# Comment on the “Maxwell Equations as the One-Photon Quantum Equation” by A. Gersten [Found. Phys. Lett. 12, pp. 291-298 (1999)] Submitted to “Foundation of Physics Letters”

## Abstract

We show that the Gersten derivation of Maxwell equations can be generalized. It actually leads to additional solutions of ‘$`S=1`$ equations’. They follow directly from previous considerations by Majorana, Oppenheimer, Weinberg and Ogievetskii and Polubarinov. Therefore, generalized Maxwell equations should be used as a guideline for proper interpretations of quantum theories.

preprint: EFUAZ FT-99-78    
In the paper  the author studied the matrix representation of the Maxwell equations, both the Faraday and Ampere laws and the Gauss law. His consideration is based on the equation (9)

$$\left(\frac{E^2}{c^2}\stackrel{}{𝐩}^{\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}}\right)\stackrel{}{𝚿}=\left(\frac{E}{c}I^{(3)}\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝐒}\right)\left(\frac{E}{c}I^{(3)}+\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝐒}\right)\stackrel{}{𝚿}\left(\begin{array}{c}p_x\\ p_y\\ p_z\end{array}\right)\left(\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝚿}\right)=0\text{Eq. (9) of ref. [1]}$$
(1)   
Furthermore, he claimed that the solutions to this equation should be found from the set

$`\left({\displaystyle \frac{E}{c}}I^{(3)}+\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝐒}\right)\stackrel{}{𝚿}=0\text{Eq. (10) of ref. [1]}`$ (2)   
$`\left(\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝚿}\right)=0\text{Eq. (11) of ref. [1]}`$ (3)   
Thus, Gersten concluded that the equation (9) is equivalent to the Maxwell equations (10,11). As he also correctly indicated, such a formalism for describing $`S=1`$ fields has been considered by several authors before. See, for instance, ; those authors mainly considered the dynamical Maxwell equations in the matrix form.

However, we straightforwardly note that the equation (9) of  is satisfied also under the choice<sup>*</sup><sup>*</sup>*We leave the analysis of possible functional non-linear (in general) dependence of $`\chi `$ and $`_\mu \chi `$ on the higher-rank tensor fields for future publications.

$`\left({\displaystyle \frac{E}{c}}I^{(3)}+\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝐒}\right)\stackrel{}{𝚿}=\stackrel{}{𝐩}\chi `$ (4)   
$`\left(\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝚿}\right)={\displaystyle \frac{E}{c}}\chi ,`$ (5)   
with some arbitrary scalar function $`\chi `$ at this stage. This is due to the fact thatSee the explicit form of the angular momentum matrices in Eq. (6) of the Gersten paper.

$$(\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝐒})^{jk}\stackrel{}{𝐩}^k=iϵ^{jik}p^ip^k0$$

(or after quantum operator substitutions $`\text{rot}\text{grad}\chi =0`$). Thus, the generalized coordinate-space Maxwell equations follow after the similar procedure as in :

$$\mathbf{}\times \stackrel{}{𝐄}=\frac{1}{c}\frac{\stackrel{}{𝐁}}{t}+\mathbf{}\mathrm{𝐼𝑚}\chi $$
(6)   
$$\mathbf{}\times \stackrel{}{𝐁}=\frac{1}{c}\frac{\stackrel{}{𝐄}}{t}+\mathbf{}\mathrm{𝑅𝑒}\chi $$
(7)   
$$\mathbf{}\stackrel{}{𝐄}=\frac{1}{c}\frac{}{t}\mathrm{𝑅𝑒}\chi $$
(8)   
$$\mathbf{}\stackrel{}{𝐁}=\frac{1}{c}\frac{}{t}\mathrm{𝐼𝑚}\chi .$$
(9)   
If one assumes that there are no monopoles, one may suggest that $`\chi (x)`$ is a real field and its derivatives play the role of charge and current densities. Thus, surprisingly, on using the Dirac-like procedureThat is to say, on the basis of the relativistic dispersion relations    
$$\left(E^2c^2\stackrel{}{𝐩}^2m^2c^4\right)\mathrm{\Psi }=0,\text{(1) of ref. }\text{[2]}.$$
of derivation of “free-space” relativistic quantum field equations, Gersten might in fact have come to the inhomogeneous Maxwell equations!<sup>§</sup><sup>§</sup>§One can also substitute $`(4\pi i\mathrm{}/c)\stackrel{}{𝐣}`$ and $`(4\pi i\mathrm{})\rho `$ in the right hand side of (2,3) of the present paper and obtain equations for the current and the charge density    $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{c}}\stackrel{}{\mathbf{}}\times \stackrel{}{𝐣}=0,`$  (10)   $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{c^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{}{𝐣}}{t}}+\stackrel{}{\mathbf{}}\rho =0,`$  (11)  which coincide with equations (13,17) of \[9b\]. The interesting question is: whether such defined $`\stackrel{}{𝐣}`$ and $`\rho `$ may be related to $`_\mu \chi `$. Furthermore, I am not aware of any proofs that the scalar field $`\chi (x)`$ should be firmly connected with the charge and current densities, so there is sufficient room for interpretation. For instance, its time derivative and gradient may also be interpreted as leading to the 4-vector potential. In this case, we need some mass/length parameter as in \[11a,d\]. Both these interpretations were present in the literature  (cf. also ).

