Thursday, June 15, 2017

quantum field theory - What's a particle anyway?


I always thought that a particle is an eigenvector of P2=H2P2 with an isolated eigenvalue. In other words, a necessary condition for φ to be a particle is that P2|φ=m2|φ

and dE(μ2)=δ(μ2m2)dμ2+dσ(μ2)


My problem is that the answer Particle/Pole correspondence in QFT Green's functions seems to suggest that a particle is an isolated eigenvalue of H, not P2. An isolated eigenvalue of H cannot be an isolated eigenvalue of P2, because E(p)2=p2+m2

is continuously connected to E(0)2=m2.


Therefore, I can frame my question as follows: in order for φ to be a particle, should it be an isolated eigenvalue of P2, or H? or neither?




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