eq. (8) can be regarded as a Lagrange mul- which is a non-linear (partial derivative) equation, as
tiplier, when the velocity v = j, is represented by it is easily seen by using eq. ( 1Ob) and rewriting it in
the noticeable form
*6 Observe that in eq. (8) it is y = y (7), while in eq. (9)
we have v/ = v(x) with w(x) such that its restriction (wvoul) .~V/yIYZ + nwo = 0. (12’)
v(x) lb to the world-line g coincides with y (7). Below,
we shall meet the same situation, for instance, when Eq. ( 12’) constitutes a new non- linear Dirac-like
passing from eq. (lOa) to eqs. (12), (12’). equation. The solutions of this new equation will be

484
Volume 318, number 3 PHYSICS LETTERS B 9 December 1993

explicitly discussed in refs. [ 12 ]. Let us here observe model was eq. (10a), which held for the world-line
only that the probability current J = V is conserved: a. In other words, eq. ( l 0a) was valid for one world-
0 • V = 0, as we shall show elsewhere. line; on the contrary, eq. (15) is afield equation, sat-
Let us pass now to the free case (A~ = 0), when isfied by quantities c/(x) such that c/(X)l~ = C/(O.
eq. (10a) may be written A change in interpretation is of course necessary when
passing from the classical to the "quantum" level: and
~Y172 + PC/7O = O, (lO'a) therefore eq. (15) is now to be regarded as valid for a
congruence o f world lines, that is to say, for a congru-
and admits some simple solutions [ 12]. Actually, in ence of stream-lines of the velocity field V = V ( x ) .
this case p is constant [cf. eq. (10c)] and one can In the quantum case, the "particle" can follow any of
choose the yu frame so that p = m y o is a constant those integral lines, with probability amplitude p. In
vector in the direction Y0. Since x = c/Y0~, it follows this context, it must be recalled that a tentative in-
that terpretation of the Dirac equation within the Clifford
algebra approach has been suggested in ref. [20], and
1 p .
,/) = __c/p~, __ = C/--1,/)~-I (13) later in ref. [ 31 ]. However, in the present paper we
m m
shall not put forth, nor discuss, any interpretation of
The mean value of v over a zitterbewegung period our formalism.
is then given by the relation As we have seen, eq. (15) will hold for our helical
motions. Notice moreover that, since [cf. eq. (4) ] it
(V)zbw = p / m = c/-lv~-l, (14) is 9/ = pl/EeBys/ER, in the case of the helical path
solution the Lorentz "rotation" R will be the product
which resembles the ordinary quantum-mechanical of a pure space rotation and a boost.
mean value for the wave-function C/-1 (recall that in It is important to observe that, if we replace v in
Clifford algebra for any C/ it exists its inverse). Let eq. ( 15 ) by its mean value over a zbw period, eq. (14),
us recall, by comparison, that the time average of vu then we end up with the Dirac-Hestenes equation
given in eq. (2c) over a zbw period is evidently equal (i.e., the ordinary Dirac equation!), valid now for
to p ~ / m . the center-of-mass world-line. In fact, since (V)zbw =
Let us explicitly stress that, due to the first one p / m , eq. (15) yields
(z - - ~ C/e) of eq. (6), the results found by BZ for
z are valid as well for C/ in our formalism. For in- P'0C/YlY2 + mPc/Yo = O, (15')
stance, for BZ [cf. eq. (1')] it was v~ = -zYu z - v ~ B z ,
while in the Clifford formalism [cf. eq. (7) ] it is v = and therefore - if we recall that for the eigenfunctions
c/yOc/ = (yOt~yuc/)oy u = V~zyu. As a consequence, o f p in the D H approach [20] it holds OC/yly2 = pc~,
tr refers in general to a cylindrical helix (for the free so that (p • O )C/YtY2 = POC/YlY2 - one obtains
case) also in our formalism.
Going back to eq. (10'a), by the second one of P(OC/YlY2 + mc/y0) = 0, (15")
eqs. (13) we finally obtain our non-linear (free)
Dirac-like equation in the following form: which is satisfied once it holds the ordinary Dirac
equation (in its Dirac-Hestenes form):
V "0C/Y172 + m c / - l v ~ - I c / Y o = O, (15)
O~YlY2 + mc/Yo = O. (16)
which in the ordinary, tensorial language would write:
i ( ~ v y ~ ) 0 u ~ = yupuT', where ~ and y~ are now Let us observe that all the eigenfunctions of p are
an ordinary Dirac spinor and the ordinary Dirac ma- solutions both of eq. (15) and of the Dirac equation.
trices, respectively, a n d / ~ = ion. In conclusion, our non-linear Dirac-like equation
In connection with this fundamental equation of ( 15 ) is a quantum-relativistic equation, that can be re-
motion (15), let us explicitly notice the following. At garded as "sub-microscopic" in the sense that it refers
a classical level, the equation of motion in the BZ to the internal motion of a point-like "constituent" Q.

