A quantum mechanics expert at the University has unlocked the secret of why electrons have a mysterious property called \u2018spin\u2019.<\/p>\n
Professor Paul Strange<\/a>, of the University\u2019s\u00a0School of Physical Sciences<\/a>, has developed a new and\u00a0unique perspective on the way particles move<\/strong>.<\/p>\n All\u00a0fundamental particles, e.g. electrons, have a mysterious property called spin<\/strong>. Although it has many of the properties of rotation, it isn\u2019t the same type of spin as that of a child\u2019s toy spinning top.<\/p>\n In research published by the\u00a0American Physical Society<\/a>, Professor Strange found that\u00a0individual components of particles rotate at different rates<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Because of this, he found that theoretically there is no speed at which an observer can \u2018rotate\u2019\u00a0where the particle will appear stationary<\/strong>. Furthermore the rotation of an observer affects how they would see the particle in two ways.<\/p>\n Firstly, there is the\u00a0usual mechanical rotation<\/strong>\u00a0which can be compared to the\u00a0Earth orbiting the Sun<\/strong>. Although the Earth moves round the sun, on Earth we see the sun going round us.<\/p>\n Secondly, and unexpectedly, the observer\u2019s rotation changes the probability of an\u00a0observer measuring the spin as being clockwise or anticlockwise<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The paper, entitled\u00a0Angular momentum of a relativistic wave packet<\/em>, is published in the journal Physical Review A. You can see it online here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article originally published on the\u00a0University of Kent News Centre<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n