A weakness which has previously seemed unavoidable in particle interpretations of quantum mechanics (such as in the de Broglie-Bohm model) is addressed here and a resolution proposed. The weakness in question is the lack of action and reaction occurring between the model's field (or "pilot wave") and the particle. Although the field acts on the particle, the particle does not act back on the field. It is shown here that this rather artificial feature is, in fact, not necessary and can be fully eliminated while remaining consistent with the usual quantum predictions. Mathematically this amounts to demonstrating that there exists a suitable Lagrangian density function which generates equations coinciding with quantum mechanics yet incorporates the desired action and reaction. As a by-product, an appealing explanation emerges to another long-standing question, namely why the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics seems only to be describing fields when measurements generally detect localised particles. A further bonus is that the hitherto unrelated concept of a gauge transformation is found to arise naturally as an essential part of the formalism. In particular, the phase S of the gauge transformation is seen to be the action function describing the hidden motion of the particle.
The Dirac equation, usually obtained by `quantizing' a classical stochastic model is here obtained directly within classical statistical mechanics. The special underlying space-time geometry of the random walk replaces the missing analytic continuation, making the model `self-quantizing'. This provides a new context for the Dirac equation, distinct from its usual context in relativistic quantum mechanics.
Fundamental solutions for the free Dirac electron and Einstein photon equations in position coordinates are constructed as matrix valued functionals on the space of bump functions. It is shown that these fundamental solutions are related by a unitary transform via the Cauchy distribution in imaginary time. We study the way the classical relativistic mechanics of the free particle comes from the quantum mechanics of the free Dirac electron.
High approximations of semiclassical trajectory-coherent states (TCS) and of semiclassical Green function (in the class of semiclassically concentrated states) for the Dirac operator with anomalous Pauli interaction are obtained. For Schrodinger and Dirac operators trajectory-coherent representations are constructed up to any precision with respect to h, h-->0.
Drawing inspiration from Dirac's work on functions of non commuting observables, we develop a fresh approach to phase space descriptions of operators and the Wigner distribution in quantum mechanics. The construction presented here is marked by its economy, naturalness and more importantly, by its potential for extensions and generalisations to situations where the underlying configuration space is non Cartesian.
The theorem known from Pauli equation about operators that anticommute with Dirac's $K$-operator is generalized to the Dirac equation. By means of this theorem the operator is constructed which governs the hidden symmetry in relativistic Coulomb problem (Dirac equation). It is proved that this operator coincides with the familiar Johnson-Lippmann one and is intimately connected to the famous Laplace-Runge-Lenz (LRL) vector. Our derivation is very simple and informative. It does not require a longtime and tedious calculations, as is offten underlined in most papers.
Dirac's contributions to the discovery of non-relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics, prior to his discovery of the relativistic wave equation, are described.
The derivation becomes possible when we find a new formalism which connects the relativistic mechanics with the quantum mechanics. In this paper, we explore the quantum wave nature from the Newtonian mechanics by using a concept: velocity field. At first, we rewrite the relativistic Newton's second law as a field equation in terms of the velocity field, which directly reveals a new relationship connecting to the quantum mechanics. Next, we show that the Dirac equation can be derived from the field equation in a rigorous and consistent manner.
We consider the quantum simulation of relativistic quantum mechanics, as described by the Dirac equation and classical potentials, in trapped-ion systems. We concentrate on three problems of growing complexity. First, we study the bidimensional relativistic scattering of single Dirac particles by a linear potential. Furthermore, we explore the case of a Dirac particle in a magnetic field and its topological properties. Finally, we analyze the problem of two Dirac particles that are coupled by a controllable and confining potential. The latter interaction may be useful to study important phenom…
By using the general concepts of special relativity and the requirements of quantum mechanics, Dirac equation is derived and studied. Only elementary knowledge of spin and rotations in quantum mechanics and standard handlings of linear algebra are employed for the development of the present work.
