Strictly working in the framework of the nonrelativistic quantum mechanics of a spin 1/2 particle coupled to an external electromagnetic field, we show, by explicit construction, the existence of a charge conjugation operator matrix which defines the corresponding antiparticle wave function and leads to the galilean and gauge invariant Schroedinger-Pauli equation satisfied by it.
Strictly working in the framework of the nonrelativistic quantum mechanics of a spin 1/2 particle coupled to an external electromagnetic field, we show, by explicit construction, the existence of a charge conjugation operator matrix which defines the corresponding antiparticle wave function and leads to the galilean and gauge invariant Schroedinger-Pauli equation satisfied by it.
We show that the concept of particles and antiparticles is related to the Weyl-Heisenberg group WH3. Its generators are the position operators x^a, the momentum operators p^a, and the central element Qv, which defines a subgroup U(1)v of WH3. We show that the wave functions have a charge relative to the group U(1)v equal to either q+=1/ℏ (particle ψ+) or q−=−1/ℏ (antiparticle ψ−). We call these eigenvalues of the operator Qv quantum charges: Qvψ±=q±ψ±. The wave functions ψ+ and ψ− belong to the Hilbert spaces H+ and H−, on which unitarily inequivalent representations πℏ and π−ℏ of the Weyl-Heisenberg group WH3 are defined. These representations are related to each other by the antilinear charge conjugation operator C^, which maps H+,q+ to H−,q−. Charges q± are intrinsic characteristics of the wave functions ψ±, similar to spin and electric charge. The wave function possesses one of these charges, q+ or q−, prior to the specification of any equations. We show that negative probabilities/energies and the Klein paradox in Klein-Gordon and Dirac theories are consequences of the violation of U(1)v-invariance in these theories. Restoring this invariance separates particle and antiparticles and eliminates all paradoxes at the level of first-quantized relativistic theories.
The Dirac equation for a charged particle in a time-dependent electromagnetic field is reduced to the Pauli equation in the non-relativistic limit by making a time-dependent Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation in a completely gauge-invariant way. In a time-dependent field, the expectation value of the Hamiltonian is dependent on the gauge, and so it cannot be the energy. The energy is obtained by taking the expectation value of the energy operator, the time rate of change of which is the average of the quantum mechanical power operator. The Hamiltonian formulation of a charged particle in a time-dependent external electromagnetic field is satisfactory when this distinction between the Hamiltonian, which describes the time evolution of the system, and the energy operator, which is gauge invariant, is made.
Motivated by the difficulties which persist in the construction of a consistent description of interacting relativistic particles with spin greater than 1, we examine the analogous problem within the framework of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and find that all of the difficulties vanish in the (Galilei-invariant) limit. It is found that a unique, first-order, Galilei-covariant wave equation describing massive, spin-s particles follows from general invariance assumptions and a minimality condition on the number of components of the wave function. The minimal theory has 6s+1 components (2s+1 of which are independent) and admits a consistent quantum-mechanical interpretation. An external electromagnetic field interaction is introduced via the minimal-coupling replacement, and, in contrast with the relativistic case, a consistent theory emerges for arbitrary spin. The Galilean spin-s particles so described are found to possess only an electric charge and a magnetic dipole with a g factor of s1. The Galilei-invariant addition of arbitrary moment terms is also described. The extension of the formalism to second-quantized spin-s fields is discussed, and it is found that in that case, too, the difficulties are peculiar to the relativistic case. Reasons for the simplicity of the Galilei case are presented. Finally, for the sake of completeness, the first-order form of the Schr\"odinger theory is presented, as well as examples of theories which violate the minimality condition.
On the basis of the Hamiltonian form of the Klein–Gordon equation for a charged scalar particle field introduced by Feshbach and Villars, the gauge-invariant 2 × 2 Wigner matrix has been constructed whose diagonal elements describe positive and negative charge densities and whose off-diagonal elements correspond to cross-densities in phase space. The system of coupled transport equations has been derived in the case of interaction with an arbitrary external electromagnetic field. A gauge-independent generalization of the free particle representation due to Feshbach and Villars is given, and on the basis of it both the nonrelativistic and the classical limits of the relativistic quantum Boltzmann–Vlasov equation are discussed. In the nonrelativistic limit ( p / mc → 0) the set of equations of motion decouple to two independent quantum transport equations describing the dynamics of oppositely charged positon and negaton densities. In the classical limit (ℏ → 0) two relativistic Boltzmann–Vlasov equations result for the diagonal positon and negaton densities. Even though the Planck constant ℏ is absent from the latter equations, the real part of the positon–negaton cross-density does not vanish.
Essentially, we solve the particle-field equations obtained in the matter distribution quantum mechanics. In the framework of this theory, a particle is described by a density amplitude function, we call wave function, as a packet of waves with the time dependent phases proportional to the relativistic Lagrangian. The mass quantization of such a particle, as a distribution of matter, is obtained from the equality of the spatial integral of the density with the mass as a characteristic of the relativistic dynamics of this matter. The particle dynamics, as a motion of a mass spatial distribution, is obtained from the equality of the wave propagation velocities with the distribution coordinate velocities. This description is a physical one, compared to the Schrödinger-Heisenberg description leading to unphysical results as a null velocity for the kinetic energy as a constant of motion, or Zitterbewegung. The description of a particle interaction with an electromagnetic field by additional Lagrangian terms, with a vector potential conjugated to coordinates, as in the Aharonov-Bohm effect, and an electric potential conjugated to time, leads to the Lorentz force, and the Maxwell equations. In the two conjugated spaces, of the coordinates and of the momentum, the dynamics of a quantum particle is described by propagation operators, depending on the coordinate-momentum product, applied to time dependent wave functions satisfying matter-field equations. Unlike the standard Schrödinger or Schrödinger-Dirac equations, depending only on the Hamiltonian operator, instead of the Hamiltonian these equations contain the Lagrangian, which, besides the Hamiltonian, include additional terms with an explicit dependence on velocity, as it is expected in a relativistic theory. We obtain the wave function of a particle-antiparticle system interacting with an electromagnetic field, as a wave packet of spinors propagating in space with finite dimensions, given by the finite definition domain of the density function, in the space of the matter-field momentum, as a constant of motion. We show that an electrically charged quantum particle, rotating in a central electric field, generates a vector potential with a magnetic field perpendicular to the rotational plane and an electric field in this plane. By a quantum transition, a photon is emitted in the particle rotational plane, with the magnetic field perpendicular to this plane, and the electric field contained in this plane. In this framework, the vector potential rotation is correlated to a particle momentum rotation, for the canonical matter-field momentum as a constant of motion, without any electromagnetic field radiated outside.
We investigate the spin of the electron in a non-relativistic context by using the Galilean covariant Pauli-Dirac equation. From a non-relativistic Lagrangian density, we find an appropriate Dirac-like Hamiltonian in the momentum representation, which includes the spin operator in the Galilean covariant framework. Within this formalism, we show that the total angular momentum appears as a constant of motion. Additionally, we propose a non-minimal coupling that describes the Galilean interaction between an electron and the electromagnetic field. Thereby, we obtain, in a natural way, the Hamiltonian including all the essential interaction terms for the electron in a general vector field.