We propose a new quantum approach for describing a system of $n$ interacting particles with variable mass connected by an unknown field with variable form ($n$-VMVF systems). Instead of assuming any particular nature for variation of the masses and field, we propose to find them from the laws that rule the dynamic of the systems. In this context, we consider masses and field are functions depending only on the particle positions and velocities, excluding the presence of hidden variables. The quantum approach follows the modern method for constructing the quantum theory where quantum states are defined over a Hilbert space, and the operators are obtained from the canonical transformations of the corresponding classical theory. The classical theory results on two sets of second-order Hamilton constrained equations, while the Hilbert space is defined over the extension of the complex number, which is done from an unsolvable equation on the complex domain. This new approach does not contradict the existing theoretical theories in Particle Physics.
We propose a new quantum approach for describing a system of n interacting particles with variable mass connected by an unknown field with variable form (n-VMVF systems). Instead of assuming any particular nature for variation of the masses and field, we propose to find them from the laws that rule the dynamic of the systems. In this context, we consider masses and field are functions depending only on the particle positions and velocities, excluding the presence of hidden variables. The quantum approach follows the modern method for constructing the quantum theory where quantum states are defined over a Hilbert space, and the operators are obtained from the canonical transformations of the corresponding classical theory. The classical theory results on two sets of second-order Hamilton constrained equations, while the Hilbert space is defined over the extension of the complex number, which is done from an unsolvable equation on the complex domain. This new approach does not contradict the existing theoretical theories in Particle Physics.
The conventional correspondence basis for quantum dynamics is here replaced by a self-contained quantum dynamical principle from which the equations of motion and the commutation relations can be deduced. The theory is developed in terms of the model supplied by localizable fields. A short review is first presented of the general quantum-mechanical scheme of operators and eigenvectors, in which emphasis is placed on the differential characterization of representatives and transformation functions by means of infinitesimal unitary transformations. The fundamental dynamical principle is stated as a variational equation for the transformation function connecting eigenvectors associated with different spacelike surfaces, which describes the temporal development of the system. The generator of the infinitesimal transformation is the variation of the action integral operator, the spacetime volume integral of the invariant lagrange function operator. The invariance of the lagrange function preserves the form of the dynamical principle under coordinate transformations, with the exception of those transformations which include a reversal in the positive sense of time, where a separate discussion is necessary. It will be shown in Sec. III that the requirement of invariance under time reflection imposes a restriction upon the operator properties of fields, which is simply the connection between the spin and statistics of particles. For a given dynamical system, changes in the transformation function arise only from alterations of the eigenvectors associated with the two surfaces, as generated by operators constructed from field variables attached to those surfaces. This yields the operator principle of stationary action, from which the equations of motion are obtained. Commutation relations are derived from the generating operator associated with a given surface. In particular, canonical commutation relations are obtained for those field components that are not restricted by equations of constraint. The surface generating operator also leads to generalized Schr\"odinger equations for the representative of an arbitrary state. Action integral variations which correspond to changing the dynamical system are discussed briefly. A method for constructing the transformation function is described, in a form appropriate to an integral spin field, which involves solving Hamilton-Jacobi equations for ordered operators. In Sec. III, the exceptional nature of time reflection is indicated by the remark that the charge and the energy-momentum vector behave as a pseudoscalar and pseudovector, respectively, for time reflection transformations. This shows, incidentally, that positive and negative charge must occur symmetrically in a completely covariant theory. The contrast between the pseudo energy-momentum vector and the proper displacement vector then indicates that time reflection cannot be described within the unitary transformation framework. This appears most fundamentally in the basic dynamical principle. It is important to recognize here that the contributions to the lagrange function of half-integral spin fields behave like pseudoscalars with respect to time reflection. The non-unitary transformation required to represent time reflection is found to be the replacement of a state vector by its dual, or complex conjugate vector, together with the transposition of all operators. The fundamental dynamical principle is then invariant under time reflection if inverting the order of all operators in the lagrange function leaves an integral spin contribution unaltered, and reverses the sign of a half-integral spin contribution. This implies the essential commutativity, or anti-commutativity, of integral and half-integral field components, respectively, which is the connection between spin and statistics.
