Abstract
In this chapter, the general principles which were developed in the first chapter are now applied to the spinor field which describes the system of electrons. The field equation is the equation of Dirac (Section 3-1). As a linear partial differential equation of first order the values of the field variables are determined by the values of these variables on a space-like surface (Section 3-2). The field equation is relativistically invariant (Section 3-3). The field variables themselves do not represent observables directly, but one can construct bilinear expressions of the field variables which have the transformation properties of tensors (Section 3-4). Some of these have a simple physical interpretation.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
P. A. M. Dirac, Proc. Roy. Soc. 117, 610; 118, 341 (1928).
E. R. Caianiello, Nuovo Cimento 8, 534 (1951)
C. N. Yang, J. Tiomno, Phys. Rev. 79, 495 (1950).
C. L. Critchfield and E. P. Wigner, Phys. Rev. 60, 412 (1941).
C. L. Critchfield, Phys. Rev. 63, 417 (1943).
P. Jordan and E. Wigner, Z. Physik 47, 631 (1928)
V. Fock, Z. Physik 75, 622 (1932).
P. Jordan and O. Klein, Z. Physik 45, 751 (1927).
J. G. Valatin, J. de Phys. et le Radium 12, 131, 542, 607 (1951).
J. M. Jauch, Helv. Phys. Acta 27, 89 (1954).
Y. Takahashi, Nuovo Cimento 1, 414 (1955).
E. Majorana, Nuovo Cimento 14, 171 (1937)
G. Racah, ibid. 14, 322 (1937).
W. H. Furry, Phys. Rev. 54, 56 (1938)
W. Pauli, Rev. Mod. Phys. 13, 203 (1941)
A. A. Albert, Mathematical Reviews 10, 180 (1949).
H. C. Lee, Ann. of Math. (2) 49, 760 (1948)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1976 J. M. Jauch and F. Rohrlich
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jauch, J.M., Rohrlich, F. (1976). Relativistic Theory of Free Electrons. In: The Theory of Photons and Electrons. Texts and Monographs in Physics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80951-4_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80951-4_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-80953-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-80951-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive