Revisiting fermion helicity flip in Podolsky's Electromagnetism

TL;DR

This paper investigates the phenomenon of electron helicity flip during interactions with scalar mesons, demonstrating that such flips occur independently of Podolsky's generalized electromagnetic theory.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of helicity flip processes for electrons interacting via virtual photons, clarifying that these processes are not exclusive to Podolsky's electromagnetism.

Findings

Helicity flip occurs for 20 MeV electrons interacting with scalar mesons.

The process is independent of Podolsky's generalized photon theory.

Helicity change can be observed without reliance on Podolsky's modifications.

Abstract

The spin projection of a massive particle onto its direction of motion is called helicity (or "handedness"). It can therefore be positive or negative. When a particle's helicity changes from positive to negative (or vice-versa) due to its interaction with other particles or fields, we say there is a helicity flip. In this work we show that such helicity flip can be seen for an electron of $20 MeV$ of energy interacting with a charged scalar meson through the exchange of a virtual photon. This photon {\it does not} necessarily need to be Podolsky's proposed photon; in fact, it is independent of it.