The eight-component relativistic wave equation for spin- particles derived in the preceding paper is studied from a mathematical viewpoint. It is shown that it is relativistically covariant, albeit not manifestly so. It has an enlarged solution space when compared to the Dirac equation. A derivation of the equation in an arbitrary gamma matrix representation is presented. Kronecker products are used to display the analogy between the eight-component equation and the two-component spin-0 equation. The linearization procedure used to obtain the eight-component equation from the second-order spin- equation is found to have a natural mathematical validation in the study of indefinite inner product spaces. The (relativistic) quantum mechanical formalism for the eight-component equation is constructed. This features the use of an indefinite inner product and some results are presented to show how the usual quantum mechanical formalism is generalized to account for this. The reason for the decoupling of the equation into two four-component equations in the Weyl representation of the gamma matrices is given. It is shown that only one of the decoupled parts has to be solved for any problem of a single particle coupled to an external electromagnetic field. Comments are made on the solution of the hydrogen atom presented in the preceding paper.
The eight-component relativistic wave equation for spin- particles derived in the preceding paper is studied from a mathematical viewpoint. It is shown that it is relativistically covariant, albeit not manifestly so. It has an enlarged solution space when compared to the Dirac equation. A derivation of the equation in an arbitrary gamma matrix representation is presented. Kronecker products are used to display the analogy between the eight-component equation and the two-component spin-0 equation. The linearization procedure used to obtain the eight-component equation from the second-order spin- equation is found to have a natural mathematical validation in the study of indefinite inner product spaces. The (relativistic) quantum mechanical formalism for the eight-component equation is constructed. This features the use of an indefinite inner product and some results are presented to show how the usual quantum mechanical formalism is generalized to account for this. The reason for the decoupling of the equation into two four-component equations in the Weyl representation of the gamma matrices is given. It is shown that only one of the decoupled parts has to be solved for any problem of a single particle coupled to an external electromagnetic field. Comments are made on the solution of the hydrogen atom presented in the preceding paper.
The eight-component (8-C) relativistic wave equation for spin-1/2 particles was developed by B. A. Robson and D. S. Staudte in 1993 using the procedure analogous to the one used earlier on the Klein-Gordon equation. The relativistic covariance and the solution behaviour of the 8-C equation have been studied extensively by D. S. Staudte in 1993. The book provides the study of the 8-C equation, particularly its application to physical problems such as Compton scattering and transition probabilities in hydrogenic atoms. The application of the 8-C equation to the Compton scattering problem shows that it gives the same well-known Klein-Nishina cross section formula as that initially obtained using the Dirac equation. The 8-C equation has also been applied to the calculation of the transition probabilities for the components of both the Balmer and Lyman alpha-lines of hydrogenic atoms, and the results show the first indication that the 8-C equation and the Dirac equation are actually not equivalent. This book is intended for those who are interested in the comparative study between the 8-C equation and the well-known Dirac equation, as well as their theoretical consequences.
This thesis is concerned with the development of a new spin-1/2 wave equation in relativistic quantum mechanics. This equation is the spin-1/2 analogue of the spin-0 Feshbach-Villars equation. The thesis begins in chapter 1 with a review of the subject of relativistic wave equations and its place in the development of modern physics. Chapter 2 sees the derivation of the new equation (hereafter referred to as the FV1/2 equation). This derivation is presented at three levels of understanding, and is combined with an analysis of the equation using elements of the underlying mathematics of the theories of special relativity and quantum mechanics. The analysis justifies the methods of derivation of the equation, and its suitability as a wave equation in relativistic quantum mechanics. It is shown th a t the FV1/2 equation is different to the Dirac equation and other equations in the literature. One of the striking features of the FV1/2 equation is th a t it contains a less restrictive dynamics than the conventional Dirac equation. Chapter 3 examines the solution space and proves some results using the discrete symmetries C, P and T, which enable a subset of the solution space to be used for physical applications. It is possible to use a subset of solutions which contain the usual Dirac negative energy states, or it is possible to use a subset which contains only positive energy states, but includes states of opposite signs of charge. The second subset corresponds to the physical properties of particles and antiparticles and suggests th a t the FV1/2 equation could be useful in atomic physics. Chapter 4 represents a start on the development of the FV1/2 equation for use in atomic physics. It contains a study of hydrogenic atoms. The energy spectra and wavefunctions for hydrogenic atoms are derived using the FV1/2 equation. The method of solution is of comparable difficulty to th a t using the Dirac equation. The spectra are found to be identical to th a t of the Dirac equation, but the wavefunctions differ. A calculation of the expectation value of the Coulomb energy is performed and the results obtained differ from the Dirac equation results by 6 x 10-3% for Z — 1, and 40% for Z = 70. This suggests th a t physically measureable quantities should be calculated and compared using the FV1/2 and Dirac equations. A calculation is presented to show the energy spectra and wavefunctions obtained are consistent with the literature. The results obtained in this chapter (again) suggest th a t the FV1/2 equation could be useful for calculations in atomic physics. Chapter 5 discusses important further work which should be undertaken if the FV1/2 equation is to become useful to physics. The development in the previous chapters concentrated on the FV1/2 equation in relativistic quantum mechanics. It should be also considered as a quantised field equation. The two electron problem and the calculation of physical quantities are crucial tests of the FV1/2 equation’s applicability in atomic physics. The mathematical analysis in chapter 2 can be extended. Suggestions for gaining a deeper mathematical understanding of the less restrictive dynamics of the FV1/2 equation are given. Finally some conclusions on what has been achieved in the thesis are presented in chapter 6.
We demonstrate a generalization of relativistic quantum mechanics using eight-component octonic wave function and octonic spatial operators. It is shown that the second-order equation for octonic wave function describing particles with spin 1/2 can be reformulated in the form of a system of first-order equations for quantum fields, which is analogous to the system of Maxwell equations for the electromagnetic field. It is established that for the special types of wave functions the second-order equation can be reduced to the single first-order equation analogous to the Dirac equation. At the same time it is shown that this first-order equation describes particles, which do not have quantum fields.
Physical processes are usually described using four-dimensional vector quantities - coordinate vector, momentum vector, current vector. But at the fundamental level they are characterized by spinors - coordinate spinors, momentum spinors, spinor wave functions. The propagation of fields and their interaction takes place at the spinor level, and since each spinor uniquely corresponds to a certain vector, the results of physical processes appear before us in vector form. For example, the relativistic Schrödinger equation and the Dirac equation are formulated by means of coordinate vectors, momentum vectors and quantum operators corresponding to them. In the Dirac equation a step forward is taken and the wave function is a spinor with complex components, but still coordinates and momentum are vectors. For a closed description of nature using only spinor quantities, it is necessary to have an equation similar to the Dirac equation in which momentum, coordinates and operators are spinors. It is such an equation that is presented in this paper. Using the example of the interaction between an electron and an electromagnetic field, we can see that the spinor equation contains more detailed information about the interaction than the vector equations. This is not new for quantum mechanics, since it describes interactions using complex wave functions, which cannot be observed directly, and only when measured goes to probabilities in the form of squares of the moduli of the wave functions. In the same way spinor quantities are not observable, but they completely determine observable vectors. In Section 2 of the paper, we analyze the quadratic form for an arbitrary four-component complex vector based on Pauli matrices. The form is invariant with respect to Lorentz transformations including any rotations and boosts. The invariance of the form allows us to construct on its basis an equation for a free particle combining the properties of the relativistic wave equation and the Dirac equation. For an electron in the presence of an electromagnetic potential it is shown that taking into account the commutation relations between the momentum and coordinate components allows us to obtain from this equation the known results describing the interactions of the electron spin with the electric and magnetic field. In the presence of a potential the momentum components cease to commute with each other. To neutralize this effect, the Schrödinger equation is supplemented by several equations with mixed partial derivatives on coordinates. In section 3 of the paper this quadratic form is expressed through momentum spinors, which makes it possible to obtain an equation for the spinor wave function in spinor coordinate space by replacing the momentum spinor components by partial derivative operators on the corresponding coordinate spinor component. Section 4 presents a modification of the theory of the path integral, which consists in considering the path integral in the spinor coordinate space. The Lagrangian densities for the scalar field and for the electron field, along with their corresponding propagators, are presented. An equation of motion for the electron is proposed that is relativistically invariant, in contrast to the Dirac equation, which lacks this invariance. This novel equation permitted the construction of an actually invariant procedure for the second quantization of the fermion field in spinor coordinate space. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the field operators are a combination of plane waves in spinor or vector space, with the coefficients of which being pseudospinors or pseudovectors. Each of these pseudovectors or pseudospinors corresponds to one of the particles presented in the theory of electrodynamics. Furthermore, each plane wave possesses an additional coefficient in the form of a creation or annihilation operator. In vector space, these operators commute, whereas in spinor space they anticommutate. The paper presents the spinor and vector representations of the field operators in explicit form, comprising sets of 16 pseudospinors or 4 pseudovectors corresponding to particles represented in electrodynamics. An explicit form of the symmetric traceless tensor with spin two, zero mass and two polarizations is presented, which can serve as a model of the graviton. The results obtained may prompt changes in some aspects of the construction of Feynman diagrams. Among other things, it presents a purely mathematical derivation of Maxwell's inhomogeneous equations without reference to empirical data on the action of electric current, which is usually referred to when deriving equations. Section 4 presents Einstein's inhomogeneous equation, which features the Riemann tensor rather than the Ricci tensor, with the energy-momentum tensor having four indices rather than two.
Physical processes are usually described using four-dimensional vector quantities - coordinate vector, momentum vector, current vector. But at the fundamental level they are characterized by spinors - coordinate spinors, momentum spinors, spinor wave functions. The propagation of fields and their interaction takes place at the spinor level, and since each spinor uniquely corresponds to a certain vector, the results of physical processes appear before us in vector form. For example, the relativistic Schrödinger equation and the Dirac equation are formulated by means of coordinate vectors, momentum vectors and quantum operators corresponding to them. In the Dirac equation a step forward is taken and the wave function is a spinor with complex components, but still coordinates and momentum are vectors. For a closed description of nature using only spinor quantities, it is necessary to have an equation similar to the Dirac equation in which momentum, coordinates and operators are spinors. It is such an equation that is presented in this paper. Using the example of the interaction between an electron and an electromagnetic field, we can see that the spinor equation contains more detailed information about the interaction than the vector equations. This is not new for quantum mechanics, since it describes interactions using complex wave functions, which cannot be observed directly, and only when measured goes to probabilities in the form of squares of the moduli of the wave functions. In the same way spinor quantities are not observable, but they completely determine observable vectors. In Section 2 of the paper, we analyze the quadratic form for an arbitrary four-component complex vector based on Pauli matrices. The form is invariant with respect to Lorentz transformations including any rotations and boosts. The invariance of the form allows us to construct on its basis an equation for a free particle combining the properties of the relativistic wave equation and the Dirac equation. For an electron in the presence of an electromagnetic potential it is shown that taking into account the commutation relations between the momentum and coordinate components allows us to obtain from this equation the known results describing the interactions of the electron spin with the electric and magnetic field. In the presence of a potential the momentum components cease to commute with each other. To neutralize this effect, the Schrödinger equation is supplemented by several equations with mixed derivatives on coordinates. In section 3 of the paper this quadratic form is expressed through momentum spinors, which makes it possible to obtain an equation for the spinor wave function in spinor coordinate space by replacing the momentum spinor components by partial derivative operators on the corresponding coordinate spinor component. Section 4 presents a modification of the theory of the path integral, which consists in considering the path integral in the spinor coordinate space. The Lagrangian densities for the scalar field and for the electron field, along with their corresponding propagators, are presented. An equation of motion for the electron is proposed that is relativistically invariant, in contrast to the Dirac equation, which lacks this invariance. This novel equation permitted the construction of an actually invariant procedure for the second quantization of the fermion field in spinor coordinate space. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the field operators are a combination of plane waves in spinor or vector space, with the coefficients of which being pseudospinors or pseudovectors. Each of these pseudovectors or pseudospinors corresponds to one of the particles presented in the theory of electrodynamics. Furthermore, each plane wave possesses an additional coefficient in the form of a creation or annihilation operator. In vector space, these operators commute, whereas in spinor space they anticommutate. The paper presents the spinor and vector representations of the field operators in explicit form, comprising sets of 16 pseudospinors or 4 pseudovectors corresponding to particles represented in electrodynamics. An explicit form of the symmetric traceless tensor with spin two, zero mass and two polarizations is presented, which can serve as a model of the graviton. The results obtained may prompt changes in some aspects of the construction of Feynman diagrams. Among other things, it presents a purely mathematical derivation of Maxwell's inhomogeneous equations without reference to empirical data on the action of electric current, which is usually referred to when deriving equations.