The final version of a new approach to quantum theory is formulated in this paper. The basis is taken to be theoretical variables, variables that may be accessible or inaccessible, i.e., it may be possible or impossible for an observer to assign arbitrarily sharp numerical values to them. In an epistemic process, the accessible variables are just ideal observations connected to an observer or to some communicating observers. Group actions are defined on these variables, and group representation theory is the basis for developing the Hilbert space formalism here. Operators corresponding to accessible theoretical variables are derived, and in the finite-dimensional case, it is proved that the possible physical values are the eigenvalues of these operators. The focus of the paper is some mathematical theorems paving the ground for the proposed foundation of quantum theory. It is indicated here that the groups and transformations needed in this approach can be constructed explicitly in the case where the accessible variables are finite-dimensional. In case, this simplifies the theory considerably: To reproduce the Hilbert space formulation, it is enough to assume the existence of two complementary variables. What is new in this version of the article, is that the assumptions given behind the main theorems are simplified considerably, and that all proofs are given explicitly or refered to in other recent papers.
Abstract A new approach to quantum theory is proposed in this paper. The basis is taken to be theoretical variables, variables that may be accessible or inaccessible, i.e., it may be possible or impossible for an observer to assign arbitrarily sharp numerical values to them. In an epistemic process, the accessible variables are just ideal observations connected to an observer or to some communicating observers. Group actions are defined on these variables, and group representation theory is the basis for developing the Hilbert space formalism here. Operators corresponding to accessible theoretical variables are derived, and in the discrete case, it is proved that the possible physical values are the eigenvalues of these operators. The focus of the paper is some mathematical theorems paving the ground for the proposed foundation of quantum theory. It is shown here that the groups and transformations needed in this approach can be constructed explicitly in the case where the accessible variables are finite-dimensional. This simplifies the theory considerably: To reproduce the Hilbert space formulation, it is enough to assume the existence of two complementary variables. The interpretation inferred from the proposed foundation here may be called a general epistemic interpretation of quantum theory. A special case of this interpretation is QBism; it also has a relationship to several other interpretations.
Abstract The new quantum theory, based on the assumption that the dynamical variables do not obey the commutative law of multiplication, has by now been developed sufficiently to form a fairly complete theory of dynamics. One can treat mathematically the problem of any dynamical system composed of a number of particles with instantaneous forces acting between them, provided it is describable by a Hamiltonian function, and one can interpret the mathematics physically by a quite definite general method. On the other hand, hardly anything has been done up to the present on quantum electrodynamics. The questions of the correct treatment of a system in which the forces are propagated with the velocity of light instead of instantaneously, of the production of an electromagnetic field by a moving electron, and of the reaction of this field on the electron have not yet been touched. In addition, there is a serious difficulty in making the theory satisfy all the requirements of the restricted principle of relativity, since a Hamiltonian function can no longer be used. This relativity question is, of course, connected with the previous ones, and it will be impossible to answer any one question completely without at the same time answering them all. However, it appears to be possible to build up a fairly satisfactory theory of the emission of radiation and of the reaction of the radiation field on the emitting system on the basis of a kinematics and dynamics which are not strictly relativistic. This is the main object of the present paper. The theory is noil-relativistic only on account of the time being counted throughout as a c-number, instead of being treated symmetrically with the space co-ordinates. The relativity variation of mass with velocity is taken into account without difficulty. The underlying ideas of the theory are very simple. Consider an atom interacting with a field of radiation, which we may suppose for definiteness to be confined in an enclosure so as to have only a discrete set of degrees of freedom. Resolving the radiation into its Fourier components, we can consider the energy and phase of each of the components to be dynamical variables describing the radiation field. Thus if Er is the energy of a component labelled r and θr is the corresponding phase (defined as the time since the wave was in a standard phase), we can suppose each Er and θr to form a pair of canonically conjugate variables. In the absence of any interaction between the field and the atom, the whole system of field plus atom will be describable by the Hamiltonian H ═ ΣrEr + Ho equal to the total energy, Ho being the Hamiltonian for the atom alone, since the variables Er, θr obviously satisfy their canonical equations of motion Er ═ — ∂H/∂θr ═ 0, θr ═ ∂H/∂Er ═ 1.
A theoretical scheme, based on a probabilistic generalization of Hamilton's principle, is elaborated to obtain a unified description of more general dynamical behaviors determined both from a Lagrangian function and by mechanisms not contemplated by this function. Within this scheme, quantum mechanics, classical field theory and a quantum theory for scalar fields are discussed. As a by-product of the probabilistic scheme for classical field theory, the equations of the De Donder–Weyl theory for multi-dimensional variational problems are recovered.