Visualizing the kinematics of relativistic wave packets

Abstract

This article investigates some solutions of the time-dependent free Dirac equation. Visualizations of these solutions immediately reveal strange phenomena that are caused by the interference of positive- and negative-energy waves. The effects discussed here include the Zitterbewegung, the opposite direction of momentum and velocity in negative-energy wave packets, and the superluminal propagation of the wave packet's local maxima.

7 pages, 11 figures, movies at http://vqm.uni-graz.at/articles/dirac1/movies.html

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