Revisiting the spin effects induced by thermal vorticity*

Abstract

We revisit the spin effects induced by thermal vorticity by calculating them directly from the spin-dependent distribution functions. For spin-1/2 particles, we provide the polarization up to the first order of thermal vorticity and compare it with the usual results calculated from the spin vector. For spin-1 particles, we show that all the non-diagonal elements vanish and there is no spin alignment up to the first order of thermal vortcity. We present the spin alignment at second-order contribution from thermal vorticity. We also show that the spin effects for both Dirac and vector particles receive an extra contribution when the spin direction is associated with the momentum of the particle.