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Is the angular momentum of an electron conserved in a uniform magnetic field?

Authors :
Greenshields CR
Stamps RL
Franke-Arnold S
Barnett SM
Source :
Physical review letters [Phys Rev Lett] 2014 Dec 12; Vol. 113 (24), pp. 240404. Date of Electronic Publication: 2014 Dec 09.
Publication Year :
2014

Abstract

We show that an electron moving in a uniform magnetic field possesses a time-varying "diamagnetic" angular momentum. Surprisingly this means that the kinetic angular momentum of the electron may vary with time, despite the rotational symmetry of the system. This apparent violation of angular momentum conservation is resolved by including the angular momentum of the surrounding fields.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1079-7114
Volume :
113
Issue :
24
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Physical review letters
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
25541755
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.240404