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The uncertainty of the reference frame in quantum mechanics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2008

H. C. Corben
Affiliation:
Trinity CollegeCambridge

Extract

It is shown that, if account is taken of the uncertainty of position and momentum of the reference origin with respect to which observations are made, the self-energy and transverse self-energy of the electron become finite and the quantum theory is considerably modified for high-energy electrons and quanta.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge Philosophical Society 1939

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References

* Pryce, , Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 168 (1938), 389401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

* Cf. Heitler, , Quantum theory of radiation (Oxford, 1936), p. 76, equation (19).Google Scholar

* Moreover, a point electron with a definite position relative to G is replaced by a Gaussian distribution with probable error α−½ relative to P. This charge distribution is equivalent to a spherical one of radius α−½, and it seems natural to take this as the classical electron radius.

* Heitler, ibid. p. 31, equation (15).

* Heitler, ibid. p. 51, equation (48).

* Heitler, ibid. p. 183, equation (23).