Spin-Orbit Pendulum: the Microscopic Stern-Gerlach Effect

The motion of a particle with a spin in spherical harmonic oscillator potential with spin-orbit interaction is studied. We have focus our attention on spatial motion of wave packets, giving a description complementary to motion of spin discussed already in [1]. The particular initial conditions studied here lead to the most transparent formulas and can be treated analytically. A strong analogy with the Stern-Gerlach experiment is suggested. [1] R.Arvieu and P.Rozmej, Phys.Rev.A50 (1994) 4376.