文档介绍：In: Found. Physics., Vol. 20, No. 10, (1990) 1213–1232.
The Zitterbewegung Interpretation of
Quantum Mechanics
David Hestenes
Abstract. The zitterbewegung is a local circulatory motion of the elec-
tron presumed to be the basis of the electron spin and ic moment. A
reformulation of the Dirac theory shows that the zitterbewegung need not
be attributed to interference between positive and negative energy states as
originally proposed by Schroedinger. Rather, it provides a physical inter-
pretation for plex phase factor in the Dirac wave function generally.
Moreover, it extends to a coherent physical interpretation of the entire Dirac
theory, and it implies a zitterbewegung interpretation for the Schroedinger
theory as well.
1. INTRODUCTION
The idea that the electron spin and ic moment are generated by a localized cir-
culatory motion of the electron has been proposed independently by many physicists.
Schroedinger’s zitterbewegung (zbw) model for such motion is especially noteworthy, be-
cause it is grounded in an analysis of solutions to the Dirac equation.(1,2,3) Surely, if the
zbw is a real physical phenomena, then it tells us something fundamental about the nature
of the electron. However, the role ascribed to the zbw in standard formulations of quantum
mechanics has been metaphorical at best.
My purpose in this paper is to argue that the zbw is not an esoteric or adventitious rela-
tivistic feature of the Dirac theory monly believed. Rather, the zbw is a ubiquitous
phenomena with manifestations in every application of quantum mechanics, even in the
nonrelativistic domain.
A wholesale reinterpretation of quantum mechanics is necessary to recognize this. But
the reinterpretation is not arbitrarily imposed on the mathematical formalism. Rather,
like Schroedinger’s original ideal about the zbw, it arises from analyzing solutions of the
Dirac equation to see what they tell us about the structure of the electron and its motion.