Abstract

A theory of twisted (and other structured) paraxial electrons in a uniform magnetic field is developed. The obtained general quantum-mechanical solution of the relativistic paraxial equation contains the commonly accepted result as a specific case of unstructured electron waves. In the weak-field limit, our solution (unlike the existing theory) is consistent with the well-known equation for free twisted electron beams. The observable effect of a different behavior of relativistic Laguerre-Gauss beams with opposite directions of the orbital angular momentum penetrating from the free space into a magnetic field is predicted. Distinguishing features of the quantization of the velocity and the effective mass of structured electrons in the uniform magnetic field are analyzed.

Highlights

  • The discovery of twisted electron states with a nonzero intrinsic orbital angular momentum (OAM) [2] has confirmed their theoretical prediction [1] and has created new applications of electron beams

  • The present study describes structured electron states which are not plane waves along the magnetic field direction

  • The observable effect of a different behavior of relativistic Laguerre-Gauss beams with opposite directions of the orbital angular momentum penetrating from the free space into a magnetic field is predicted

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Summary

Introduction

The discovery of twisted (vortex) electron states with a nonzero intrinsic orbital angular momentum (OAM) [2] has confirmed their theoretical prediction [1] and has created new applications of electron beams. The twisted states of free photons and electrons are defined by the paraxial wave equation [3, 26, 27]: Advanced results obtained in optics allow us to rigorously derive a general formula for the paraxial wave function of a relativistic twisted Dirac particle in a uniform magnetic field.

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