Photon and electron spins.
It is easy to draw an intuitive parallel between the classical free electromagnetic field and its corresponding quantum, the photon-a spin-1 object. The situation with a massive particle such as an electron is less clear, as a real-world analog of the classical field whose quantum is the massive particle is not available. It is concluded that the fermion particle perspective provides the best avenue for an intuitive grasp of the spin of an elementary fermion.
Wittig
Curt
C
Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA. wittig@usc.edu