Deriving Spin within a Discrete-Time theory

Previous papers, presenting the background of our own approach to the "chronon" theory (and, in particulat, its consequences for Quantum Mechanics and for the the solution of the "measurement problem" in QM), are the e-prints posted in the Cornell Univ. Archives (www.arxiv.org): arXiv: quant-ph/0206117 and particularly arXiv: quant-ph/9706059

We prove that the classical approach with a discrete time ("chronon") is a particular case of a more general theory, in which spinning particles are associated with generalized Lagrangians containing time-derivatives of any order (a theory that has been called "Non-Newtonian Mechanics"). As a consequence, we obtain, for instance, a classical kinematical derivation of Hamiltonian and spin vector from the mentioned chronon theory (e.g., in Caldirola et al.'s formulation). Namely, we show that the extension of classical mechanics obtained by the introduction of an elementary time-interval does actually entail the arising of an intrinsic angular momentum; so that it can constitute a possible alternative to string theory in order to account for the internal degrees of freedom of microsystems.