Electrons, Stern–Gerlach magnets, and quantum mechanical propagation

Abstract

Quantum corrections to Newton’s equations are obtained and used to illustrate that classical dynamics is embedded explicitly in quantum dynamics. Originally, the resultant set of dynamical equations has been used to shed light on quantum chaos. We show that the method can provide insight into the dynamics of free particles and the harmonic oscillator. We then use it to determine whether Stern–Gerlach magnets can be constructed for free electrons.