English

A Wavefunction Description for a Localized Quantum Particle in Curved Spacetimes

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2022-06-07 v4 High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

We reduce Dirac's spinor formalism for a spin 1/2 particle to a complex wavefunction description in curved spacetimes. We consider a localized fermionic particle in curved spacetimes and perform an expansion in terms of the acceleration and curvature around the center of mass of the system, generalizing the results of [Phys. Rev. D 22, 1922]. Under a non-relativistic approximation, one obtains a quantum description in a Hilbert space of complex wavefunctions defined in the rest space of the system. The wavefunction of the particle then evolves according to a modified Schr\"odinger equation associated with a symmetric Hamiltonian. When compared to the standard Schr\"odinger equation for a wavefunction, we obtain corrections in terms of the acceleration of the system's center of mass and curvature of spacetime along its trajectory. In summary, we provide a formalism for the use of a complex wavefunction to describe a localized quantum particle in curved spacetimes.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2012.08539,
  title  = {A Wavefunction Description for a Localized Quantum Particle in Curved Spacetimes},
  author = {T. Rick Perche and Jonas Neuser},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2012.08539},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

26 pages, 1 figure. RevTeX 4.1. V4. Added a more detailed explanation in Appendix C and fixed minor typos

R2 v1 2026-06-23T20:59:46.368Z