Mechanical properties of electron vortices

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mechanical properties of electron vortices

AU - Lloyd, S.M.

AU - Babiker, M.

AU - Yuan, J.

PY - 2013/9/30

Y1 - 2013/9/30

N2 - It is shown how the quantum mechanical mass flux and the electromagnetic fields of an electron Bessel vortex mode generate its intrinsic linear momentum and angular momentum properties. Although the corresponding volume density vectors due to the mass flux contain transverse vector components, their volume integrals are shown by explicit analysis to yield null results. The total linear and angular momenta are thus purely axial vectors. There are additional contributions associated with the vortex electric and magnetic fields and these too are shown to be purely axial vectors. Order of magnitude estimates are made in the context of a suggested experiment on the rotation of an optically levitated nanoparticle subject to an electron vortex.

AB - It is shown how the quantum mechanical mass flux and the electromagnetic fields of an electron Bessel vortex mode generate its intrinsic linear momentum and angular momentum properties. Although the corresponding volume density vectors due to the mass flux contain transverse vector components, their volume integrals are shown by explicit analysis to yield null results. The total linear and angular momenta are thus purely axial vectors. There are additional contributions associated with the vortex electric and magnetic fields and these too are shown to be purely axial vectors. Order of magnitude estimates are made in the context of a suggested experiment on the rotation of an optically levitated nanoparticle subject to an electron vortex.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84885234786&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevA.88.031802

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevA.88.031802

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84885234786

SN - 1050-2947

VL - 88

JO - Physical Review A

JF - Physical Review A

IS - 3

M1 - 031802

ER -