Below we discuss only one aspect of the above-mentioned problem with additional scalar field and its derivatives in generalizations of the Maxwell formalism. It is connected with the concept of notoph of Ogievetskiĭ and Polubarinov (in the US journal literature it is known as the Kalb-Ramond field).In my opinion, Prof. S. Weinberg \[15, p.208\] confirmed this idea when considering a spin-0 4-vector field in his famous book. The related problem of misunderstandings of the Weinberg theorem $`BA=\lambda `$ is slightly discussed too; $`A`$ and $`B`$ are eigenvalues of angular momenta corresponding to certain representation of the Lorentz Group, $`\lambda `$ is the helicity \[5, p.B885\].

Actually, after perfoming the Bargmann-Wigner procedure of description of higher-spin massive particles by totally symmetric spinor of higher rank, we derive the following equations for spin 1:

$`_\alpha F^{\alpha \mu }+{\displaystyle \frac{m}{2}}A^\mu =0,`$ (12)   
$`2mF^{\mu \nu }=^\mu A^\nu ^\nu A^\mu ,`$ (13)   
In the meantime, in the textbooks, the latter set is usually written as

$`_\alpha F^{\alpha \mu }+m^2A^\mu =0,`$ (14)   
$`F^{\mu \nu }=^\mu A^\nu ^\nu A^\mu ,`$ (15)   
The set (14,15) is obtained from (12,13) after the normalization change $`A_\mu 2mA_\mu `$ or $`F_{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{2m}F_{\mu \nu }`$. Of course, one can investigate other sets of equations with different normalization of the $`F_{\mu \nu }`$ and $`A_\mu `$ fields. Are all these sets of equations equivalent? – I asked in a recent series of my papers.

Ogievetskiĭ and Polubarinov argued that in the massless limit “the system of $`2s+1`$ states is no longer irreducible; it decomposes and describes a set of different particles with zero mass and helicities $`\pm s`$, $`\pm (s1)`$,…$`\pm 1`$, $`0`$ (for integer spin and if parity is conserved; the situation is analogous for half-integer spins).” Thus, they did in fact contradict the Weinberg theorem. But, in  I presented explicit forms of 4-vector potentials and of parts of the antisymmetric tensor (AST) field and concluded that the question should be solved on the basis of the analysis of normalization issues. Here they are in the momentum representation:

$$u^\mu (𝐩,+1)=\frac{N}{\sqrt{2}m}\left(\begin{array}{c}p_r\\ m+\frac{p_1p_r}{E_p+m}\\ im+\frac{p_2p_r}{E_p+m}\\ \frac{p_3p_r}{E_p+m}\end{array}\right),u^\mu (𝐩,1)=\frac{N}{\sqrt{2}m}\left(\begin{array}{c}p_l\\ m+\frac{p_1p_l}{E_p+m}\\ im+\frac{p_2p_l}{E_p+m}\\ \frac{p_3p_l}{E_p+m}\end{array}\right),$$
(16)   
$$u^\mu (𝐩,0)=\frac{N}{m}\left(\begin{array}{c}p_3\\ \frac{p_1p_3}{E_p+m}\\ \frac{p_2p_3}{E_p+m}\\ m+\frac{p_3^2}{E_p+m}\end{array}\right),u^\mu (𝐩,0_t)=\frac{N}{m}\left(\begin{array}{c}E_p\\ p_1\\ p_2\\ p_3\end{array}\right)$$
(17)   
and