This approach to the incorporation of stochastic thermodynamics into quantum theory is based on the conception of consistent inclusion of the holistic stochastic environmental influence described by wave functions of the arbitrary vacuum, which was proposed in our paper previously. In this study, we implement the possibility of explicitly incorporating the zeroth law of stochastic thermodynamics in the form of the saturated Schrödinger uncertainty relation into quantum theory. This allows comparatively analyzing the sets of states of arbitrary vacuums, namely, squeezed coherent states (SCSs) a…
It is proved by a functional method that the conventional expression for the Dirac current is the only conserved 4-vector implied by the Dirac equation that is a function of just the quantum state. The demonstration is extended to derive the unique conserved currents implied by the coupled Maxwell-Dirac equations and the Klein-Gordon equation. The uniqueness of the usual Pauli and Schrodinger currents follows by regarding these as the non-relativistic limits of the Dirac and Klein-Gordon currents, respectively. The existence and properties of further conserved vectors that are not functions of…
Dirac particle dynamics is encoded as a unitary path summation rule and implemented on a qubit array, where the qubit array represents both spacetime and the fermions contained therein. The unitary path summation rule gives a quantum algorithm to model a many-body system of Dirac particles in a gauge field with Lorentz invariance down to the grid scale (Planck scale)--the lattice-based model neither suffers the Fermi-sign problem nor breaks Lorentz invariance. Yet, for the Dirac Hamiltonian to generate the unitary evolution of the 4-spinor field at the Planck scale, there is time dilation betw…
A self-adjoint dynamical time operator is introduced in Dirac's relativistic formulation of quantum mechanics and shown to satisfy a commutation relation with the Hamiltonian analogous to that of the position and momentum operators. The ensuing time-energy uncertainty relation involves the uncertainty in the instant of time when the wave packet passes a particular spatial position and the energy uncertainty associated with the wave packet at the same time, as envisaged originally by Bohr. The instantaneous rate of change of the position expectation value with respect to the simultaneous expect…
A rigorous \textit{ab initio} derivation of the (square of) Dirac's equation for a single particle with spin is presented. The general Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the particle expressed in terms of a background Weyl's conformal geometry is found to be linearized, exactly and in closed form, by an \textit{ansatz} solution that can be straightforwardly interpreted as the "quantum wave function" $ψ_4$ of the 4-spinor Dirac's equation. In particular, all quantum features of the model arise from a subtle interplay between the conformal curvature of the configuration space acting as a potential and…
In this article we present a detailed description of an electron in a uniform magnetic field evolving under the Schrödinger equation using ladder operators. Based on this analysis, we describe the same physical system using the Dirac equation, known from relativistic quantum mechanics. The main differences between these two quantum mechanical approaches are discussed and we observe specifically how the relativistic phenomena modify the description of this particular quantum system.
The lifelong efforts of Paul A. M. Dirac were to construct localized quantum systems in the Lorentz covariant world. In 1927, he noted that the time-energy uncertainty should be included in the Lorentz-covariant picture. In 1945, he attempted to construct a representation of the Lorentz group using a normalizable Gaussian function localized both in the space and time variables. In 1949, he introduced his instant form to exclude time-like oscillations. He also introduced the light-cone coordinate system for Lorentz boosts. Also in 1949, he stated the Lie algebra of the inhomogeneous Lorentz gro…
A rigorous \textit{ab initio} derivation of the (square of) Dirac's equation for a single particle with spin is presented. The general Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the particle expressed in terms of a background Weyl's conformal geometry is found to be linearized, exactly and in closed form, by an \textit{ansatz} solution that can be straightforwardly interpreted as the "quantum wave function" $ψ_4$ of the 4-spinor Dirac's equation. In particular, all quantum features of the model arise from a subtle interplay between the conformal curvature of the configuration space acting as a potential and…
In this paper we show how Dirac, in 1947, anticipated the Bohm approach using an argument based on what is now called the Heisenberg picture. From a detailed examination of these ideas, we show that the role played by the Dirac standard ket is equivalent to the introduction and use of the idempotent in the orthogonal and symplectic Clifford algebras. This formalism is then used to show that the so-called `Bohm trajectories' are the average of an ensemble of individual stochastic Feynman paths. Since the Bohm approach can be simply reduced to classical mechanics, the algebraic formalism present…
We develop a new concept of quantum mechanics which is based on a generalized space-time and on an action vector space similar to it. Both spaces are provided by algebraic properties. This allows to calculate the Dirac matrixes and to derive quantum mechanics equations from structure equations of the specified algebras. A new interpretation of the wave function is given as differential of the action vector. A generalization of the Dirac equation for 8-component wave function is derived. It is interpreted as the equation for two leptons of the same generation. A procedure of the approximate des…
Spacetime Algebra (STA) provides unified, matrix-free spinor methods for rotational dynamics in classical theory as well as quantum mechanics. That makes it an ideal tool for studying particle models of zitterbewegung and using them to study zitterbewegung in the Dirac theory. This paper develops a self-contained dynamical model of the electron as a lightlike particle with helical zitterbewegung and electromagnetic interactions. It attributes to the electron an electric dipole moment oscillating with ultrahigh frequency, and the possibility of observing this directly as a resonance in electron…
Scattering discussion due to Double Dirac Equation in Quaternionic version of relativistic quantum mechanics has been studied in this paper in details. In such a quantum mechanics Dirac equation in presence vector and scalar potential has been considered. Then a Quaternionic double Dirac delta potential comes to our considered system which causes to scatter the particles. Scattering states of the particles have been derived as well as reflected and transmission coefficients are calculated.
