Effect of relativistic spin rotation for one- and two-particle spin states

Abstract

The effect of the relativistic spin rotation, conditioned by the setting of the spin in the rest frame of a particle and by the noncommutativity of the Lorentz transformations along noncolinear directions, is discussed. In connection with this, the Thomas precession of the spin polarization vector at the motion of a particle along a curvilinear trajectory is considered. The transformations of the correlation tensor components for a system of two spin-1/2 particles at the transition from the c.m.s. of the particle pair to the laboratory frame are investigated. When the particle laboratory velocities are not colinear, the relativistic spin rotation angles for these particles are different. As a result, the relative fractions of the singlet and triplet states in the relativistic system of two free spin-1/2 particles with a nonzero vector of relative momentum depend on the concrete frame in which this two-particle system is analyzed.