Generalized Lagrangians and spinning particles

TL;DR

This paper explores how higher-order derivative Lagrangians can naturally account for the spin structure of elementary particles, including rotation and zitterbewegung effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates that allowing Lagrangians to depend on higher derivatives provides a novel explanation for the origin of particle spin.

Findings

Spin arises from higher derivative terms in the Lagrangian.

The model explains rotation and zitterbewegung components of spin.

Higher order Lagrangians can describe elementary particle properties.

Abstract

The use of generalized Lagrangians for describing elementary particles was already claimed by Ostrogradskii. It is shown how the spin structure of elementary particles arises if one allows the Lagrangian to depend on higher order derivatives. One part is related to the rotation of the particle and the other, which is coming from the dependence of the Lagrangian on the acceleration, is known as the zitterbewegung part of spin.