PARADOXICAL KINEMATIC ACAUSALITY IN WEINBERG’S EQUATIONS FOR MASSLESS PARTICLES OF ARBITRARY SPIN

20 July 1992

journal article
Published by World Scientific Pub Co Pte Ltd in Modern Physics Letters A

Vol. 7 (22) , 1967-1974
https://doi.org/10.1142/s0217732392001683

Abstract

Weinberg’s equations for massless free particles of arbitrary spin are found to have acausal solutions. On the other hand, the m→0 limit of Joos-Weinberg’s finite-mass wave equations satisfied by (j, 0)⊕(0, j) j) covariant spinors are free from all kinematic acausality. This paradoxical situation is resolved and corrected by carefully studying the transition from the classical group theoretical arguments to quantum mechanically interpreted equations.

Keywords

WAVE EQUATION
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION
CLASSICAL MECHANICS
QUANTUM MECHANICS
SATISFIABILITY
MATHEMATICAL MODEL
CLASSICAL GROUPS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
GROUP THEORY

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