Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields

Superselection Rule for Charge

G. C. Wick, Arthur S. Wightman, Eugene Paul Wigner

Published Jun 15, 1970• 91 citations

Abstract

The customary notion of superselection rule stipulates the vanishing of those matrix elements of the density matrix that connect states separated by the superselection rule, i.e., the relative phases of which are, according to the superselection rule, meaningless. It is shown that, if any two states for which an additive conserved quantity has different values are separated for all physical systems by a superselection rule at one time, the separation will persist for all times. It is concluded that the states with different electric (or baryonic) charges are so separated. The reason for the difference between electric charge and other additive conserved quantities, such as momentum, is brought out.

DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.1.3267

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