Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2006
Keywords
NEAR-THRESHOLD PHOTODETACHMENT, HEAVY-ION COLLISIONS, DEPENDENT, DIRAC-EQUATION, PAIR-PRODUCTION, LASER FIELDS, TIME, PARADOX, CAPTURE, PHYSICS, VACUUM, Optics
Abstract
Based on space-time-resolved solutions to relativistic quantum field theory we illustrate interpretational difficulties in associating field-theoretical quantities with properties of particles. These difficulties are related to the fact that the definition of the spatial probability density of particles depends on the choice of the Hilbert subspace on which the field operator is projected. We illustrate these problems by analyzing pair-production probabilities and spatial densities for the electron-positron dynamics associated with a spatially localized subcritical potential that is turned on and off in time.
Recommended Citation
Krekora, P; Su, Q; and Grobe, Rainer, "Interpretational difficulties in quantum field theory" (2006). Faculty publications – Physics. 35.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/fpphys/35
Comments
Originally published in Physical Review A by the American Physical Society.