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Title: Mass eigenfunction expansions for the relativistic Kepler problem and arbitrary static magnetic field in relativistic quantum theory

Journal Article · · J. Math. Phys. (N.Y.); (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.526791· OSTI ID:6161117

We investigate the existence of orthogonality and completeness relations for the eigenvalue problem associated with the differential operator ..lambda.. = -Pi/sub ..mu../Pi/sub ..mu../ -iesigma x (E+iB), Pi/sub ..mu../ = -i partial/sub ..mu../-eA/sub ..mu../. The operator ..lambda.. acts on 2 x 1 Pauli-type spinor fields defined over all Minkowski space, and may be interpreted as the square of the mass of a charged Dirac particle moving in an external c-number electromagnetic field. We show that ..lambda.. is self-adjoint with respect to the not positive-definite inner product (phi/sub b/; phi/sub a/) = ..integral.. d/sup 4/x phi-bar/sub b/phi/sub a/, where phi-bar/sub b/ is defined as phi-bar/sub b/ = phi/sup dagger//sub b/(-iPiX/sub 4/-sigmaxPiX). A proof is provided for the Coulomb case that the mass eigenfunctions form a complete set in spite of the indefinite metric in Hilbert space. The mass eigenfunction expansion of the propagator is worked out explicitly for the Kepler case. This mass eigenfunction expansion is expected to be quite useful for bound state calculations in quantum electrodynamics, since it involves the covariant denominators (m')/sup 2/-(m)/sup 2/.

Research Organization:
Physics Department, Wilkes College, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 18766
OSTI ID:
6161117
Journal Information:
J. Math. Phys. (N.Y.); (United States), Vol. 26:1
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English