It has been asserted in the literature that Mathisson's helical motions are unphysical, with the argument that their radius can be arbitrarily large. We revisit Mathisson's helical motions of a free spinning particle, and observe that such statement is unfounded. Their radius is finite and confined to the disk of centroids. We argue that the helical motions are perfectly valid and physically equivalent descriptions of the motion of a spinning body, the difference between them being the choice of the representative point of the particle, thus a gauge choice. We discuss the kinematical explanation of these motions, and we dynamically interpret them through the concept of hidden momentum. We also show that, contrary to previous claims, the frequency of the helical motions coincides, even in the relativistic limit, with the zitterbewegung frequency of the Dirac equation for the electron.

We propose a new approach to a physical analogy between general relativity and electromagnetism, based on tidal tensors of both theories. Using this approach we write a covariant form for the gravitational analogues of the Maxwell equations, which makes transparent both the similarities and key differences between the two interactions. The following realizations of the analogy are given. The first one matches linearized gravitational tidal tensors to exact electromagnetic tidal tensors in Minkowski spacetime. The second one matches exact magnetic gravitational tidal tensors for ultrastationary metrics to exact magnetic tidal tensors of electromagnetism in curved spaces. In the third we show that our approach leads to a two-step exact derivation of Papapetrou’s equation describing the force exerted on a spinning test particle. Analogous scalar invariants built from tidal tensors of both theories are also discussed.

The Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon (MPD) equations, providing the “pole-dipole” description of spinning test particles in general relativity, have to be supplemented by a condition specifying the worldline that will represent the history of the studied body. It has long been thought that the Mathisson-Pirani (MP) spin condition—unlike other major choices made in the literature—does not yield an explicit momentum-velocity relation. We derive here the desired (and very simple) relation and show that it is in fact equivalent to the MP condition. We clarify the apparent paradox between the existence of such a definite relation and the known fact that the MP condition is degenerate (does not specify a unique worldline), thus shedding light on some conflicting statements made in the literature. We then show how, for a given body, this spin condition yields infinitely many possible representative worldlines, and derive a detailed method how to switch between them in a curved spacetime. The MP condition is a convenient choice in situations when it is easy to recognize its “nonhelical” solution, as exemplified here by bodies in circular orbits and in radial fall in the Schwarzschild spacetime.

We compare the rigorous equations describing the motion of spinning test particles in gravitational and electromagnetic fields, and show that if the Mathisson-Pirani spin condition holds then exact gravito-electromagnetic analogies emerge. These analogies provide a familiar formalism to treat gravitational problems, as well as a means for comparing the two interactions. Fundamental differences are manifest in the symmetries and time projections of the electromagnetic and gravitational tidal tensors. The physical consequences of the symmetries of the tidal tensors are explored comparing the following analogous setups: magnetic dipoles in the field of nonspinning/spinning charges, and gyroscopes in the Schwarzschild, Kerr, and Kerr–de Sitter spacetimes. The implications of the time projections of the tidal tensors are illustrated by the work done on the particle in various frames; in particular, a reciprocity is found to exist: in a frame comoving with the particle, the electromagnetic (but not the gravitational) field does work on it, causing a variation of its proper mass; conversely, for “static observers,” a stationary gravitomagnetic (but not a magnetic) field does work on the particle, and the associated potential energy is seen to embody the Hawking-Wald spin-spin interaction energy. The issue of hidden momentum, and its counterintuitive dynamical implications, is also analyzed. Finally, a number of issues regarding the electromagnetic interaction and the physical meaning of Dixon’s equations are clarified.