The zitterbewegung electron puzzle

Abstract

This work is an updated revision of semiclassical descriptions for the electron, including the fully relativistic QED-P model from H. J. Wilson based on the original Dirac equation (DE). The models presented hereafter go beyond the depiction of the electron as a structureless nondimensional point like charge with momentum and position determined by a probabilistic interpretation of the wavefunction described in terms of an electronic density cloud. These models share features in common that provide useful insights concerning the nature of the electron; for instance, they all consider zitterbewegung, a light speed “trembling-along-the-way” electron motion, to be a real oscillatory motion of the electron. The last model presented in this review is the electron mass model from Val Baker et al. [Phys. Essays 32, 255 (2019)], where the electron mass is defined in terms of a holographic surface-to-volume ratio Φ and the relationship of the electric charge at the Planck scale to that at the electron scale, obtaining a value in agreement with the latest CODATA value. We discuss the relationship between these models. The large number of correspondences between the models should not be taken lightly and indicate, in our view, that something very fundamental about the nature of the electron is being put forward by this study.