$`𝐁^{(+)}(𝐩,+1)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{iN}{2\sqrt{2}m}}\left(\begin{array}{c}ip_3\\ p_3\\ ip_r\end{array}\right)=+e^{i\alpha _1}𝐁^{()}(𝐩,1),`$ (18)   
$`𝐁^{(+)}(𝐩,0)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{iN}{2m}}\left(\begin{array}{c}p_2\\ p_1\\ 0\end{array}\right)=e^{i\alpha _0}𝐁^{()}(𝐩,0),`$ (19)   
$`𝐁^{(+)}(𝐩,1)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{iN}{2\sqrt{2}m}}\left(\begin{array}{c}ip_3\\ p_3\\ ip_l\end{array}\right)=+e^{i\alpha _{+1}}𝐁^{()}(𝐩,+1),`$ (20)   
and

$`𝐄^{(+)}(𝐩,+1)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{iN}{2\sqrt{2}m}}\left(\begin{array}{c}E_p\frac{p_1p_r}{E_p+m}\\ iE_p\frac{p_2p_r}{E_p+m}\\ \frac{p_3p_r}{E+m}\end{array}\right)=+e^{i\alpha _1^{}}𝐄^{()}(𝐩,1),`$ (21)   
$`𝐄^{(+)}(𝐩,0)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{iN}{2m}}\left(\begin{array}{c}\frac{p_1p_3}{E_p+m}\\ \frac{p_2p_3}{E_p+m}\\ E_p\frac{p_3^2}{E_p+m}\end{array}\right)=e^{i\alpha _0^{}}𝐄^{()}(𝐩,0),`$ (22)   
$`𝐄^{(+)}(𝐩,1)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{iN}{2\sqrt{2}m}}\left(\begin{array}{c}E_p\frac{p_1p_l}{E_p+m}\\ iE_p\frac{p_2p_l}{E_p+m}\\ \frac{p_3p_l}{E_p+m}\end{array}\right)=+e^{i\alpha _{+1}^{}}𝐄^{()}(𝐩,+1),`$ (23)   
where we denoted a normalization factor appearing in the definitions of the potentials (and/or in the definitions of the physical fields through potentials) as $`N`$ (which can, of course, be chosen in arbitrary way, not necessarily as to be proportional to $`m`$)The possibility of appearance of additional mass factors in commutation relations was also analyzed by us in the recent series of papers. and $`p_{r,l}=p_1\pm ip_2`$. Thus, we find that in the massless limit we may have in general divergent parts of 4-potentials and AST field, thus prohibiting to set $`m=0`$ in the equations (12-15). They are usually removed by “electrodynamic” gauge transformations. But, it was shown that the Lagrangian constructed from the $`(1,0)(0,1)`$ (or antisymmetric tensor) fields admits another kind of “gauge” transformations, namely $`F_{\mu \nu }F_{\mu \nu }+_\nu \mathrm{\Lambda }_\mu _\mu \mathrm{\Lambda }_\nu `$), with some “gauge” vector functions $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_\mu `$. This becomes the origin of the possibility of obtaining the quantum states (particles?) of different helicities in both the $`(1/2,1/2)`$ and $`(1,0)(0,1)`$ representations.

In our formulation of generalized Maxwell equations these in-general divergent terms can be taken into account explicitly, thus giving additional terms in (6-9). As suggested in  they may be applied to explanations of several cosmological puzzles. The detailed analysis of contradictions between the Weinberg theorem and the Ogievetskiĭ-Polubarinov-Kalb-Ramond conclusion (and also discussions of ) will be given in a separate publication. Here, I would only like to mention few assumptions, under which Weinberg derived his famous theorem:

* The derivation is based on the analysis of the proper Lorentz transformations only. The discrete symmetry operations of the full Poincare Group (which, for instance, may lead to the change of the sign of the energy) have not been considered there.
* The derivation assumes the particular choice of the coordinate frame, namely $`p_{1,2}=0`$ and $`p_3=|𝐩|`$.<sup>\**</sup><sup>\**</sup>\**As one can see, unpolarized classical $`𝐄`$ and $`𝐁`$ depend indeed on the choice of the coordinate system, Eq. (19,22).
* The derivation does not assume that the antisymmetric tensor field is related to 4-vector fields by certain derivative operator.

