2008/09/10 by Gerald E. Marsh, Marsh, Gerald E. · 1 citation
Mathematics · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #81T18 #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Biofield Effects and Biophysics #FOS: Physical sciences #Mathematical Physics (math-ph) #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #math-ph #math.MP #msc:81T18
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0809.1877
Some additions and changes have been made to clarify the discussion. 14 pages, 2 figures
openalex publication_date 2008/09/10 · arxiv created 2008/11/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The assumption that the vacuum is the minimum energy state, invariant under unitary transformations, is fundamental to quantum field theory. However, the assertion that the conservation of charge implies that the equal time commutator of the charge density and its time derivative vanish for two spatially separated points is inconsistent with the requirement that the vacuum be the lowest energy state. Yet, for quantum field theory to be gauge invariant, this commutator must vanish. This essay explores how this conundrum is resolved in quantum electrodynamics.