On the Mirage of the Classical Electron of Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit

Abstract

The idea that the electron is an extended charged object the spinning of which is responsible for its magnetic moment is shown to require a sizable portion of the electron to spin at speeds very close to the speed of light, and in fact to explode within an unacceptably short time, ~1E-31 s. The experimentally well-established magnetic moment of elementary particles such as the electron therefore must be accepted as an intrinsic property, with no need for classical models based on spatially extended objects. Emphasizing these facts in education, as early as possible, is important to the framing of the proper mind-set.