Zitterbewegung and the Magnetic Moment of the Electron

Abstract

Zitterbewegung of a Dirac electron is an oscillation between positive and negative energy states, and is thus distinct from the analogous phenomena exhibited by spin half charged particles in electric and magnetic fields. Quantum field theory offers an insight into the velocity operator and provides an interpretation of zitterbewegung. Applying stationary perturbation theory to these results the electron $g$ factor is obtained analytically up to the Schwinger correction ($g = 2 + \alpha/\pi $).