Instantaneous Spreading and Einstein Causality in Quantum Theory
Quantum Physics
2016-04-20 v1
Abstract
In nonrelativistic quantum mechanics the wave-function of a free particle which initially is in a finite volume immediately spreads to infinity. In a nonrelativistic theory this is of no concern, but we show that the same instantaneous spreading can occur in relativistic quantum theory and that transition probabilities in widely separated systems may instantaneously become nonzero. We discuss how this affects Einstein causality.
Cite
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/9809030,
title = {Instantaneous Spreading and Einstein Causality in Quantum Theory},
author = {Gerhard C. Hegerfeldt},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/9809030},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
Talk given at the workshop Superluminal (?) Velocities, Cologne, June 6-10, 1998. To appear in Annalen der Physik