Physical processes are usually described using four-dimensional vector quantities - coordinate vector, momentum vector, current vector. But at the fundamental level they are characterized by spinors - coordinate spinors, momentum spinors, spinor wave functions. The propagation of fields and their interaction takes place at the spinor level, and since each spinor uniquely corresponds to a certain vector, the results of physical processes appear before us in vector form. For example, the relativistic Schrödinger equation and the Dirac equation are formulated by means of coordinate vectors, momentum vectors and quantum operators corresponding to them. In the Dirac equation the wave function is a spinor with complex components, but still coordinates and momentum are vectors. For a closed description of nature using only spinor quantities, it is necessary to have an equation similar to the Dirac equation in which momentum, coordinates and operators are spinors. It is such an equation that is presented in this paper. Using the example of the interaction between an electron and an electromagnetic field, we can see that the spinor equation contains more detailed information about the interaction than the vector equations. This is not new for quantum mechanics, since it describes interactions using complex wave functions, which cannot be observed directly, and only when measured goes to probabilities in the form of squares of the moduli of the wave functions. In the same way spinor quantities are not observable, but they completely determine observable vectors. In Section 2 of the paper, we analyze the quadratic form for an arbitrary four-component complex vector based on Pauli matrices. The form is invariant with respect to Lorentz transformations including any rotations and boosts. The invariance of the form allows us to construct on its basis an equation for a free particle combining the properties of the relativistic wave equation and the Dirac equation. For an electron in the presence of an electromagnetic potential it is shown that taking into account the commutation relations between the momentum and coordinate components allows us to obtain from this equation the known results describing the interactions of the electron spin with the electric and magnetic field. In the presence of a potential the momentum components cease to commute with each other. To neutralize this effect, the Schrödinger equation is supplemented by several equations with mixed partial derivatives on coordinates. In section 3 of the paper this quadratic form is expressed through momentum spinors, which makes it possible to obtain an equation for the spinor wave function in spinor coordinate space by replacing the momentum spinor components by partial derivative operators on the corresponding coordinate spinor component. Section 4 presents a modification of the theory of the path integral, which consists in considering the path integral in the spinor coordinate space. The Lagrangian densities for the scalar field and for the electron field, along with their corresponding propagators, are presented. An equation of motion for the electron is proposed that is relativistically invariant. This novel equation permitted the construction of an actually invariant procedure for the second quantization of the fermion field in spinor coordinate space. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the field operators are a combination of plane waves in spinor or vector space, with the coefficients of which being pseudospinors or pseudovectors. Each of these pseudovectors or pseudospinors corresponds to one of the particles presented in the theory of electrodynamics. Furthermore, each plane wave possesses an additional coefficient in the form of a creation or annihilation operator. In vector space, these operators commute, whereas in spinor space they anticommutate. The paper presents the spinor and vector representations of the field operators in explicit form, comprising sets of 16 pseudospinors or 4 pseudovectors corresponding to particles represented in electrodynamics. An explicit form of the symmetric traceless tensor with spin two, zero mass and two polarizations is presented, which can serve as a model of the graviton. The results obtained may prompt changes in some aspects of the construction of Feynman diagrams. Among other things, it presents a purely mathematical derivation of Maxwell's inhomogeneous equations without reference to empirical data on the action of electric current, which is usually referred to when deriving equations. Section 4 presents Einstein's inhomogeneous equation, which features the Riemann tensor rather than the Ricci tensor, with the energy-momentum tensor of a charged particle having four indices rather than two. In the case where a particle of matter has a charge, another Riemann tensor is added to Einstein’s equation, in addition to the usual Riemann curvature tensor, which describes the additional curvature created for a charged particle by an electromagnetic field.