Putting positrons into classical Dirac field theory

Q1 Arts and Humanities

Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics Pub Date : 2020-05-01 DOI:10.1016/j.shpsb.2019.10.003

Charles T. Sebens

引用次数: 8

Abstract

One way of arriving at a quantum field theory of electrons and positrons is to take a classical theory of the Dirac field and then quantize. Starting with the standard classical field theory and quantizing in the most straightforward way yields an inadequate quantum field theory. It is possible to fix this theory by making some modifications (such as redefining the operators for energy and charge). Here I argue that we ought to make these modifications earlier, revising the classical Dirac field theory that serves as the starting point for quantization (putting positrons into that theory and removing negative energies). Then, quantization becomes straightforward. Also, the physics of the Dirac field is made more similar to the physics of the electromagnetic field and we are able to better understand electron spin.

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将正电子引入经典狄拉克场论

得到电子和正电子的量子场论的一种方法是采用狄拉克场的经典理论，然后量子化。从标准的经典场论出发，以最直接的方式进行量子化，得出一个不充分的量子场论。通过做一些修改(比如重新定义能量和电荷的算符)来修正这个理论是可能的。在这里，我认为我们应该更早地进行这些修改，修改作为量子化起点的经典狄拉克场论(将正电子放入该理论并去除负能量)。然后，量化就变得简单了。此外，狄拉克场的物理性质与电磁场的物理性质更加相似，我们能够更好地理解电子自旋。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 物理-科学史与科学哲学

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

13.3 weeks

期刊介绍： Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics is devoted to all aspects of the history and philosophy of modern physics broadly understood, including physical aspects of astronomy, chemistry and other non-biological sciences. The primary focus is on physics from the mid/late-nineteenth century to the present, the period of emergence of the kind of theoretical physics that has come to dominate the exact sciences in the twentieth century. The journal is internationally oriented with contributions from a wide range of perspectives. In addition to purely historical or philosophical papers, the editors particularly encourage papers that combine these two disciplines. The editors are also keen to publish papers of interest to physicists, as well as specialists in history and philosophy of physics.