Skip to main content

Projection Operators for Energy and Spin

  • Chapter
Relativistic Quantum Mechanics
  • 740 Accesses

Abstract

In practical calculations of quantum electrodynamic (QED) processes we will become acquainted with a technique of calculation which allows the simple treatment of complicated expressions; especially the calculation of traces of products of many γ matrices. It is based on a projection procedure, i.e. a method to project a spinor with a given sign of energy and fixed polarization out of a general wave function or a wave packet. The appropriate operators which achieve this are called projection operators.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Greiner, W. (1990). Projection Operators for Energy and Spin. In: Relativistic Quantum Mechanics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-88082-7_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-88082-7_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-99535-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-88082-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics