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Physics of Particles and Nuclei

Poincaré Group and Operators of Position and Spin

Alexander J. Silenko, Pengfei Zhang, Liping Zou

Published Nov 29, 2023• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Fundamental properties of the position and spin operators in relativistic quantum mechanics are defined with the Poincaré group. Quantum-mechanical counterparts of the classical position and spin variables are the corresponding operators in the Foldy–Wouthuysen representation but not in the Dirac one. The probabilistic interpretation is valid only for Foldy–Wouthuysen wave functions. The relativistic operators of the position and spin are discussed.

DOI
10.1134/s1063779623060230

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Abstract Fundamental properties of the position and spin operators in relativistic quantum mechanics are defined with the Poincaré group. Quantum-mechanical counterparts of the classical position and spin variables are the corresponding operators in the Foldy–Wouthuysen representation but not in the Dirac one. The probabilistic interpretation is valid only for Foldy–Wouthuysen wave functions. The relativistic operators of the position and spin are discussed.
The problem of the position and spin in relativistic quantum mechanics is analyzed in detail. It is definitively shown that the position and spin operators in the Foldy-Wouthuysen representation (but not in the Dirac one) are quantum-mechanical counterparts of the classical position and spin variables. The probabilistic interpretation is valid only for Foldy-Wouthuysen wave functions. The relativistic spin operators are discussed. The spin-orbit interaction does not exist for a free particle if the conventional operators of the orbital angular momentum and the rest-frame spin are used. Alternative definitions of the orbital angular momentum and the spin are based on noncommutative geometry, do not satisfy standard commutation relations, and can allow the spin-orbit interaction.
We give a direct link between covariant description of Dirac particles in the abstract framework of unitary representation of the Poincaré group and description with the help of the Dirac equation. In this context we discuss the spin operator for a relativistic Dirac particle. We show also that the spin operator used in quantum field theory for spin s = 1/2 corresponds to the Foldy-Wouthuysen mean-spin operator. We hope that this formalism will be useful in the theory of relativistic quantum information.
We give a direct link between description of Dirac particles in the abstract framework of unitary representation of the Poincaré group and description with the help of the Dirac equation. In this context we discuss in detail the spin operator for a relativistic Dirac particle. We show also that the spin operator used in quantum field theory for spin s=1/2s=1/2s=1/2 corresponds to the Foldy-Woutheysen mean-spin operator.
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.