Quantum Gravity and A Time Operator in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Gravity and A Time Operator in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Gravity and A Time Operator in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics
Introduction
and circumvents Paulis objection by giving rise to energy changes through momentum displacements. In Section 3 the properties that the conditionning PW
operator has to satisfy are reviewed and shown how they can be fulfilled by
the time operator. Conclusions and further possible applications are presented
finally.
D = c.
In analogy to the Dirac free particle Hamiltonian H
p + m0 c2 where
i (i = 1, 2, 3) and are the 4 4 Dirac matrices, a dynamical time operator
T = .
r/c+ 0 has been introduced. It is shown that:
A) its eigenvectors are
| i = ur |ri
(1)
where |ri is the eigevector of the position operator and ur is a four component
spinor independent of the linear momentum p. The corresponding eigenvalues
are:
(2)
= [(r/c)2 + 20 ]1/2
There is a continous positive and a continous negative time branch. As
[.
r/2r, T] = 0, where .
r/2r represents the spin component in the direction
of r, there are four independent time spinors, corresponding to two spin projections for each branch. The value of the intrinsic property 0 is found to be
h/m0 c2 , the de Broglie period(Appendix A).[19]
B) in the Heisenberg picture
i
dT
D m0 c2 T}
D ] = i{I + K} + 2{ 0 H
= [T, H
dt
(3)
(4)
Thus the time operator correlates monotonically with the time parameter t
of the Sch
odinger equation ( t).
C) this operator is clearly self-adjoint and therefor can be the generator of
a unitary transformation (Stones theorem)
UT () = eiT / = ei{.r/c+ 0 }/
(5)
(9)
(10)
where = {1 (vgp /c)2 }1/2 is the Lorentz factor and vgp the group velocity.
Clearly the shift in momentum represents a displacement in energy within
the positive and the negative energy branches. In the positive branch, as p goes
from to + in any direction, the energy drops from + to a minimun
m0 c2 at p = 0 and ther rises again to + . No crossing of the 2m0 c2 energy gap
is involved. The time operator is thus the generator of a unitary transformation
that corresponds to a change in energy. However, by acting on the momentum
continuum space, it circumvents Paulis objection.
Finally it can be pointed out that, as T and
r commute, the previous development applies also in the presence of any position dependent potentials, e.g.,
the scalar and vector electromagnetic potentials.
The dynamical time operator and the conditional probability interpretation of quantum
gravity
of C. It is then stated that the connection with the time problem is established
question Does an internal clock show the time t?. The operator C(t)
cannot
C(t)]
(12)
[H,
= [h
6= 0
(13)
C t/
iHt/
ih
= eiHt/
C(t)
C(0)e
= eihC t/ C(0)e
(14)
Then:
P (B|C(t))
D
E
ih C t/ |0 i h0 | eih C t/ |
| eihC t/ |0 i h0 | eihC t/ Be
D
E
|
| B(t)
h |0 i h0 | i
(15)
h | i
where |i = h0 | i and:
= eih B t/ Be
ih B t/ = eiHt/
iHt/
B(t)
Be
(16)
also satisfies:
It follows then that B
i
dB
B ] = [B,
h
H]
= [B,
dt
(17)
in spite of the fact that |iis a stationary state of the total system.
Note that this development is already assuming a time dependent Schrodinger
equation (TDSE), without explaining the presence in it of the laboratory time
t.This will be addressed below.
The connection of the PW conditional interpretation with the dynamical
time operator defined above is as follows. Besides being a timelike operator as
it is given in terms of the worldline r(t), T does satisfy the following conditions:
i) it does not commute with the Hamiltonian;
ii) its spectrum is a single valued continuum in either positive or negative
branch, directly proportional to the time parameter t ;
iii) the eigenvector basis {| i = uRr |ri} where t can be used to construct
the normalized wave packet |0 i = d c | i such that
Z
Z
Z Z
,
h0 | T |0 i =
d d c c h | T | i = d |c |2 dt |ct |2 t = 0 (18)
iv) as [T,
r] = 0 , one can consider:
= |ri hr|
B
(19)
P (B | C) =
|(r, )|
h | i h | r >< r | i h | i
=R
h | >< | i
dr |(r, )|2
5
(20)
would be the probability density for finding the system at value r(t) at an instant
(t) t .
The eigenvectors | , r > (common eigenvectors of r and T as [T, r] = 0)
constitute a basis. In the Sch
odinger picture, they give an intrinsic timespace spinor representation ( , r; t) =< , r | (t) > of the time dependent
Schrodinger state vector. This is entirely analogue to the energy-momentum
spinor representation (E, p; t) =< E, p | (t) > where | E, p > are the
common eigenvectors of the relativistic free particle Dirac Hamiltonian HD =
c.p + m0 c2 and the momentum operator p . The time dependence of T is
exhibited in the Heisenberg picture and seen to correlate monotonically with
the parameter t for wave packets of purely positive (or purely negative)
eigenstates[16]
2
Consequently |( , r; t)| is interpreted as the probability
of finding at time
p
t the system at position r and intrinsic time = (r/c)2 + 20 . Normalization
of ( , r; t) includes sum over spin but no integration over an extra dimension
beyond r[18]. Then one has:
2
|( , r; t)|
P ( , r;t) = X Z
2
dr |( , r; t)|
(21)
Conclusion
Appendix A
For infinitesimal transformations ( << 1), one can factorize the unitary
operatorUT () generated by the time operator as follows :
UT () ei(){.r/c}/~ ei() 0 /~ = ei() 0 /~ ei(){.r/c}/~
(A.1)
as [i()(.r/c~), i() 0 /~] ()2 0 (Glauber theorem). Then the transformed Hamiltonian can be approximated as:
D = U H
D U ei()m0 c2 / ei().r/c H
D ei().r/c ei()m0 c2 / (A.2)
H
Consider first:
D ei().r/c
ei().r/c H
D {I i().
{I + i().
r/c + ...}H
r/c + ...}
D + i{()/c}[.
D ] + ....
H
r,H
(A.3)
Then using[?]:
D , .
D { cp/HD }.
D .
[H
r]= 3icI+2H
r == ic.+2H
r 2cp.
r (A.4)
and . =3I, one obtains:
D ei().r/c H
D (p+/c)+i2{/c}{H
D .
ei().r/c H
r cp.
r} (A.5)
Thus, the unitary transformation induces a shift in momentum:
p = {()/c} = {()/c2 }c
7
(A.6)
eiHD t/ .
For repeated infinitessimal applications one obtains a momentum displacement p whose expectation value is
< p > = (/c2 )vgp = m0 vgp
(A.7)
where = {1 (vgp /c)2 }1/2 is the Lorentz factor and vgp the group velocity.
It also induces a phase shift. Indeed:
D |i = h| H
D (p + /c) |i = h| H
D (p+m0 vgp ) |i
h| H
(A.8)
where
|i = ei() 0 / |i
(A.9)
(A.11)
(A.12)
which is precisely the de Broglie wave length, that is, the product of the phase
velocity by the period derived from the Planck relation E = h and the Einstein
relation E = m0 c2 , as originally assumed by de Broglie.[?]
As the state vector |i differs from the state vector |i by a global phase,
it follows that:
D (p+m0 vgp ) |i = h| H
D (p+m0 vgp ) |i
h| H
(A.13)
/~
(A.14)
(A.15)
These results are in agreement with the fact that the Hamiltonian is actually
the generator of the time development of a system described by a wave packet.
The approximate treatment provides only the displacement, neglecting the dispersion of the wave packet.
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