The discussion revolves around the creation of a quiz involving answer options of "up," "down," "left," and "right," particularly in the context of quantum mechanics and spin. Participants explore the feasibility of these options and their implications in quantum mechanics, especially regarding spin-1/2 particles and their handedness.
Participants express differing views on the definitions and implications of "left" and "right" in the context of quantum mechanics, indicating that multiple competing perspectives remain unresolved.
The discussion highlights the complexity of defining terms like "left" and "right" in quantum mechanics, particularly concerning spin and helicity, without reaching a consensus on their application in the proposed quiz.
For spin in QM, there is only M_S, which is the spin projection along a chosen axis. This makes "left" and "right" hard to define.Tjen said:I'm attempting to create a quiz with the first 8 answers with the possible answers of any of up, down, left, and right... From doing research, I understand this is possible for quantum mechanic problems in reguards to spin. Is this true? I would like to make a believeable college level simple quiz/test that has these answer possibilities for the first 8 question. Please let me know, thanks.
What about left-handed and right-handed spin-1/2 particles? Possible question: what is the handedness of the (electron) neutrino?Meir Achuz said:For spin in QM, there is only M_S, which is the spin projection along a chosen axis. This makes "left" and "right" hard to define.
By convention, "right-handed" for a particle's spin means that the "helicity" is positive (and v-v for LH). Helicity equals the component of a particle's spin along the direction of its momentum. The reason for this designation is probably that, in classical terminology, positive angular momentum component corresponds to right-handed rotation. Even though there is no rotation in the QM spin of an elementary particle, the notation is still used.koantum said:What about left-handed and right-handed spin-1/2 particles? Possible question: what is the handedness of the (electron) neutrino?
Actually I offered these questions only as example questions for Tjen's quizz. Didn't mean to get an answer!Meir Achuz said:By convention, "right-handed" for a particle's spin means ...