Relativistic Measurement Problem for Mass and Velocity

James G. Gilson

James G. Gilson

This paper arises from the observation by Dirac [1] that an exact measurement of the velocity of an electron should give one of the instantaneous values ± c. The velocity v < c with which the electron moves bodily is in some statistical sense an average. This aspect of the quantum states of motion of a relativistic particle has frequently been mentioned [2], [3] and, as is wellknown, is connected with the self energy problem. Such deductions from quantum mechanics have led the author to consider the possibility of constructing from purely statistical ideas an entity having the physical properties of a relativistic elementary particle. One might reasonably hope to build up characteristics such as rest mass and spin in such a scheme. Properties such as energy and momentum will arise as averages over fluctuating random quantities. In this paper we shall concentrate on rest mass, energy and momentum. We shall show that a zero rest mass object which is regarded as being imbedded in a statistical structure emulates the characteristic of rest mass. The average energy and momentum of this statistical system are then shown to satisfy the usual classical relativistic relation between energy and momentum. The statistical structure chosen is that of an object with a randomly orientated velocity vector, c, which has a fixed magnitude c … |c| where c is the velocity of light.

Heinz‐Peter Breuer, Francesco Petruccione

Ezzat G. Bakhoum

A number of well-known difficulties in physics resulted from merging the theory of relativity with the Compton-de Broglie wave mechanics. Two such problems were the failure of Dirac's relativistic wave equation to predict the correct velocity of the electron, and the fact that the measured yield from nuclear fission was found to be substantially less than the theoretical yield. It is shown that the origin of these and other problems stem from the inconsistency of the relativistic mass-energy equivalence principle with the fundamental assumptions of wave mechanics. An alternative view of the concept of mass-energy equivalence that results in a very good agreement between theory and experiment is demonstrated. The conclusions of this paper will be quite important for ongoing research, such as the current problem of the neutrino's mass.

Asher Peres

Edward Charles Titchmarsh