We argue that the process of constructing the quantum mechanical current of the Pauli equation by copying the line of argument used in the spin-0 case, i.e., the Schrödinger equation, is ambiguous. We show that a nonrelativistic reduction of the relativistic Dirac four-vector current is, however, capable of fully resolving the problem. This analysis reveals that the nonrelativistic current of the Pauli equation should include an extra term of the form ∇×(ψ†σψ). We present an initial exploration of the potential consequences of this new “spin term” by solving the Pauli equation for crossed magnetic and electric fields and calculating the corresponding current.
We argue that the process of constructing the quantum mechanical current of the Pauli equation by copying the line of argument used in the spin-0 case, i.e., the Schrödinger equation, is ambiguous. We show that a nonrelativistic reduction of the relativistic Dirac four-vector current is, however, capable of fully resolving the problem. This analysis reveals that the nonrelativistic current of the Pauli equation should include an extra term of the form ∇×(ψ†σψ). We present an initial exploration of the potential consequences of this new “spin term” by solving the Pauli equation for crossed magnetic and electric fields and calculating the corresponding current.
Introduction The claim that it is impossible to construct a realistic physical model of quantum matter is often presented as definitively and finally proved in the case of systems with spin ½, or internal angular momentum of magnitude ħ/2, which exhibit a characteristic ‘nonclassical two-valuedness’. Nevertheless, the extension of the causal interpretation to embrace nonrelativistic spin ½ systems was successfully carried through in the 1950s (Bohm, Schiller & Tiomno, 1955; Bohm & Schiller, 1955; Takabayasi, 1955; Takabayasi & Vigier, 1957) and developed more recently (Dewdney, Holland & Kyprianidis, 1986, 1987a, b; Dewdney, Holland, Kyprianidis & Vigier, 1988). The idea is to assume that the spinor wave represents a new type of physical field propagating in spacetime that exerts an influence on a corpuscle moving within it. The additional information conveyed by the spinor beyond that contained in the spinless Schrödinger wave implies that the state of the particle is not exhausted by specifying its position and momentum, but that it is endowed with further properties such as an internal angular momentum. The equation governing the dynamics of the spinor wavefunction is the Pauli equation: where the Hamiltonian operator is given by Here e, m and μ are respectively the charge, mass and magnetic moment of the particle, A 0 and A are the electromagnetic potentials, B = ∇ × A is the magnetic field, V is any other external scalar potential, and σ is a vector whose components are the 2 × 2 Pauli matrices. The Hamiltonian (9.1.2) istherefore a 2 × 2 matrix operator and the wavefunction ψ( x , t ) has two complex components.
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the Dirac equation, which will provide us with a basis for developing the relativistic quantum mechanics of electronic systems. Thus far we have reviewed some basic features of the classical relativistic theory, which is the foundation of relativistic quantum theory. As in the nonrelativistic case, quantum mechanical equations may be obtained from the classical relativistic particle equations by use of the correspondence principle, where we replace classical variables by operators. Of particular interest are the substitutions In terms of the momentum four-vector introduced earlier, this yields In going from a classical relativistic description to relativistic quantum mechanics, we require that the equations obtained are invariant under Lorentz transformations. Other basic requirements, such as gauge invariance, must also apply to the equations of relativistic quantum mechanics. We start this chapter by reexamining the quantization of the nonrelativistic Hamiltonian and draw out some features that will be useful in the quantization of the relativistic Hamiltonian. We then turn to the Dirac equation and sketch its derivation. We discuss some properties of the equation and its solutions, and show how going to the nonrelativistic limit reduces it to a Schrödinger-type equation containing spin.
Abstract We review the literature on the Pauli equation and its current density, discussing the progression from the original phenomenological version of Pauli to its derivation by Lévy-Leblond from a linearization of the Schrödinger equation. It was established conclusively by Lévy-Leblond’s work that the spin of a spin-1/2 particle such as an electron is non-relativistic in nature, contrary to what was often stated following Dirac’s derivation of a relativistic wave equation, and his subsequent demonstration that Pauli’s spin interaction term appeared in the non-relativistic limit. In this limit, the Gordon decomposition of the associated probability current density was found to contain a spin-dependent term. Such a term does not follow, however, from the usual derivation of the current density from the Pauli equation, although various physically motivated but otherwise ad hoc explanations were put forward to account for it. We comment on the only exception to these of which we are aware implying the spin term in the current was in fact non-relativistic in nature. However, the earlier work of Lévy-Leblond had already shown, with no additional assumptions, that this term was a prominent feature of the current density derived from his equation. Hence, just as with the spin itself, the spin current was non-relativistic, claims to the contrary notwithstanding. We present a somewhat simplified derivation of the Lévy-Leblond equation and its current density, commenting on possibilities for experimental work that might indicate measurable consequences of the spin term in the current density. The presentation is at a level of quantum mechanics, electromagnetic theory, and mathematical methods typical of courses taken by first-year graduate students in physics, assuming some familiarity with Pauli spin matrices and the Dirac equation. Calculations are presented in detail, making the material suitable for use by teachers as supplementary problems for assignments, and development of theoretical concepts peculiar to the Pauli equation and its probability current density.