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Volume 318, number 3 PHYSICS LETTERS B 9 December 1993

In fact, the density current ~uT°~, relative to the so- so that the "sub-microscopic" point-like object Q,
lutions q/of eq. (15), does oscillates in time in a he- moving along the helical path o, is endowed [of.
lical fashion, in complete analogy to the initial equa- eq. (I 1 ) ] with the angular-velocity bivector
tion (2c); so that x and ~ refer to Q. On the con-
trary, the ordinary (linear) Dirac equation can be re- 12 = ½bu A e u = ½hue u, (20)
garded as the equation describing the global motion
of the geometrical centre of the system ( i.e., of the as follows by recalling that ~ can always be written,
whole "electron"); actually, it has been obtained from like in eq. (3), as e u = RTuR. Finally, let us observe
eq. (15) by linearization, that is to say, replacing the that eq. (19) yields in particular e0 = t2. e0, which is
density current v = ~?0~ by its time average p / m formally identical to eq. (18). Thus, the formal, alge-
over the zbw period [cf. eqs. (13), (14)]. braic way we chose [see eq. (18) ] for describing that
At last, let us underline that, in the free case, the system as a whole possesses a non-vanishing mag-
eq. (10'a) admits also a trivial solution a0, corre- netic dipole structure suggests that the bivector field/2
sponding to rectilinear motion. may be regarded as a kind of internal electromagnetic-
like field, which keeps the "sub-microscopic" object
Q moving along the helix [32-36]. In other words,
4. A very simple solution Q may be considered as confining itself along a (i.e.,
along a circular orbit, in the electron CM), via the
In the free case, eq. (10'a) admits also a very simple generation of the internal, electromagnetic-like field
solution (the limit of the ordinary helical paths when
m •
their radius r tends to zero), which - incidentally - Fint = ~-~ eu A e u .
escaped BZ's attention; namely
We shall further discuss this point elsewhere.
V.I = pl/2 exp[-y2ylmz] = ¢/(0) e x p [ - 7 2 y l m z ] ,

(17) 5. Further remarks

as can be easily verified. Notice that expressions (17)
In connection with our new equation (12'), or
are also solutions of the Dirac equation (16). More-
rather with its (free) form (15), we met solutions
over, from eq. (10b) it follows that v - ~ = PY0 and
corresponding - in the free case - to helical motions
we can set p = 1, which confirms that the trivial solu-
with constant radius r; as well as a limiting solution,
tion (17) corresponds to rectilinear uniform motion,
eq. (17), for r ---, 0.
and that z in this case is just the proper-time along
We have seen above that the latter is a solution also
the particle world-line tr0. (In this case, of course, the
of the ordinary (free) Dirac equation. Actually, the
zbw disappears).
solution of the Dirac equation for a free electron in
Before going on, we want to explicitly put forth the
its rest frame can be written [20] in the present for-
following observation. Let us first recall that in our
malism as ~u(x) = ~u(0) exp [ - Y2Ylm z ], which coin-
formalism the (Lorenz force) equation of motion for
cides with our eq. (17) along the world-line a0. Let
a charged particle moving with velocity w in the elec-
us here add the observation that, by recalling that in
tromagnetic field F is
the Clifford formalism the spin bivector S is given by
S = R 7 2 y l R ( h / 2 ) = e2el(h/2), whilst the angular-
~b = e F . w . (18) velocity bivector/2 is given by eq. (20), one can fi-
m
nally write
Now, for all the free-particle solution of the BZ
model in the Clifford language, it holds the "Darboux
p . v = g2 .S = m, (21)
relation"
which seems to suggest [20] the electron rest-mass
eu = 1 2 . e u , (19) to have an (internal) kinetic origin! It is possible,