Finally, the intrinsic angular momentum operator of the electromagnetic field (which can be found on the basis of the Noether theorem) contain the coefficient functions which belong to different representations of the Lorentz Group, $`\stackrel{}{𝐒}\stackrel{}{𝐄}\times \stackrel{}{𝐀}`$ and it acts in the Fock space . Furthermore, the condition (35) $`W^\mu =kp^\mu `$ is not the only condition which can be imposed for massless particles. Namely, as stressed in \[15c\] the Pauli-Lubanski vector may be a space-like vector in this case, what would correspond to “infinite spin” representation.

Finally, we would like to add some words to the Dirac derivation of equations (30-33) of the Gersten paper and their analysis. We derived the formula (for spin 1)

$$\left[\stackrel{}{𝐒}^i(\stackrel{}{𝐒}\stackrel{}{𝐩})\right]^{jm}=\left[\stackrel{}{𝐩}^iI^{jm}i[\stackrel{}{𝐒}\times \stackrel{}{𝐩}]^{i,jm}p^m\delta ^{ij}\right],$$
(24)   
with $`i`$ being the vector index and $`j,m`$ being the matrix indices. Hence, from the equation ($`k=1`$)

$$\left\{kp_t+S_xp_x+S_yp_y+S_zp_z\right\}𝝍=0,$$
(25)   
multiplying subsequently by $`S_x`$, $`S_y`$ and $`S_z`$ one can obtain in the case $`S=1`$

$$\left\{p_x+S_xp_tiS_yp_z+iS_zp_y\right\}^{jm}𝝍^m(\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝝍})\delta ^{xj}=0,$$
(26)   
$$\left\{kp_y+S_yp_tiS_zp_x+iS_xp_z\right\}^{jm}𝝍^m(\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝝍})\delta ^{yj}=0,$$
(27)   
$$\left\{kp_z+S_zp_tiS_xp_y+iS_yp_x\right\}^{jm}𝝍^m(\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝝍})\delta ^{zj}=0.$$
(28)   
One can see from the above that the equations (31-33) of ref.  can be considered as the consequence of the equation (30) and additional “transversality condition” $`\stackrel{}{𝐩}\stackrel{}{𝝍}=0`$ in the case of the spin-1 consideration. So, it is not surprising that they are equivalent to the complete set of Maxwell’s equations. They are obtained after multiplications by corresponding $`𝐒`$ matrices. But, the crucial mathematical problem with such a multiplication is that the $`𝐒`$ matrices for boson spins are singular, $`\text{det}S_x=\text{det}S_y=\text{det}S_z0`$, which makes the above procedure doubtful<sup>††</sup><sup>††</sup>††After the analysis of the literature I learnt that, unfortunately, a similar procedure has been applied in the derivation of many higher-spin equations without proper explanation and precaution. and leaves room for possible generalizations. Moreover, the right hand side of the equation (30) of  may also be different from zero according to our analysis above.

The conclusion of my paper is: unfortunately, the possible consequences following from Gersten’s equation (9) have not been explored in full; on this basis we would like to correct his conclusion and his claim in the abstract of . – It is the generalized Maxwell equations (many versions of which have been proposed during the last 100 years, see, for instance, ) that should be used as a guideline for proper interpretations of quantum theories.

###### Acknowledgements.

I greatly appreciate discussions with Profs. A. Chubykalo, L. Horwitz and A. Gersten, and the useful information from Profs. D. Ahluwalia, A. F. Pashkov, E. Recami and M. Sachs. Zacatecas University, México, is thanked for awarding the professorship. This work has been partly supported by the Mexican Sistema Nacional de Investigadores and the Programa de Apoyo a la Carrera Docente.