Related papers: On a proper-time approach to localization
The causality issues concerning the localization of relativistic quantum systems, as evidenced by Hegerfeld's paradox, are addressed through a proper-time formalism of single-particle operators. Starting from the premise that physical…
Although the quantization of relativistic systems in a proper-time framework gives new insights concerning the understanding of the so-called localization problem, classical observers cannot be treated as quantum comoving frames and real…
Two related problems in relativistic quantum mechanics, the apparent superluminal propagation of initially localized particles and dependence of spatial localization on the motion of the observer, are analyzed in the context of Dirac's…
Constructing observables that describe the localization of relativistic particles is an important foundational problem in relativistic quantum field theory (QFT). The description of localization in terms of single-time observables leads to…
Theorems (most notably by Hegerfeldt) prove that an initially localized particle whose time evolution is determined by a positive Hamiltonian will violate causality. We argue that this apparent paradox is resolved for a free particle…
We have previously shown (arXiv:1912.00033) that three approaches to relational quantum dynamics -- relational Dirac observables, the Page-Wootters formalism and quantum deparametrizations -- are equivalent. Here we show that this `trinity'…
A relation expressing the covariant transformation properties of a relativistic position operator is derived. This relation differs from the one existing in the literature expressing manifest covariance by some factor ordering. The relation…
I rigorously analyze a proposal, introduced by D.R.Terno, about a spatial localization observable for a Klein-Gordon massive real particle in terms of a Poincar\'e-covariant family of POVMs. I prove that these POVMs are actually a kinematic…
A common feature of reparametrization invariant theories is the difficulty involved in identifying an appropriate evolution parameter and in constructing a Hilbert space on states. Two well known examples of such theories are the…
This paper completes a previous work by constructing a class of positive-energy relativistic spatial localization observables in Minkowski spacetime within quantum field theory, using the stress-energy-momentum tensor smeared with suitable…
We put forward an interpretation of scalar quantum field theory as relativistic quantum mechanics by curing well known problems related to locality. A probabilistic interpretation of quantum field theory similar to quantum mechanics is…
The Newton-Wigner states and operator are widely accepted to provide an adequate notion of spatial localization of a particle in quantum field theory on a spacelike hypersurface. Replacing the spacelike with a timelike hypersurface, we…
Starting from the guiding principles of spacetime locality and operationalism, a general framework for a probabilistic description of nature is proposed. Crucially, no notion of time or metric is assumed, neither any specific physical…
The questions we raise in this letter are as follows: What is the most general representation of a quantum state at a single point in time? Can we adapt the current formalisms to situations where the order of quantum operations is…
In general relativity, the causal structure between events is dynamical, but it is definite and observer-independent; events are point-like and the membership of an event A in the future or past light-cone of an event B is an…
We investigate whether commutativity is necessary to represent relativistic locality for localization observables of relativistic quantum systems in Minkowski spacetime. A well known no-go theorem by Halvorson and Clifton shows that…
It is difficult to extract reliable criteria for causal locality from the limited ingredients found in textbook quantum theory. In the end, Bell humbly warned that his eponymous theorem was based on criteria that "should be viewed with the…
This note is an addendum to quant-ph/0507115. In that paper, I present a formalism for relativistic quantum mechanics in which the spacetime paths of particles are considered fundamental, reproducing the standard results of the traditional…
This work aims to shed some light on the meaning of the positive energy assumption in relativistic quantum theory and its relation to questions of localization of quantum systems. It is shown that the positive energy property of solutions…
In relational quantum dynamics, evolution emerges via the correlations between some system of interest and a clock system, which plays the role of a temporal reference frame. Their combined state satisfies a Wheeler-de Witt-like constraint…