# Tag Info

7

The question puts the cart before the horse. It is not that you derive that particles described by the Dirac equation have spin $\frac 1 2$. Rather, the Dirac equation is found as the equation for spin $\frac 1 2$ particles. A Dirac spinor $\psi$ is an element of the representation $(0,\frac 1 2) \oplus (\frac 1 2, 0)$ of the Lorentz group.1 In both ...

5

The spin of the neutron was measured by the Stern-Gerlach experiment by Sherwood, Stephenson and Bernstein (1954) (sadly paywalled, free links welcome), Abstract: A neutron beam was polarized by total reflection from a magnetized iron mirror. The beam was then analyzed by passing it through an inhomogeneous magnetic field. From the deflection pattern ...

1

An electron does not spin! Its intrinsic angular momentum (the so called spin), should not be confused with the point-like electron rotating in configuration space (then the gyromagnetic factor would be one which is in a way related to charge spinning in configuration space. Actually the gyromagnetic factor of the electron spin is approximately 2.) A black ...

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As the comment above says, the word "spin" should not be taken literally, as in the spin of a beachball. The word spin came about as an attempt to physically understand the differing energy levels an electron can have, due to the magnetic field associated with it. The idea behind it goes back to when the electron was discovered experimentally to have a ...

1

If my understanding is correct, an electron is an elementary particle which means that it is just a point in space, ... The electron spin is a special case of the general concept of angular momentum, which is a physical quantity generated by rotations. This is completely analogous to energy being generated by time translations and momentum by spatial ...

1

When our solar system formed it had a certain amount of intrinsic angular momentum. As it collapsed over time it began to spin faster like an ice skater that brings her arms in. Our planet, Earth, was formed in this cloud. It too is the product of that spinning gas cloud long gone. So the Earth retains the angular momentum of the matter that formed it. The ...

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I think the answers are all correct, but it's worth pointing out that a lot of Earth's rotation came when it was hit by Theia. If Theia had hit the earth's other side, the Earth just might be spinning clockwise, against the spin of all the other planets.

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