CHAPTER 3 RELATIVISTIC QUANTUM MECHANICS OF SPIN-} PARTICLES 3-1. PROBABILITY CONSERVATION IN RELATIVISTIC QUANTUM MECHANICS It is almost traditional to start an exposition of the Dirac theory of spin-} par- ticles by discussing some of the “difficulties” of the Klein-Gordon theory. As we shall see Jater, there is actually nothing wrong in the Klein-Gordon equation if it is properly interpreted. We shall sketch, however, the usual arguments against the Klein-Gordon equation since they played an important historic role in the formulation of relativistic quantum mechanics. In Schrédinger’s wave mechanics we associate a complex-valued wave function ap with a single particle, such that |xp|*d?x gives the probability of finding the particle in a volume element d'x. This interpretation is possible because the proba- bitity density P and the flux density S given by P=lylt>0 GD and S = —(ih/2m)(p* Vy —~ Vag) G2) satisfy the continuity equation aPjat+V-S=0 GB.3) by virtue of the Schrddinger equation. Using Gauss’ theorem, we also see that the integral over all space f Pd*x is a constant of the motion which can be set to unity by appropriately normalizing yp. If one is to construct a relativistic quantum mechanics in analogy with non- relativistic quantum mechanics, it may appear natural to impose the following requirements on the theory. First, with the relativistic wave function we must be able to construct bilinear forms which can be interpreted as the probability density and the flux density satisfying a continuity equation of type (3.3). The probability dens'ty we form must, of course, be positive definite. In addition, the special theory of relativity requires that P must be the fourth component of a four-vector density. To sce this last point, we recall that d?x — d°x,/1 — (vjc)? under a Lorentz transformation because of the well-known Lorentz contraction of the volume element; if Pd*x is to remain invariant, it is essential that P transforms like the fourth component of a four-vector P ~* P//T — Je). The continuity equation (3.3) takes the following covariant form, (/0%,)5, = 0, G4) where (S, icP). (3.5)76 RELATIVISTIC QUANTUM MECHANICS OF SPIN-} PARTICLES 341 Let us now see whether the relativistic quantum mechanics based on the Klei Gordon equation satisfies the above requirements. Consider a four-vector densi given by se =a(or — 2 4), 3.6) 2 OXy where @ is a solution to the free particle Klein-Gordon equation, and 4 is a mul- tiplicative constant. The four-divergence of (3.6) vanishes, as — 4 [28° 28 — Censor tae — 38° 2). ox, ax, Or, Ox, x, G.7) by virtue of the Klein-Gordon equation, For a Klein-Gordon particle moving at nonrelativistic velocities (E ~ mec’), bm peer, (G8) where yp is the corresponding Schrddinger solution (cf. Problem 1-2). The com- ponents of s, are then given by So = is, = Qime/h)A lh, s = AL Vb — (WH. G9) If we set A = —ih/2en, then s and so are precisely the flux density and c times the probability density in the Schrddinger theory. Thus we obtain a four-vector current density from a solution of the Klein-Gordon equation with the following properties: (i) the current density satisfies the continuity equation, and (ii) the components of the current density coincide with the flux density and c times the probability density in the nonrelativistic timit, So far everything appears satisfactory. There is, however, a difficulty in inter preting ih_( go 0b _ ag* P= sl 3 ~ 79) oe as the probability density. In the Schrédinger theory, in which the time derivative appears only linearly in the wave equation, the sign of the frequency is determined by the eigenvalue of the Hamiltonian operator. In contrast, because the Klein- Gordon equation is of second order in the time derivative, both u(xje""" and u*(xje*!*"* ace equally good solutions for a given physical situation (cf. Problem 1-3). This means that P given by (3.10) can be positive or negative. We may arbi- trarily omit alt solutions of the form u(xje”"* with E <0. But this would be unjustified because solutions of the form u(x)e~'** with E> 0 alone do not form a complete set. It appears that we must cither abandon the interpretation of (3,10) as the probability density or abandon the Klein-Gordon equation al- together. Let us analyze the origin of this difficulty a little more closely. From the deriva~ tion of the continuity equation (3.7) we may infer that the appearance of the linear time derivative in s. is unavoidable so long as the wave function satisfies a partial differential equation quadratic in the time derivative. Perhaps we could avoid this difficulty if we wrote a relativistic wave equation /inear in the time derivative.34 PROBABILITY CONSERVATION 77 In 1928, in what is undoubtedly one of the most significant papers in the physics of the twentieth century, P.A.M. Dirac succeeded in devising a relativistic wave equation starting with the requirement that the wave equation be linear in 3/81. Using his equation, known to us as the Dirac equation, he was able to construct a conserved four-vector density whose zeroth component is positive-definite. For this reason, from 1928 until 1934 the Dirac equation was considered to be the only correct wave equation in relativistic quantum mechanics. In 1934 the Klein-Gordon equation was revived by W. Pauli and V. F. Weiss- kopf. Their proposal was that, up to a proportionality factor, s, given by (3.6) be interpreted as the charge-current density rather than as the probability-current density. As we saw in Section 1-3, an interpretation of this kind is reasonable in the classical field theory of a complex scalar field. The fact that the sign of sp changes when u*(x)e!”""* is substituted for u(x)e'"”* makes good sense if the negative-energy solution is interpreted as the wave function for a particle with opposite electric charge (cf. Problem 1-3). The interpretation of s, as the charge-current density is even more satisfactory fora theory in which a solution to the Klein-Gordon equation is to be interpreted as a quantized field operator. In analogy with what we did for the complex scalar field in classical field theory we form a non-Hermitian field operator (3 $*) such that Git o= tae, $ ite where $, and $2 are Hermitian operators whose properties are given in Problem 2-3. Consider now a four-current operator GAN) j= e(gr 2 — 8" 4). e(# x, ax, %) (G12) It is easy to show (Problem 3-1) that the fourth component of j, has the property JOdliods = eE (ME? — NO, (3.13) : where (3.14) with Pe F ia, (3.15) Physically, N‘*) and N'~? are the number operators for the Klein-Gordon particle of charge e and for its antiparticle with charge —e. So the eigenvalue of the opera~ tor expression (3.13) is the total charge of the field, Usually the four-vector j, is regarded as the charge-current density operator. As emphasized in Chapter 2, quantum field theory accommodates physical situations in which particles are created or annihilated. When there are processes like y — * 4-2” which take place in the Coulomb field of a nucleus, what is conserved is not the probability of finding a given particle integrated over all space but rather the total charge of the field given by the eigenvalue of (3.13).