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Relativistic Quantum Mechanics and the Conventionality of Simultaneity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

David Gunn  and
Indrakumar Vetharaniam
David Gunn
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies University of Canterbury
Indrakumar Vetharaniam
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Canterbury
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Extract

1. Introduction Dirac's (Dirac 1928) theory of the electron was the first widely accepted relativistic quantum theory, and it later provided the basis for constructing the modern electromagnetic theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED). Whereas Dirac's theory in its simplest form describes relativistic freely-propagating massive non-chiral particles of spin-½, QED describes how such particles interact with one another electromagnetically, via a dynamical quantum field.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 62 , Issue 4 , December 1995 , pp. 599 - 608
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1995

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Footnotes

†

We are grateful to Hughan Ross for helpful discussions.

‡

Send reprint requests to D. Gunn, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand.

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