English

Quantum stresses in the hydrogen atom

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2025-03-03 v1 Nuclear Theory Quantum Physics

Abstract

Gravitational form factors are often interpreted as providing access to stresses inside hadrons, in particular through Fourier transforms of the form factors DD and cˉ\bar{c}. Some researchers, however, have expressed skepticism of this interpretation. I revisit the question, and argue that it is indeed appropriate to interpret these quantities as stress distributions. I consider the hydrogen atom's ground state as a familiar example, and use the pilot wave interpretation of quantum mechanics to give the distributions a clear meaning. A striking result is that cˉ\bar{c} -- rather than DD -- quantifies the force law binding the system, which can be understood through Cauchy's first law of motion.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2412.09664,
  title  = {Quantum stresses in the hydrogen atom},
  author = {Adam Freese},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.09664},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

17 pages, 5 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T20:33:06.176Z