7,510 research outputs found
Simple applications of Noether's first theorem in quantum mechanics and electromagnetism
Internal global symmetries exist for the free non-relativistic
Schr\"{o}dinger particle, whose associated Noether charges--the space integrals
of the wavefunction and the wavefunction multiplied by the spatial
coordinate--are exhibited. Analogous symmetries in classical electromagnetism
are also demonstrated.Comment: 12 page
The origins of length contraction: I. The FitzGerald-Lorentz deformation hypothesis
One of the widespread confusions concerning the history of the 1887
Michelson-Morley experiment has to do with the initial explanation of this
celebrated null result due independently to FitzGerald and Lorentz. In neither
case was a strict, longitudinal length contraction hypothesis invoked, as is
commonly supposed. Lorentz postulated, particularly in 1895, any one of a
certain family of possible deformation effects for rigid bodies in motion,
including purely transverse alteration, and expansion as well as contraction;
FitzGerald may well have had the same family in mind. A careful analysis of the
Michelson-Morley experiment (which reveals a number of serious inadequacies in
many text-book treatments) indeed shows that strict contraction is not
required.Comment: 29 pages; accepted April 2001 for publication in American Journal of
Physic
Aspects of Objectivity in Quantum Mechanics
The purpose of the paper is to explore different aspects of the covariance of (mostly) non-relativistic quantum mechanics. First, doubts are expressed concerning the claim that gauge fields can be 'generated' by way of imposition of (local) gauge covariance of the single-particle wave equation. Then a brief review is given of Galilean covariance in the general case of external fields, and the connection between Galilean boosts and gauge transformations. Under time-dependent translations (and hence non-instantaneous boosts) the geometric phase associated with SchrĂśdinger evolution is non-invariant, and the significance of this result is briefly analysed. The covariance properties of SchrĂśdinger dynamics are then brought to bear on certain versions of the modal interpretation of quantum mechanics. The conclusion that it is only relational properties that can be considered coordinate- or gauge-independent elements of reality is reinforced by appeal to the theory of quantum reference frames due to Aharonov and Kauffher. (This paper appeared in "From Physics to Philosophy", J. Butterfield and C. Pagonis (eds.), Cambridge University Press (1999); pp. 45-70.
The origins of length contraction: I. The FitzGerald-Lorentz deformation
One of the widespread confusions concerning the history of the 1887 Michelson-Morley experiment has to do with the initial explanation of this celebrated null result due independently to FitzGerald and Lorentz. In neither case was a strict, longitudinal length contraction hypothesis invoked, as is commonly supposed. Lorentz postulated, particularly in 1895, any one of a certain family of possible deformation effects for rigid bodies in motion, including purely transverse alteration, and expansion as well as contraction; FitzGerald may well have had the same family in mind. A careful analysis of the Michelson-Morley experiment (which reveals a number of serious inadequacies in many text-book treatments) indeed shows that strict contraction is not require
The origin of the spacetime metric: Bell's `Lorentzian pedagogy' and its significance in general relativity
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the `Lorentzian pedagogy' defended
by J.S. Bell in his essay ``How to teach special relativity'', and to explore
its consistency with Einstein's thinking from 1905 to 1952. Some remarks are
also made in this context on Weyl's philosophy of relativity and his 1918 gauge
theory. Finally, it is argued that the Lorentzian pedagogy - which stresses the
important connection between kinematics and dynamics - clarifies the role of
rods and clocks in general relativity.Comment: To be published in ``Physics Meets Philosophy at the Planck Length'',
C. Callender and N. Huggett (eds.), Cambridge University Press (1999). 22
pages, no figures, LaTeX, uses harvard.sty; 3 references added, typos
corrected and minor changes to conten
Boltzmann's H-theorem, its limitations, and the birth of (fully) statistical mechanics
A comparison is made of the traditional Loschmidt (reversibility) and Zermelo
(recurrence) objections to Boltzmann's H-theorem, and its simplified variant in
the Ehrenfests' 1912 wind-tree model. The little-cited 1896 (pre-recurrence)
objection of Zermelo (similar to an 1889 argument due to Poincare) is also
analysed. Significant differences between the objections are highlighted, and
several old and modern misconceptions concerning both them and the H-theorem
are clarified. We give particular emphasis to the radical nature of Poincare's
and Zermelo's attack, and the importance of the shift in Boltzmann's thinking
in response to the objections as a whole.Comment: 40 page
Are gauge symmetry transformations observable?
In a recent paper in the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Kosso discussed the observational status of continuous symmetries of physics. While we are in broad agreement with his approach, we disagree with his analysis. In the discussion of the status of gauge symmetry, a set of examples offered by ât Hooft has influenced several philosophers, including Kosso; in all cases the interpretation of the examples is mistaken. In this paper we present our preferred approach to the empirical significance of symmetries, re-analysing the cases of gauge symmetry and general covariance
Why special relativity should not be a template for a fundamental reformulation of quantum mechanics
In a comparison of the principles of special relativity and of quantum mechanics, the former theory is marked by its relative economy and apparent explanatory simplicity. A number of theorists have thus been led to search for a small number of postulates - essentially information theoretic in nature - that would play the role in quantum mechanics that the relativity principle and the light postulate jointly play in Einstein's 1905 special relativity theory. The purpose of the present paper is to resist this idea, at least in so far as it is supposed to reveal the fundamental form of the theory. It is argued that the methodology of Einstein's 1905 theory represents a victory of pragmatism over explanatory depth; and that its adoption only made sense in the context of the chaotic state state of physics at the start of the 20th century - as Einstein well knew
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