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Wiktionary
zitterbewegung

n. (context physics English) An extremely fast oscillation of free electrons (and other particles) predicted by some solutions of the Dirac equation

Wikipedia
Zitterbewegung

Zitterbewegung ("trembling motion" from German) is a hypothetical rapid motion of elementary particles, in particular electrons, that obey the Dirac equation. The existence of such motion was first proposed by Erwin Schrödinger in 1930 as a result of his analysis of the wave packet solutions of the Dirac equation for relativistic electrons in free space, in which an interference between positive and negative energy states produces what appears to be a fluctuation (at the speed of light) of the position of an electron around the median, with an angular frequency of 2mc/ℏ, or approximately 1.6 radians per second. A re-examination of Dirac theory, however, shows that interference between positive and negative energy states may not be a necessary criterion for observing zitterbewegung.

Zitterbewegung of a free relativistic particle has never been observed. However, it has been simulated twice. First, with a trapped ion, by putting it in an environment such that the non-relativistic Schrödinger equation for the ion has the same mathematical form as the Dirac equation (although the physical situation is different). Then, in 2013, it was simulated in a setup with Bose–Einstein condensates.

Usage examples of "zitterbewegung".

A revpic-driven device for simulating the secondary fields emitted by charged particles under zitterbewegung vibration.

The quarks themselves are charged, and therefore exhibit the zitterbewegung motions that give rise to gravity and inertia.