A Generalization of the Bargmann’s Theory of Ray Representations
Abstract
The paper contains a complete theory, which is a generalization of the Bargmann’s theory of factors for ray representations. The theory is of primary importance in the investigations of covariance (in contradistinction to symmetry) of a quantum theory which possesses a nontrivial gauge freedom. In that case the group in question is not any symmetry group but it is a covariance group only – that case which has not been deeply investigated. It is shown on the paper that the factor of its representation depends on space and time when the system in question possesses a gauge freedom. In the nonrelativistic theories the factor depends on the time only. In connection with we explain two applications of this generalization: in the theory of a quantum particle in the gravitational field in the nonrelativistic limit and in the quantum electrodynamics. 1