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<p>The notion of electron spin emerges from the problematic of the anomalous Zeemann effect. As a strictly quantum property of electrons, the development of this concept was only possible through severe conceptual constraints, since the mechanism for producing magnetic dipole moments cannot be conceived without considering rigid-body dynamics, which, in this case, implied attributing spatial dimensions to the electron. Some degree of relativistic kinematics was also required to explain the electron’s intrinsic magnetism, requiring, however, adjustments to the Lorentz transformations to be applied to the non-inertial frame of reference of a self-rotating electron. Despite the obvious contradictions - the electron is, after all, point-like - the proposed solution to the problem accounted for the experimental data, although it led to a new puzzle. Paradoxically, the concept of electron spin emerged by applying classical knowledge to a context in which it could not be employed, except metaphorically.</p>

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Revisiting the History of Electron Spin in the First Two Decades of the 20th Century: a Scientific Metaphor

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月6日

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  • Fábio Bartolomeu Santana,
  • Frederico Firmo de Souza Cruz,
  • Henrique César da Silva

摘要

The notion of electron spin emerges from the problematic of the anomalous Zeemann effect. As a strictly quantum property of electrons, the development of this concept was only possible through severe conceptual constraints, since the mechanism for producing magnetic dipole moments cannot be conceived without considering rigid-body dynamics, which, in this case, implied attributing spatial dimensions to the electron. Some degree of relativistic kinematics was also required to explain the electron’s intrinsic magnetism, requiring, however, adjustments to the Lorentz transformations to be applied to the non-inertial frame of reference of a self-rotating electron. Despite the obvious contradictions - the electron is, after all, point-like - the proposed solution to the problem accounted for the experimental data, although it led to a new puzzle. Paradoxically, the concept of electron spin emerged by applying classical knowledge to a context in which it could not be employed, except metaphorically.