The present study explores a theoretical extension of relativistic quantum wave equations through the introduction of complex space-time coordinates. The motivation for this approach arises from persistent conceptual challenges in relativistic quantum mechanics, particularly those related to probability interpretation and particle localization. By reformulating the Klein?Gordon and Dirac equations within a complex coordinate framework, the paper examines how the mathematical structure of these equations can be broadened without compromising fundamental physical principles. The analysis shows that treating the wave function as an analytic entity in complex space-time provides additional flexibility in handling boundary conditions and singularities. It also offers a refined perspective on the interpretation of solutions, especially in cases where traditional real-valued formulations lead to ambiguities. The study further demonstrates that Lorentz invariance can be preserved through analytic continuation, ensuring consistency with relativistic requirements. Although the framework remains theoretical, it suggests that complexification of space-time may serve as a useful tool in addressing certain limitations of relativistic quantum theory. The findings indicate that this approach has the potential to contribute to ongoing developments in quantum field theory and may provide a conceptual bridge toward more generalized formulations of quantum physics.
The present study explores a theoretical extension of relativistic quantum wave equations through the introduction of complex space-time coordinates. The motivation for this approach arises from persistent conceptual challenges in relativistic quantum mechanics, particularly those related to probability interpretation and particle localization. By reformulating the Klein?Gordon and Dirac equations within a complex coordinate framework, the paper examines how the mathematical structure of these equations can be broadened without compromising fundamental physical principles. The analysis shows that treating the wave function as an analytic entity in complex space-time provides additional flexibility in handling boundary conditions and singularities. It also offers a refined perspective on the interpretation of solutions, especially in cases where traditional real-valued formulations lead to ambiguities. The study further demonstrates that Lorentz invariance can be preserved through analytic continuation, ensuring consistency with relativistic requirements. Although the framework remains theoretical, it suggests that complexification of space-time may serve as a useful tool in addressing certain limitations of relativistic quantum theory. The findings indicate that this approach has the potential to contribute to ongoing developments in quantum field theory and may provide a conceptual bridge toward more generalized formulations of quantum physics.
Relativistic quantum mechanics was developed to reconcile the principles of quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory of relativity. Despite its success in describing high-energy particles, the theory continues to face unresolved conceptual and mathematical difficulties, particularly in relation to the nature of time, causality, and relativistic consistency. In recent years, the idea of extending space-time into the complex domain has emerged as a useful and potentially meaningful approach to these problems. In this work, a theoretical synthesis is presented to examine the role of complex space-time in relativistic quantum mechanics. The study discusses how complex time arises naturally in relativistic wave equations, quantum field theory, and path integral formulations. Established methods such as Wick rotation, complex coordinate transformations, and non-Hermitian but parity–time (PT) symmetric Hamiltonians are reviewed to illustrate how complex space-time contributes to mathematical stability and clearer physical interpretation (Dirac, 1928; Wick, 1954; Bender & Boettcher, 1998). The relevance of complex space-time is further explored in the context of relativistic particle dynamics and quantum cosmology, where it helps address, issues related to vacuum structure, time evolution, and causality (Feynman & Hibbs, 1965; Hartle & Hawking, 1983). The paper suggests that complex space-time should be viewed not only as a computational technique, but as a framework that may reflect deeper features of relativistic quantum phenomena.
The concept of time plays a central role in both relativity and quantum mechanics, yet its interpretation becomes increasingly subtle in relativistic quantum theory. This paper examines the theoretical significance and physical implications of complex time, with particular emphasis on imaginary time introduced through analytic continuation and Wick rotation. By analyzing foundational relativistic wave equations—the Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations—the study explores how complex time alters wave propagation, probability amplitudes, and mathematical structure. The imaginary-time formalism is further examined within Feynman’s path integral approach, highlighting its role in simplifying quantum-field-theoretic calculations and establishing connections with statistical mechanics. Applications to quantum tunneling, vacuum fluctuations, and cosmology, including the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary proposal, are also discussed. The analysis demonstrates that complex time is not merely a computational tool but a meaningful extension that provides deeper insight into non-perturbative quantum phenomena and the structure of relativistic quantum systems.
Abstract The conceptual unification of quantum mechanics and relativity remains one of the central challenges of modern theoretical physics. While quantum theory successfully describes microscopic phenomena through probabilistic wave dynamics and field quantization, relativity establishes the geometric structure of space-time and the causal organization of physical events. Despite extensive progress in quantum field theory and relativistic quantum frameworks, foundational tensions persist regarding locality, causality, and coherence. This study presents a conceptual and structural analysis of quantum field coherence within relativistic space-time. Rather than focusing on specific unification proposals, we examine the compatibility conditions between quantum coherence, relativistic causality, and space-time structure. Particular attention is given to field-based interpretations of quantum states, entanglement propagation limits, and covariance requirements. The analysis synthesizes perspectives from relativistic quantum field theory, conceptual foundations of quantum measurement, and geometric interpretations of space-time. We argue that coherence phenomena can be understood as structurally constrained by relativistic causal order, without requiring violation of space-time locality. The aim of this article is to clarify foundational relationships between quantum coherence and relativistic structure through a conceptual framework that integrates field-theoretic and geometric viewpoints.
The positivity of the energy in relativistic quantum mechanics implies that wave functions can be continued analytically to the forward tube T in complex spacetime. For Klein-Gordon particles, we interpret T as an extended (8D) classical phase space containing all 6D classical phase spaces as symplectic submanifolds. The evaluation maps ez:f→f(z) of wave functions on T are relativistic coherent states reducing to the Gaussian coherent states in the nonrelativistic limit. It is known that no covariant probability interpretation exists for Klein-Gordon particles in real spacetime because the time component of the conserved "probability current" can attain negative values even for positive-energy solutions. We show that this problem is solved very naturally in complex spacetime, where ∣f(x−iy)∣2 is interpreted as a probability density on all 6D phase spaces in T which, when integrated over the "momentum" variables y, gives a conserved spacetime probability current whose time component is a positive regularization of the usual one. Similar results are obtained for Dirac particles, where the evaluation maps ez are spinor-valued relativistic coherent states. For free quantized Klein-Gordon and Dirac fields, the above formalism extends to n-particle/antiparticle coherent states whose scalar products are Wightman functions. The 2-point function plays the role of a reproducing kernel for the one-particle and antiparticle subspaces.
The theories of special relativity and quantum mechanics both rely on continuous rotation groups to describe physical systems, yet one is formulated on a real spacetime manifold while the other employs a complex Hilbert space. This work investigates whether this distinction may arise from the treatment of time itself. By examining the consequences of describing a relativistic system using a single global time parameter, we explore whether such a description naturally requires a mathematical structure capable of encoding observer-dependent proper times as complex phase information. Within this framework, quantum superposition is investigated as a possible coordinate-level representation of unresolved relativistic frame assignments, while wavefunction collapse is conceptualised as the physical resolution of this ambiguity through interaction. exploring whether aspects of the quantum formalism may be understood as consequences of describing the invariant structure of Minkowski spacetime from a local perspective using a rigid notion of time.
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 coordinate and momentum spinors. 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. Quantum mechanics describes interactions using complex wave functions that cannot be observed directly; only upon measurement do they translate into probabilities expressed as the squares of the magnitudes 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. Section 3 presents a version of quantum theory in spinor coordinate space. Section 4 presents a modification of the theory of the path integral, which consists in considering the path integral in the spinor coordinate space. 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. 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. An explicit form of the symmetric traceless tensor with spin two, zero mass and two polarizations are presented, which can serve as a model of the graviton. Section 5 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.