Parallel axis theorem for free-space electron wavefunctions

Abstract

We consider the orbital angular momentum of a free electron vortex moving in a uniform magnetic field. We identify three contributions to this angular momentum: the canonical orbital angular momentum associated with the vortex, the angular momentum of the cyclotron orbit of the wavefunction, and a diamagnetic angular momentum. The cyclotron and diamagnetic angular momenta are found to be separable according to the parallel axis theorem. This means that rotations can occur with respect to two or more axes simultaneously, which can be observed with superpositions of vortex states.

Keywords

• free electron vortices
• orbital angular momentum
• cyclotron motion