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arXiv:1205.1992

Relativistic Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory

Hrvoje Nikolić

Published May 24, 2019• 11 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

This chapter considers a more realistic variation of the measuring procedure, taking into account the fact that the measured particles become entangled with the measuring apparatus at some finite time. The results are also generalized to quantum field theory, where quantum states are represented by wave functions depending on an infinite number of space-time coordinates. Thus, to make Bohmian mechanics covariant, one needs first to reformulate the standard quantum mechanics (QM) in a covariant way such that time is treated on an equal footing with space. Another physically interesting situation is when the entanglement with the environment takes the form, where are coherent states. In general, in the Bohmian interpretation all the other quantities may have a distribution totally different from those predicted by purely probabilistic QM. The space probability density should be generalized to the space-time probability density.

DOI
10.1201/9780429294747-9

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This chapter considers a more realistic variation of the measuring procedure, taking into account the fact that the measured particles become entangled with the measuring apparatus at some finite time. The results are also generalized to quantum field theory, where quantum states are represented by wave functions depending on an infinite number of space-time coordinates. Thus, to make Bohmian mechanics covariant, one needs first to reformulate the standard quantum mechanics (QM) in a covariant way such that time is treated on an equal footing with space. Another physically interesting situation is when the entanglement with the environment takes the form, where are coherent states. In general, in the Bohmian interpretation all the other quantities may have a distribution totally different from those predicted by purely probabilistic QM. The space probability density should be generalized to the space-time probability density.
The kinematic time operator can be naturally defined in relativistic and nonrelativistic quantum mechanics (QM) by treating time on an equal footing with space. The space–time position operator acts in the Hilbert space of functions of space and time. Dynamics, however, makes eigenstates of the time operator unphysical. This poses a problem for the standard interpretation of QM and reinforces the role of alternative interpretations such as the Bohmian one. The Bohmian interpretation, despite of being nonlocal in accordance with the Bell theorem, is shown to be relativistic covariant.
I present a relativistic covariant version of the Bohmian interpretation of quantum mechanics and discuss the corresponding measurable predictions. The covariance is incoded in the fact that the nonlocal quantum potential transforms as a scalar, which is a consequence of the fact that the nonlocal wave function transforms as a scalar. The measurable predictions that can be obtained with the deterministic Bohmian interpretation cannot be obtained with the conventional interpretation simply because the conventional probabilistic interpretation does not work in the case of relativistic quantum mechanics.
Abstract. I present a relativistic covariant version of the Bohmian interpretation of quantum mechanics and discuss the corresponding measurable predictions. The covariance is incoded in the fact that the nonlocal quantum potential transforms as a scalar, which is a consequence of the fact that the nonlocal wave function transforms as a scalar. The measurable predictions that can be obtained with the deterministic Bohmian interpretation cannot be obtained with the conventional interpretation simply because the conventional probabilistic interpretation does not work in the case of relativistic quantum mechanics.
Conventional relativistic quantum mechanics, based on the Klein-Gordon equation, does not possess a natural probabilistic interpretation in configuration space. The Bohmian interpretation, in which probabilities play a secondary role, provides a viable interpretation of relativistic quantum mechanics. We formulate the Bohmian interpretation of many-particle wave functions in a Lorentz-covariant way. In contrast with the nonrelativistic case, the relativistic Bohmian interpretation may lead to measurable predictions on particle positions even when the conventional interpretation does not lead to such predictions. Key words: relativistic quantum mechanics, Klein-Gordon equation, Bohmian interpretation. 1
A type of mechanics will be presented that possesses some distinctive properties. On the one hand, its physical description & rules of operation are readily comprehensible & intuitively clear. On the other, it fully satisfies all observable predictions of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Within it, particles exist at points in space, follow continuous, piecewise differentiable paths, and their linear momentum is equal to their mass times their velocity along their path. Yet the probabilities for position and momentum, conditioned on the state of the particle's environment, follow the rules of quantum theory. Indeed, all observable consequences of quantum theory are satisfied; particles can be entangled, have intrinsic spin, this spin is not local to the particle, particle identity can effect probabilities, and so forth. All the rules of quantum mechanics are obeyed, and all arise in a straightforward fashion. After this is established, connections will be drawn out between this type of mechanics and other types of quantum worlds; those that obey Bohmian mechanics, stochastic mechanics, the many worlds interpretation, and physical collapse. In the final section, a relativistic version of the mechanics will be presented.
Quantum mechanics (QM) is not just a theory of micro-objects: it is our current fundamental theory of motion. It expresses a deeper understanding of Nature than classical mechanics. Precisely as classical mechanics, the conventional formulation of QM describes evolution of states and observables in time. Precisely as classical mechanics, this is not sufficient to deal with general relativistic systems, because these systems do not describe evolution in time; they describe correlations between observables. Therefore, a formulation of QM slightly more general than the conventional one – or a quantum version of the relativistic classical mechanics discussed in the previous chapter – is needed. In this chapter I discuss the possibility of such a formulation. In the last section I discuss the general physical interpretation of QM. QM can be formulated in a number of more or less equivalent formalisms: canonical (Hilbert spaces and self-adjoint operators), covariant (Feynman's sum-over-histories), algebraic (states as linear functionals over an abstract algebra of observables) and others. Generally, but not always, we are able to translate these formalisms into one another, but often what is easy in one formulation is difficult in another. A generalrelativistic sum-over-histories formalism has been developed by Jim Hartle. Here I focus on the canonical formalism, because the canonical formalism has provided the mathematical completeness and precision needed to explicitly construct the mathematical apparatus of quantum gravity. Later I will consider alternative formalisms.