New Reply

Harmonic Oscillator in Dirac Theory

 
Share Thread Thread Tools
Apr25-12, 12:38 PM   #1
 

Harmonic Oscillator in Dirac Theory


Hello everyone,

i'm looking for anypaper or such kind of thing that explain the resolution of the harmonic oscillator in the Dirac Theory.

I have worked with the exact spin symmetry. I feel like a fish out the water and i'm sure that there are lot of bibliography about this area, but i promise i didn't find anything.

Thanks since now,
and may the force be with you!
 
PhysOrg.com
PhysOrg
science news on PhysOrg.com

>> 'Whodunnit' of Irish potato famine solved
>> The mammoth's lament: Study shows how cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change
>> Curiosity Mars rover drills second rock target
Apr25-12, 07:56 PM   #2
 
What do you mean by resolution? Also, you may have more luck getting replies in the Advanced Physics section (if this is related HW), or in the Quantum Physics section (if you simply want a reference).
 
Apr25-12, 08:23 PM   #3
 
The problem with the term in the title is that "harmonic oscillator" refers to the non-relativistic concept of a potential energy as a function of coordinates, which is manifestly Lorentz non-covariant, and Dirac's equation, which is a fully Lorentz covariant quantity.

Also, the proper meaning of Dirac's equation is that is non-quantum equation of motion for a Dirac spinor field operator in second quantization. This reinterprets the negative energy solutions as antiparticles. But, the problem essentially becomes a many-particle one.

If you are only interested in single-particle solutions, then you must project out the antiparticle component from the Dirac 4-spinor, to get the Pauli 2-spinor. The equation it obeys is Pauli equation, which already incorporates the interaction with an external electromagnetic field of a charged fermion.

Just take a scalar potential:
[tex]
\varphi(x) = \frac{\mu^3 \, c^4}{2\, q \, \hbar^3} x^2
[/tex]
where [itex]q[/itex] is thecharge of the particle, and [itex]\mu[/itex] has a dimension of mass. Of course, this non-relativistic equation is only valid when:
[tex]
q \varphi(x) \ll m c^2 \Rightarrow \vert x \vert \ll \sqrt{\frac{2 m}{\mu}} \, \frac{\hbar}{\mu \, c}
[/tex]
 
Apr26-12, 10:11 AM   #4
 

Harmonic Oscillator in Dirac Theory


Well, this isnt exactly what im looking for, but its given me an idea anyway, so thank you very much for your time and effort.
 
New Reply

Tags
dirac, harmonic, oscillator, quantum
Thread Tools


Similar Threads for: Harmonic Oscillator in Dirac Theory
Thread Forum Replies
Pertubation Theory - 3D harmonic oscillator Advanced Physics Homework 3
Perturbation Theory/Harmonic Oscillator Advanced Physics Homework 5
Perturbation theory / harmonic oscillator Advanced Physics Homework 3
The harmonic oscillator in terms of path integrals without dirac notation Quantum Physics 1
Harmonic Oscillator, Ladder Operators, and Dirac notation Quantum Physics 4