Ultimate bistability: Hysteretic resonance of a slightly-relativistic electron

Abstract

It was recently predicted by us that cyclotron resonance of free electrons in vacuum and conduction electrons in semiconductors may exhibit bistable and hysteretic behavior which is due to the relativistic mass-effect (or pseudo relativistic-in semiconductors). Consistent with this prediction, the hysteretic cyclotron resonance of a trapped single electron in vacuum has recently been experimentally observed by Gabrielse et al. A preliminary estimate shows that their experimental results are consistent with the relativistic nature of the observed hysteresis. In this paper we consider this phenomenon as ultimate bistability since it is based on the most fundamental mechanism of nonlinearity (the relativistic mass-effect), involves the interaction of an EM wave with the simplest single elementary particle, and exhibits the first known intrinsic bistability with no macroscopic optical feedback. We also show that a hysteretic resonance of a Single electron based on relativistic effects is feasible also in a parabolic potential (with no magnetic field required to attain a resonance).