This paper extends the preceding Schrödinger-based analysis to the relativistic Dirac framework and examines how gauge covariance, spin magnetism, and quantum-vacuum effects deepen the connection between quantum theory and Maxwell electrodynamics. Local phase invariance of the Dirac equation yields the electromagnetic field tensor, while the conserved Dirac four-current provides a covariant source for Maxwell’s equations. The Pauli limit recovers g=2g=2 and the Bohr magneton, and the Gordon decomposition separates convection and spin-magnetization currents. The Foldy–Wouthuysen expansion further connects relativistic quantum dynamics to spin–orbit and Darwin terms involving the electromagnetic fields. Hydrogen fine-structure and Darwin-shift benchmarks are evaluated quantitatively, while the Dirac velocity operator and Zitterbewegung scale are compared with the magnetic dipole length appearing in the SQC/MSC M1 formulation. The analysis is then extended to the quantum vacuum through the Schwinger critical fields and Euler–Heisenberg effective theory, including vacuum birefringence. The paper distinguishes structural consequences of relativistic quantum mechanics from electromagnetic field dynamics that must still be specified independently.
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. Using the example of the interaction between an electron and an electromagnetic field, we can see that the spinor equation contains more detailed information about the interaction than the vector equations. This is not new for quantum mechanics, since it describes interactions using complex wave functions, which cannot be observed directly, and only when measured goes to probabilities in the form of squares of the moduli 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. In section 3 of the paper this quadratic form is expressed through momentum spinors, which makes it possible to obtain an equation for the spinor wave function in spinor coordinate space by replacing the momentum spinor components by partial derivative operators on the corresponding coordinate spinor component. Section 4 presents a modification of the theory of the path integral, which consists in considering the path integral in the spinor coordinate space. The Lagrangian densities for the scalar field and for the electron field, along with their corresponding propagators, are presented. 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. Each of these pseudovectors or pseudospinors corresponds to one of the particles presented in the theory of electrodynamics. 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 corresponding to particles represented in electrodynamics. An explicit form of the symmetric traceless tensor with spin two, zero mass and two polarizations is presented, which can serve as a model of the graviton. The results obtained may prompt changes in some aspects of the construction of Feynman diagrams. Among other things, it presents a purely mathematical derivation of Maxwell's inhomogeneous equations without reference to empirical data on the action of electric current, which is usually referred to when deriving equations. Section 4 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.
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 spinors - coordinate spinors, momentum spinors, spinor wave functions. 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 a step forward is taken and 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. Using the example of the interaction between an electron and an electromagnetic field, we can see that the spinor equation contains more detailed information about the interaction than the vector equations. This is not new for quantum mechanics, since it describes interactions using complex wave functions, which cannot be observed directly, and only when measured goes to probabilities in the form of squares of the moduli 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 derivatives on coordinates. In section 3 of the paper this quadratic form is expressed through momentum spinors, which makes it possible to obtain an equation for the spinor wave function in spinor coordinate space by replacing the momentum spinor components by partial derivative operators on the corresponding coordinate spinor component. Section 4 presents a modification of the theory of the path integral, which consists in considering the path integral in the spinor coordinate space. The Lagrangian densities for the scalar field and for the electron field, along with their corresponding propagators, are presented. An equation of motion for the electron is proposed that is relativistically invariant, in contrast to the Dirac equation, which lacks this invariance. 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. Each of these pseudovectors or pseudospinors corresponds to one of the particles presented in the theory of electrodynamics. 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 corresponding to particles represented in electrodynamics. An explicit form of the symmetric traceless tensor with spin two, zero mass and two polarizations is presented, which can serve as a model of the graviton. The results obtained may prompt changes in some aspects of the construction of Feynman diagrams. Among other things, it presents a purely mathematical derivation of Maxwell's inhomogeneous equations without reference to empirical data on the action of electric current, which is usually referred to when deriving equations.