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M. Simard

Publications and source records attributed to M. Simard.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Dynamics of charged spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particles in superposed states minimally coupled to electromagnetism in curved spacetime within the WKB approximation

We investigate the curved-spacetime dynamics of charged spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particles minimally coupled to the electromagnetic field and propagating in superposed states of different masses. For that purpose, we make use of a Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation of the Dirac equation with a minimal coupling to the Maxwell field in curved spacetime. We obtain the spin dynamics as well as the deviation from geodesic motion of such particles. The problem of having the mass eigenstates experience different proper times, as opposed to the case of neutral particles, is here dealt with by first extracting the second-order differential equation obeyed by each superposition. This strategy proves to be not only powerful, but also very economical.

hep-ph

Curved-spacetime dynamics of spin-$\tfrac{1}{2}$ particles in superposed states from a WKB approximation of the Dirac equation

We investigate the dynamics of spin-$\tfrac{1}{2}$ particles that are freely propagating in superposed states in curved spacetime. We first make use of a Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation of the Dirac equation in curved spacetime to extract the corresponding Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations that describe the deviation from geodesic motion as well as the spin precession of such particles. We then discuss, in light of our results, the case of flavour neutrinos which are, by nature, a superposition of mass eigenstates.

hep-ph