The Schr\" odinger picture of the Dirac quantum mechanics is defined in charts with spatially flat Robertson-Walker metrics and Cartesian coordinates. The main observables of this picture are identified, including the interacting part of the Hamiltonian operator produced by the minimal coupling with the gravitational field. It is shown that in this approach new Dirac quantum modes on de Sitter spacetimes may be found analytically solving the Dirac equation.
Light propagation in distributed feedback optical structures with gain/loss regions is shown to provide an accessible laboratory tool to visualize in optics the spectral properties of the one-dimensional Dirac equation with non-Hermitian interactions. Spectral singularities and PT symmetry breaking of the Dirac Hamiltonian are shown to correspond to simple observable physical quantities and related to well-known physical phenomena like resonance narrowing and laser oscillation.
We construct a non-Grassmann spinning-particle model which, by analogy with quantum mechanics, does not admit the notion of a trajectory within the position space. The pseudo-classical character of the model allows us to avoid the inconsistencies arising in the quantum-mechanical interpretation of a one-particle sector of the Dirac equation.
The exact quantum-mechanical equations for beams of free particles including photons and for beams of Dirac and spin-1 particles in a uniform magnetic field have been derived. These equations present the exact generalizations of the well-known paraxial equations in optics (exact Helmholtz equation for light beams) and particle physics and of the previously obtained paraxial equation for a Dirac particle in a uniform magnetic field. Some basic properties of exact wave eigenfunctions of particle beams have been determined.
The statistical mechanics of quantum-classical systems with holonomic constraints is formulated rigorously by unifying the classical Dirac bracket and the quantum-classical bracket in matrix form. The resulting Dirac quantum-classical theory, which conserves the holonomic constraints exactly, is then used to formulate time evolution and statistical mechanics. The correct momentum-jump approximation for constrained system arises naturally from this formalism. Finally, in analogy with what was found in the classical case, it is shown that the rigorous linear response function of constrained quan…
Through a very careful analysis of Dirac's 1932 paper on the Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics as well as the second and third editions of his classic book {\it The Principles of Quantum Mechanics}, I show that Dirac's contributions to the birth of the path-integral approach to quantum mechanics is not restricted to just his seminal demonstration of how Lagrangians appear naturally in quantum mechanics, but that Dirac should be credited for creating a path-integral which I call {\it Dirac path-integral} which is far more general than Feynman's while possessing all its desirable features. On top …
In this work, a spin $\frac 12$ relativistic particle described by a generalized potential containing both the Coulomb potential and a Lorentz scalar potential in Dirac equation is investigated in terms of the generalized ladder operators from supersymmetry in quantum mechanics. This formalism is applied for the generalized Dirac-Coulomb problem, which is an exactly solvable potential in relativistic quantum mechanics. We obtain the energy eigenvalues and calculate explicitly the energy eigenfunctions for the ground state and the first excited state.
This paper follows on from a previous one in which it was shown that it is possible, within a de Broglie-Bohm style ontology for quantum mechanics, to incorporate action and reaction between the particle and its guiding field while remaining consistent with the usual experimental predictions. Whereas the previous paper focussed on the Dirac equation, the present work addresses the Schrodinger case and demonstrates that the same two-way interaction can be achieved. The aim in each case is to increase the physical plausibility of such models. The transition to include the reaction of the particl…
We apply the principles of discrete time mechanics discussed in earlier papers to the first and second quantised Dirac equation. We use the Schwinger action principle to find the anticommutation relations of the Dirac field and of the particle creation operators in the theory. We find new solutions to the discrete time Dirac equation, referred to as oscillons on account of their extraordinary behaviour. Their principal characteristic is that they oscillate with a period twice that of the fundamental time interval T of our theory. Although these solutions can be associated with definite charge,…
A possible quantum-mechanical origin of statistical mechanics is discussed, and microcanonical and canonical ensembles of bosons and fermions are derived from the stationary Schrödinger equation in a unified manner. The interaction Hamiltonians are constructed by the use of the discrete phase operators and the gauge-theoretical structure associated with them. It is shown how the interaction Hamiltonians stipulated by the gauge symmetry generate the specific patterns of entanglement that are desired for establishing microcanonical ensembles. A discussion is also made about the interrelation bet…
This paper presents a new Relativistic Symmetrical Interpretation (RSI) of the Dirac equation in (1+1)D which postulates: quantum mechanics is intrinsically time-symmetric, with no arrow of time; the fundamental objects of quantum mechanics are transitions; a transition is fully described by a complex transition amplitude density with specified initial and final boundary conditions; and transition amplitude densities never collapse. This RSI is compared to the Copenhagen Interpretation (CI) for the analysis of Einstein's bubble experiment with a spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particle. This RSI can predic…
It has been observed that a quantum mechanical theory need not to be Hermitian to have a real spectrum. In this paper we obtain the eigenvalues of a Dirac charged particle in a complex static and spherically symmetric potential. Furthermore, we study the Complex Morse and complex Coulomb potentials.
