What is the Significance of Substituting p for -p in the Klein-Gordon Equation?

  • Thread starter Thread starter M. Kohlhaas
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Klein-gordon
M. Kohlhaas
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
I'm just reading the schroeder/peskin introduction to quantum field theory. On Page 21 there is the equation

\phi(x)=\int\frac{d^3 p}{(2\pi)^3}\frac{1}{ \sqrt{2\omega_{\vec{p}}} } <br /> <br /> (a_{\vec{p}} e^{i \vec{p} \cdot \vec{x}}<br /> <br /> +a^{+}_{\vec{p}} e^{-i \vec{p} \cdot \vec{x}}<br /> )

and in the next step:

\phi(x)=\int\frac{d^3 p}{(2\pi)^3}\frac{1}{ \sqrt{2\omega_{\vec{p}}} } <br /> <br /> (a_{\vec{p}} <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> +a^{+}_{\vec{-p}}<br /> )e^{i \vec{p} \cdot \vec{x}}

with \omega_{\vec{p}}=\sqrt{|\vec{p}|^2+m^2}

I don't understand that. When I substitute \vec{p} for -\vec{p} shouldn't the Jacobi-determinant then put a minus sign such that:

\phi(x)=\int\frac{d^3 p}{(2\pi)^3}\frac{1}{ \sqrt{2\omega_{\vec{p}}} } <br /> <br /> (a_{\vec{p}} <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> -a^{+}_{\vec{-p}}<br /> )e^{i \vec{p} \cdot \vec{x}}

What's wrong with me?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
M. Kohlhaas said:
I don't understand that. When I substitute \vec{p} for -\vec{p} shouldn't the Jacobi-determinant then put a minus sign

The transformation theorem for integrals involves the modulus of the jacobian, not the jacobian itself, so the sign drops out. E.g. if you think of a single integral as the area under a curve, then it doesn't make a difference when you mirror the function at the vertical axis (as long as you keep the same orientation for the integration "volume").
 
Remember that you also need to change integration limits in 3 integrals. This leads to another change of the total sign.

Eugene.
 
Thanks. :smile:
 
Not an expert in QM. AFAIK, Schrödinger's equation is quite different from the classical wave equation. The former is an equation for the dynamics of the state of a (quantum?) system, the latter is an equation for the dynamics of a (classical) degree of freedom. As a matter of fact, Schrödinger's equation is first order in time derivatives, while the classical wave equation is second order. But, AFAIK, Schrödinger's equation is a wave equation; only its interpretation makes it non-classical...
I asked a question related to a table levitating but I am going to try to be specific about my question after one of the forum mentors stated I should make my question more specific (although I'm still not sure why one couldn't have asked if a table levitating is possible according to physics). Specifically, I am interested in knowing how much justification we have for an extreme low probability thermal fluctuation that results in a "miraculous" event compared to, say, a dice roll. Does a...
Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. Towards the end of the first lecture for the Qiskit Global Summer School 2025, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Olivia Lanes (Global Lead, Content and Education IBM) stated... Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/quantum-entanglement-is-a-kinematic-fact-not-a-dynamical-effect/ by @RUTA

Similar threads

Back
Top