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Volume 318, number 3 PHYSICS LETTERSB 9 December 1993

moreover, that such a motion be also at the origin of of the Lorentz invariant (23'). On the contrary, in
electric charge itself; in any case, we already saw that, our formalism the whole invariant I2 • I2 suggests it-
if the electron is associated with a clock-wise rotation, self as the suitable, complete lagrangian for the prob-
then the positron will be associated with an anti-clock- lem at issue; and in future work we shall exploit
wise rotation, with respect to the motion direction. it, in particular comparing the expected results with
Further considerations about the solutions of our non- Plyushchay's [37 ].
linear, new equation and the interesting consequences For the moment, let us stress here only the possibly
of the present formalism are in preparation and will important result that the lagrangian £ = I2 • t2 does
appear elsewhere. coincide (factors apart) along the particle world-line
At last, we mentioned at the beginning of this note o with the auto-interaction term [38]
about further methods for introducing an helical mo-
tion as the classical limit of the "spin motion". We
05 (dO u A 0 u) • (dO" A 0,,)
want here to show how to represent in the Clifford
formalism the extrinsic curvature approach [ 16,17 ],
due to its possible interest for the development of the of the Einstein-Hilbert lagrangian density written (in
present work. the Clifford bundle formalism) in terms of tetrads
Let us first recall that in classical differential geom- of 1-form fields 0 u. Quantity 05 = 0°010203 is the
etry one defines [23] the Frenet frame {eu} of a non- volume element.
null curve tr by the so-called Frenet equations, which Finally, we can examine within our formalism the
with respect to proper time T write (besides ~ = e0 = third approach: that one utilizing Grassmann vari-
v): ables [19 ]. For instance, if we recall that the Grass-
mann product is nothing but the external part Ar A
5c = eo = K l e 1, Bs = (ArBs)lr-s I of the Clifford product (where Ar, Bs
are a r-vector and a s-vector, respectively), then the
bl = - K l e ° + K2e 2, e2 = - K 2 e 1 + K3e 3, Ikemori lagrangian [ 19] can be immediately trans-
lated into the Clifford language and shown to be equiv-
e3 = - K 3 e 2, (22)
alent to the BZ lagrangian, apart from the constraint
p2 = m 2.
where the ith curvatures Ki (i = 1, 2, 3) are scalar
functions chosen in such a way that eft = - 1 , with
j = 1,2, 3. The quantity K~ is often called curvature,
and K2, K3 torsions (recall that in the 3-dimensional
space one meets only K~ and K2, called curvature and
Acknowledgement
torsion, respectively). Inserting eq. (22) into eq. (20),
we get for the Darboux (angular-velocity) bivector:
The authors express their gratitude to the Referee,
for his comments and for many references to previ-
t2 = KleXe ° + K2e2e 1 + K3e3e 2 , (23)
ous related work; and acknowledge the kind collab-
so that one can build the following scalar function oration of J. Vaz. They are also grateful to Asim O.
Barut, A. Campolattaro, R.H.A. Farias, E. Giannetto,
Cesare Lattes, L. Lo Monaco, P. Lounesto, A. Inso-
t2.t2 = K2-K2-K 2 = (buAeU).(b~Ae~). (23')
lia, E. Majorana jr., J.E. Maiorino, R.L. Monaco, E.C.
At this point, one may notice that the square, K 2, of de Oliveira, M. Sambataro, S. Sambataro, Q.G. de
the "extrinsic curvature" entering Pav~i~'s lagrangian Souza and M.T. Vasconselos for stimulating discus-
is equal to - K 2, so that such a lagrangian [ 16] results sions. Two of them (M.P. and W.A.R.) thank more-
- after the present analysis - to take advantage only
over I.N.F.N. - Sezione di Catania, Catania, Italy,
of the first part, for kind hospitality during the preparation of the first
draft of this work; while F.R. acknowledges a grant
.~.2 = bo2 = - K ~ , from the Fondazione Bonino-Pulejo, Messina.

487
 Volume 318, number 3 PHYSICS LETTERS B 9 December 1993

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488