Conservation of Total Spin in the Stern Gerlach Experiment

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the conservation of total spin in the Stern-Gerlach experiment, specifically regarding electron-positron pairs and their behavior during annihilation and pair production. It is established that while the total spin is conserved throughout the process, the individual spins of the particles do not retain correlation after interactions involving photons. Therefore, measuring the spin state of the newly produced electron-positron pair will yield random results, independent of the original spin states.

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  • Understanding of quantum mechanics principles
  • Familiarity with the Stern-Gerlach experiment
  • Knowledge of particle-antiparticle interactions
  • Basic concepts of photon polarization
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  • Explore the Stern-Gerlach experiment in detail
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CassiopeiaA
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I just started reading Stern Gerlach Experiment and this thought crossed my mind. Totally a hypothetical question. If I pass an electron and positron through separate SG apparatuses, I will know in which spin state each particle has collapsed. But afterwords I let electron-positron pair annihilate to produce 2 photons. I let these photon Interact with each other and again produce an electron-positron pair. So, if I again check the spin state of these particles separately, in the same direction as before, will I get the same result or is it again completely random?

P.S. I am just a school student trying to learn something difficult for me to understand. So please spare my ignorance.
 
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CassiopeiaA said:
if I again check the spin state of these particles separately, in the same direction as before, will I get the same result

No. The sequence of operations you describe will conserve the total spin, but it will not conserve the individual spins of the particles.
 
PeterDonis said:
No. The sequence of operations you describe will conserve the total spin, but it will not conserve the individual spins of the particles.
Oh Okay. So there is no known correlation between photon polarization and spin of electron-positron pair in case of pair production?
 
CassiopeiaA said:
So there is no known correlation between photon polarization and spin of electron-positron pair in case of pair production?

Not for the individual particles. As I said, only the total spin is conserved.
 
PeterDonis said:
Not for the individual particles. As I said, only the total spin is conserved.

Okay thanks.
 

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