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Physical Review

Some Generalizations of the Foldy-Wouthuysen Transformation

K. M. Case

Published Sep 1, 1954• 197 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A canonical transformation similar to that given by Foldy and Wouthuysen is obtained for the spin zero and one theories. For free particles positive and negative charge states are separately described by one or three component wave functions. It is found that the resulting forms for operators and the non-relativistic limits are quite similar to that for spin \textonehalf{}. The resulting similarity is found to carry over to still higher spins. Particles moving in magnetic fields are described most simply using the transformed representation.

DOI
10.1103/physrev.95.1323

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A canonical transformation similar to that given by Foldy and Wouthuysen is obtained for the spin zero and one theories. For free particles positive and negative charge states are separately described by one or three component wave functions. It is found that the resulting forms for operators and the non-relativistic limits are quite similar to that for spin \textonehalf{}. The resulting similarity is found to carry over to still higher spins. Particles moving in magnetic fields are described most simply using the transformed representation.
The Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation for relativistic spin-1 particles interacting with nonuniform electric and uniform magnetic fields is performed. The Hamilton operator in the Foldy-Wouthuysen representation is determined. It agrees with the Lagrangian obtained by Pomeransky, Khriplovich, and Sen'kov. The classical and quantum formulae for the Hamiltonian agree. The validity of the Corben-Schwinger equations is confirmed. However, it is difficult to generalize these equations in order to take into account the quadrupole moment defined by a particle charge distribution. The known second-order wave equations are not quite satisfactory because they contain non-Hermitian terms. The Hermitian second-order wave equation is derived.
By a canonical transformation on the Dirac Hamiltonian for a free particle, a representation of the Dirac theory is obtained in which positive and negative energy states are separately represented by two-component wave functions. Playing an important role in the new representation are new operators for position and spin of the particle which are physically distinct from these operators in the conventional representation. The components of the time derivative of the new position operator all commute and have for eigenvalues all values between $\ensuremath{-}c$ and ccc. The new spin operator is a constant of the motion unlike the spin operator in the conventional representation. By a comparison of the new Hamiltonian with the non-relativistic Pauli-Hamiltonian for particles of spin \textonehalf{}, one finds that it is these new operators rather than the conventional ones which pass over into the position and spin operators in the Pauli theory in the non-relativistic limit. The transformation of the new representation is also made in the case of interaction of the particle with an external electromagnetic field. In this way the proper non-relativistic Hamiltonian (essentially the Pauli-Hamiltonian) is obtained in the non-relativistic limit. The same methods may be applied to a Dirac particle interacting with any type of external field (various meson fields, for example) and this allows one to find the proper non-relativistic Hamiltonian in each such case. Some light is cast on the question of why a Dirac electron shows some properties characteristic of a particle of finite extension by an examination of the relationship between the new and the conventional position operators.
An examination is made of the consequences for the quantum mechanics of spinning particles of equations characteristic of Lorentz-covariant position variables. These equations are commutator analogs of the Poisson bracket equations that express the familiar transformation properties of space-time events in classical mechanics. For a particle of zero spin it is found that the usual canonical coordinate is the unique solution of these equations. For a particle with positive spin there is no position operator which satisfies these equations and has commuting components. For a particle and antiparticle there is a unique solution with commuting components which is valid for all values of the spin and reduces for zero spin to the canonical coordinate. For spin \textonehalf{} this is the Foldy-Wouthuysen transform of the position operator of the Dirac equation. A generalization of the inverse Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation, valid for any value of the spin, appears as a unique unitary transformation which takes this generalized Dirac position to the canonical coordinate. The application of this transformation to the canonical form of the Hamiltonian gives a generalization of the Dirac equation Hamiltonian. This is developed and compared with the literature for spin 1. It gives a nonlocal equation as the spin 1 analog of the Dirac equation.
The Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation for relativistic spin-1 particles interacting with nonuniform electric and uniform magnetic fields is performed. The Hamilton operator in the Foldy-Wouthuysen representation is determined. It agrees with the Lagrangian obtained by Pomeransky, Khriplovich, and Sen'kov. The validity of the Corben-Schwinger equations is confirmed. However, an attempt to generalize these equations in order to take into account the own quadrupole moment of particles was not successful. The known second-order wave equations are incorrect because they contain non-Hermitian terms. The correct second-order wave equation is derived.