23 research outputs found
Hamiltonian Formulation of Two Body Problem in Wheeler-Feynman electrodynamics
A Hamiltonian formulation for the classical problem of electromagnetic
interaction of two charged relativistic particles is found.Comment: 22 pages, 8 Uuencoded Postscript figure
Einstein's quantum theory of the monatomic ideal gas: non-statistical arguments for a new statistics
In this article, we analyze the third of three papers, in which Einstein
presented his quantum theory of the ideal gas of 1924-1925. Although it failed
to attract the attention of Einstein's contemporaries and although also today
very few commentators refer to it, we argue for its significance in the context
of Einstein's quantum researches. It contains an attempt to extend and exhaust
the characterization of the monatomic ideal gas without appealing to
combinatorics. Its ambiguities illustrate Einstein's confusion with his initial
success in extending Bose's results and in realizing the consequences of what
later became to be called Bose-Einstein statistics. We discuss Einstein's
motivation for writing a non-combinatorial paper, partly in response to
criticism by his friend Ehrenfest, and we paraphrase its content. Its arguments
are based on Einstein's belief in the complete analogy between the
thermodynamics of light quanta and of material particles and invoke
considerations of adiabatic transformations as well as of dimensional analysis.
These techniques were well-known to Einstein from earlier work on Wien's
displacement law, Planck's radiation theory, and the specific heat of solids.
We also investigate the possible role of Ehrenfest in the gestation of the
theory.Comment: 57 pp
The Stern-Gerlach Experiment Revisited
The Stern-Gerlach-Experiment (SGE) of 1922 is a seminal benchmark experiment
of quantum physics providing evidence for several fundamental properties of
quantum systems. Based on today's knowledge we illustrate the different
benchmark results of the SGE for the development of modern quantum physics and
chemistry.
The SGE provided the first direct experimental evidence for angular momentum
quantization in the quantum world and thus also for the existence of
directional quantization of all angular momenta in the process of measurement.
It measured for the first time a ground state property of an atom, it produced
for the first time a `spin-polarized' atomic beam, it almost revealed the
electron spin. The SGE was the first fully successful molecular beam experiment
with high momentum-resolution by beam measurements in vacuum. This technique
provided a new kinematic microscope with which inner atomic or nuclear
properties could be investigated.
The original SGE is described together with early attempts by Einstein,
Ehrenfest, Heisenberg, and others to understand directional quantization in the
SGE. Heisenberg's and Einstein's proposals of an improved multi-stage SGE are
presented. The first realization of these proposals by Stern, Phipps, Frisch
and Segr\`e is described. The set-up suggested by Einstein can be considered an
anticipation of a Rabi-apparatus. Recent theoretical work is mentioned in which
the directional quantization process and possible interference effects of the
two different spin states are investigated.
In full agreement with the results of the new quantum theory directional
quantization appears as a general and universal feature of quantum
measurements. One experimental example for such directional quantization in
scattering processes is shown. Last not least, the early history of the
`almost' discovery of the electron spin in the SGE is revisited.Comment: 50pp, 17 fig
Exact Solution of Photon Equation in Stationary G\"{o}del-type and G\"{o}del Space-Times
In this work the photon equation (massless Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau equation) is
written expilicitly for general type of stationary G\"{o}del space-times and is
solved exactly for G\"{o}del-type and G\"{o}del space-times. Harmonic
oscillator behaviour of the solutions is discussed and energy spectrum of
photon is obtained.Comment: 9 pages,RevTeX, no figure, revised for publicatio
Spin, gravity, and inertia
The gravitational effects in the relativistic quantum mechanics are
investigated. The exact Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation is constructed for the
Dirac particle coupled to the static spacetime metric. As a direct application,
we analyze the non-relativistic limit of the theory. The new term describing
the specific spin (gravitational moment) interaction effect is recovered in the
Hamiltonian. The comparison of the true gravitational coupling with the purely
inertial case demonstrates that the spin relativistic effects do not violate
the equivalence principle for the Dirac fermions.Comment: Revtex, 12 pages, no figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. Let