We analyze the trajectories of a massive particle in one space dimension whose motion is guided by a spin-half wave function that evolves according to the free Dirac equation, with its initial wave function being a Gaussian wave packet with a nonzero expected value of momentum $k$.
We prove that at large times, the wave function is approximately equal to the superposition of two wave packets traveling in opposite directions, which results in trajectories with approximately constant asymptotic momentum $k$ and asymptotic energy $\pm c^2\sqrt{m^2+k^2}$, with $m$ the rest mass of the particle and $c$ the speed of light. The sign of the asymptotic energy is determined by the initial position of the particle. Particles with negative energy will have an asymptotic velocity that is in the opposite direction of their momentum.
The proof uses the stationary phase approximation method, for which we establish a rigorous error bound.
We analyze the trajectories of a massive particle in one space dimension whose motion is guided by a spin-half wave function that evolves according to the free Dirac equation, with its initial wave function being a Gaussian wave packet with a nonzero expected value of momentum k.
We prove that at large times, the wave function is approximately equal to the superposition of two wave packets traveling in opposite directions, which results in trajectories with approximately constant asymptotic momentum k and asymptotic energy ±c2m2+k2, with m the rest mass of the particle and c the speed of light. The sign of the asymptotic energy is determined by the initial position of the particle. Particles with negative energy will have an asymptotic velocity that is in the opposite direction of their momentum.
The proof uses the stationary phase approximation method, for which we establish a rigorous error bound.
The free particle solutions of the relativistic Dirac equation are characterized by plane waves with infinite uncertainty in position. However, many practical implementations of the solutions require a wave packet configuration, which can be utilized to represent a localized Dirac particle. Unlike the traditional wave packet generation method by superposing multiple plane waves, this study of ours presents an alternative approach towards obtaining a wave packet solution of a free particle relativistic Dirac equation. In this paper, we present Dirac’s free particle equation with a modification in the generalized momentum. The modification is achieved by coupling the momentum with a spatially varying logarithmic function, and this alteration does not affect the relativistic dispersion relation of the particle. Moreover, a solution of this modified Dirac equation is provided as well, which has been calculated using a trial wave function. The wave function solution is carried out in one dimension, where it behaves as a wave packet for a given ratio of the envelope parameter to the reduced Planck's constant greater than unity, where the envelope parameter regulates the width of the wave packet. The solution, being subject to this constraint, represents a bound particle with spin and a continuous energy spectrum.
Localization of relativistic particles have been of great research interests over many decades. We investigate the time evolution of the Gaussian wave packets governed by the one dimensional Dirac equation. For the free Dirac equation, we obtain the evolution profiles analytically in many approximation regimes, and numerical simulations consistent with other numerical schemes. Interesting behaviors such as Zitterbewegung and Klein paradox are exhibited. In particular, the dispersion rate as a function of mass is calculated, and it yields an interesting result that super-massive and massless particles both exhibit no dispersion in free space. For the Dirac equation with random potential or mass, we employ the Chebyshev polynomials expansion of the propagator operator to numerically investigate the probability profiles of the displacement distribution when the potential or mass is uniformly distributed. We observe that the widths of the Gaussian wave packets decrease approximately with the power law of order o(s−ν) with $\frac{1}{2}
We set up the Maxwell's equations and subsequently the classical wave equations for the electromagnetic waves which together with their generating source, an oscillatory charge of zero rest mass in general travelling, make up a particle travelling similarly as the source at velocity ν in the field of an external scalar and vector potentials. The direct solutions in constant external field are Doppler-displaced plane waves propagating at the velocity of light c ; at the de Broglie wavelength scale and expressed in terms of the dynamically equivalent and appropriate geometric mean wave variables, these render as functions identical to the space-time functions of a corresponding Dirac spinor, and in turn identical to de Broglie phase waves previously obtained from explicit superposition. For two spin-half particles of a common set of space-time functions constrained with antisymmetric spin functions as follows the Pauli principle for same charges and as separately indirectly induced based on experiment for opposite charges, the complete wave functions are identical to the Dirac spinor. The back-substitution of the so explicitly determined complete wave functions in the corresponding classical wave equations of the two particles, subjected further to reductions appropriate for the stationary-state particle motion and to rotation invariance when in three dimensions, give a Dirac equation set; the procedure and conclusion are directly extendible to arbitrarily varying potentials by use of the Furious theorem and to particle motions in three dimensions by virtue of the characteristics of de Broglie particle motion. Through the derivation of the Dirac equation, the study hopes to lend insight into the connections between the Dirac wave functions and the electrodynamic components of simple particles under the government by the well established basic laws of electrodynamics.
Essentially, we solve the particle-field equations obtained in the matter distribution quantum mechanics. In the framework of this theory, a particle is described by a density amplitude function, we call wave function, as a packet of waves with the time dependent phases proportional to the relativistic Lagrangian. The mass quantization of such a particle, as a distribution of matter, is obtained from the equality of the spatial integral of the density with the mass as a characteristic of the relativistic dynamics of this matter. The particle dynamics, as a motion of a mass spatial distribution, is obtained from the equality of the wave propagation velocities with the distribution coordinate velocities. This description is a physical one, compared to the Schrödinger-Heisenberg description leading to unphysical results as a null velocity for the kinetic energy as a constant of motion, or Zitterbewegung. The description of a particle interaction with an electromagnetic field by additional Lagrangian terms, with a vector potential conjugated to coordinates, as in the Aharonov-Bohm effect, and an electric potential conjugated to time, leads to the Lorentz force, and the Maxwell equations. In the two conjugated spaces, of the coordinates and of the momentum, the dynamics of a quantum particle is described by propagation operators, depending on the coordinate-momentum product, applied to time dependent wave functions satisfying matter-field equations. Unlike the standard Schrödinger or Schrödinger-Dirac equations, depending only on the Hamiltonian operator, instead of the Hamiltonian these equations contain the Lagrangian, which, besides the Hamiltonian, include additional terms with an explicit dependence on velocity, as it is expected in a relativistic theory. We obtain the wave function of a particle-antiparticle system interacting with an electromagnetic field, as a wave packet of spinors propagating in space with finite dimensions, given by the finite definition domain of the density function, in the space of the matter-field momentum, as a constant of motion. We show that an electrically charged quantum particle, rotating in a central electric field, generates a vector potential with a magnetic field perpendicular to the rotational plane and an electric field in this plane. By a quantum transition, a photon is emitted in the particle rotational plane, with the magnetic field perpendicular to this plane, and the electric field contained in this plane. In this framework, the vector potential rotation is correlated to a particle momentum rotation, for the canonical matter-field momentum as a constant of motion, without any electromagnetic field radiated outside.
The Dirac equation has resided among the greatest successes of modern physics since its emergence as the first quantum mechanical theory fully compatible with special relativity. This compatibility ensures that the expectation value of the velocity is less than the vacuum speed of light. Here, we show that the Dirac equation admits free-particle solutions where the peak amplitude of the wave function can travel at any velocity, including those exceeding the vacuum speed of light, despite having a subluminal velocity expectation value. The solutions are constructed by superposing basis functions with correlations in momentum space. These arbitrary velocity wave functions feature a near-constant profile and may impact quantum mechanical processes that are sensitive to the local value of the probability density as opposed to expectation values. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
A new relativistic quantum wave equation has been derived by applying the quantum prescription to the momentum and the kinetic energy rather than to the momentum and the total energy, since after all it is the kinetic energy that generates the momentum. The resulting equation reduces to the Schrodinger equation in the nonrelativistic limit and to the Klein-Gordon equation for “massless particles” in the relativistic limit, i.e., if the velocity of the particle approaches that of light, c. For massive particles in general, the new equation deviates from the Klein-Gordon equation. The same equation is shown to decouple according to the Dirac formalism, yielding a modified form of Dirac equation. When applied to a rest particle, the modified Dirac equation is shown to avoid a negative energy solution and instead include a constant solution. The other, the time-dependent particle solution of the modified Dirac equation, has the characteristic frequency Mc2/(ћ/2) , i.e., twice those of the Dirac solutions, Mc2/ћ.