Dirac's Poisson-bracket-to-commutator analogy for the transition from classical to quantum mechanics assures that for many systems, the classical and quantum systems share the same algebraic structure. The quantum side of the analogy (involving operators on Hilbert space with commutators scaled by Planck's constant $\hbar$) not only gives the algebraic structure but also dictates the average values of physical quantities in the quantum ground state. On the other hand, the Poisson brackets of nonrelativistic mechanics, which give only the classical canonical transformations, do not give any val…
The Dirac oscillator is an exactly soluble model recently introduced in the context of many particle models in relativistic quantum mechanics. The model has been also considered as an interaction term for modelling quark confinement in quantum chromodynamics. These considerations should be enough for demonstrating that the Dirac oscillator can be an excellent example in relativistic quantum mechanics. In this paper we offer a solution to the problem and discuss some of its properties. We also discuss a physical picture for the Dirac oscillator's non-standard interaction, showing how it arises …
Authoritative appraisals qualified this book as an axiomatic theory. However, being its essential content no more than an analogy, its theoretical organization cannot be an axiomatic one. In fact, in the first edition Dirac declares to avoid an axiomatic presentation. Moreover, I show that the text is aimed at solving a basic problem: How quantum mechanics is similar to classical mechanics. A previous paper analyzed all past theories of physics, chemistry and mathematics, presented by the respective authors in a non-axiomatic way. Four characteristic features of a new model of organizing a the…
We use a generalized scheme of supersymmetric quantum mechanics to obtain the energy spectrum and wave function for Dirac equation in (1+1)-dimensional spacetime coupled to a static scalar field.
An extension of the Weyl-Wigner-Moyal formulation of quantum mechanics suitable for a Dirac quantized constrained system is proposed. In this formulation, quantum observables are described by equivalent classes of Weyl symbols. The Weyl product of these equivalent classes is defined. The new Moyal bracket is shown to be compatible with the Dirac bracket for constrained systems.
We derive an equivalent traveling wave form description for Dirac field. In the non-relativistic limit, such form can reduce to inverse-Galilean transformed Schrodinger-type equation. We find that, the resulting two-component Schrodinger-type equation from the reduction of traveling wave form description of Dirac field is different to the naive Galilean transformed Schrodinger equation. Taking into account the interactions of the system to electromagnetic field by adding proper forms of covariant derivative, the traveling wave form description for Pauli equation can be similarly obtained in th…
In the first part of this work (http://www.arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0509044), it was shown that the Klein-Gordon-Maxwell electrodynamics in the unitary gauge allows natural elimination of the particle wave function and describes independent evolution of the electromagnetic field. Therefore, the electromagnetic field can be regarded as the guiding field in the Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics. An extension of those results to the Dirac-Maxwell electrodynamics was less general, but represented at least an interesting toy model of quantum theory. Another model based on the Dirac-Maxwell ele…
The (3+1)-dimensional Dirac equation with position dependent mass in 4-vector electromagnetic fields is considered. Using two over-simplified examples (the Dirac-Coulomb and Dirac-oscillator fields), we report energy-levels crossing as a spectral property or as an effect of the hidden supersymmetric quantum mechanical language and/or quasi-parity signatures. Under different settings of the related interactions' way-of-coupling into Dirac equation, it is observed that the two ultimate/effective descendents, Dirac-Coulomb and Dirac-oscillator, exhibit different conditions on the energy-levels cr…
The spin-statistics connection has been proved for nonrelativistic quantum mechanics (Jabs, A., 2010: Found. Phys., {\bf 40}, 776-792). The proof is extended here to the relativistic regime using the parametrized Dirac equation. A causality condition is not required.
It has been found that quantum corrections can substantially affect the classical results of tracking for trajectories close to the separatrix. Hence the development of a basic formalism for obtaining the quantum maps for any particle beam optical system is called for. To this end, it is observed that several aspects of quantum maps for the beam optics of spin-1/2 particles can be studied, at the level of single particle dynamics, using the proper formalism based on the Dirac equation.
This is a write-up of Sidney Coleman's classic lecture first given as a Dirac Lecture at Cambridge University and later recorded when repeated at the New England sectional meeting of the American Physical Society (April 9, 1994). My sources have been this recording and a copy of the slides Sidney send to me after he gave the lecture as a Physics Colloquium at Stanford University some time between 1995 and 1998. To preserve both the scientific content and most of the charm, I have kept the editing to a minimum, but did add a bibliography containing the references Sidney mentioned.--Martin Greit…
In the previous paper (quant-ph/0204037) we proved that the quantum mechanics not only has statistic interpretation, but also the specific electromagnetic form. Here, from this point of view we show that all the formal particularities of Dirac's equation have also the known electromagnetic sense.
Based on the assumption that the probability density of finding a free particle is independent of position, we infer the form of the eigenfunction for the free particle, $\bra{x} p > = \exp(ipx/\hbar)/\sqrt{2π\hbar}$. The canonical commutation relation between the momentum and position operators and the Ehrenfest theorem in the free particle case are derived solely from differentiation of the delta function and the form of $\bra{x} p >$.
By a series of simple examples, we illustrate how the lack of mathematical concern can readily lead to surprising mathematical contradictions in wave mechanics. The basic mathematical notions allowing for a precise formulation of the theory are then summarized and it is shown how they lead to an elucidation and deeper understanding of the aforementioned problems. After stressing the equivalence between wave mechanics and the other formulations of quantum mechanics, i.e. matrix mechanics and Dirac's abstract Hilbert space formulation, we devote the second part of our paper to the latter approac…
Quantum mechanics is challenging even for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Dirac notation is a convenient notation used extensively in quantum mechanics. We have been investigating the difficulties that the advanced undergraduate and graduate students have with Dirac notation. We administered written free response and multiple-choice questions to students and also conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 23 students using a think-aloud protocol to obtain a better understanding of the rationale behind their responses. We find that many students struggle with Dirac notat…
Quantization Mapping on Dirac Dynamics via Voltage-Driven Charge Density in Monolayer Graphene: A Klein Paradox and Entropy-Ruled Wavevector Mechanics Study
KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology（KPR工程技术学院）
The quantum Jarzynski equality is an important theorem of modern quantum thermodynamics. We show that the Jarzynski equality readily generalizes to relativistic quantum mechanics described by the Dirac equation. After establishing the conceptual framework we solve a pedagogical, yet experimentally relevant, system analytically. As a main result we obtain the exact quantum work distributions for charged particles traveling through a time-dependent vector potential evolving under Schrödinger as well as under Dirac dynamics, and for which the Jarzynski equality is verified. Special emphasis is pu…
The importance of the energy spectrum of bound states and their restrictions in quantum mechanics due to the different methods have been used for calculating and determining the limit of them. Comparison of Schrodinger-like equation obtained by Dirac equation with the non-relativistic solvable models is the most efficient methods. By this technique, the exact relativistic solutions of Dirac equation for Hartmann and Ring-Shaped oscillator potentials are accessible, when the scalar potential equals to the vector potential. Using solvable non-relativistic quantum mechanics systems as a basic mod…
We develop relativistic wave equations in the framework of the new non-hermitian ${\cal PT}$ quantum mechanics. The familiar Hermitian Dirac equation emerges as an exact result of imposing the Dirac algebra, the criteria of ${\cal PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics, and relativistic invariance. However, relaxing the constraint that in particular the mass matrix be Hermitian also allows for models that have no counterpart in conventional quantum mechanics. For example it is well-known that a quartet of Weyl spinors coupled by a Hermitian mass matrix reduces to two independent Dirac fermions; here…
This article is a pedagogical introduction to relativistic quantum mechanics of the free Majorana particle. This relatively simple theory differs from the well-known quantum mechanics of the Dirac particle in several important aspects. We present its three equivalent formulations. Next, so called axial momentum observable is introduced, and general solution of the Dirac equation is discussed in terms of eigenfunctions of that operator. Pertinent irreducible representations of the Poincaré group are discussed. Finally, we show that in the case of massless Majorana particle the quantum mechanics…
