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Volume 12: Pages 275-282, 1999
A Relativistic Enthalpy‐Momentum Wave Equation for Bosons and Fermions Moving in a Dynamic Fluid: A Unified Treatment for Bradyons and Tachyons
Héctor A. Múnera
Centro Internacional de Fisica and Departmento de Física, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, A.A. 84893, Bogotá D.C., Colombia
The possible existence of superluminal phenomena associated with photons, electromagnetic interactions, and neutrinos is a matter of great current interest. The theoretical analysis of such processes typically uses as a starting point the momentum‐energy relativistic equation that applies to noninteracting particles. However, actual propagation occurs in material media, or—in the case of stellar neutrinos—in a possibly dynamic vacuum. The more realistic situation of propagation of particles that exchange energy with the surrounding medium is explored in this paper. Based on some results of Tolman's, a Lorentz‐invariant enthalpy‐momentum scalar wave equation (EMWE) is formulated and generic solutions obtained. Two new nondispersive terms are reported. Superluminal speeds may appear when the particle transfers energy to the surroundings, thus avoiding the concept of negative rest mass. The standard Schrödinger‐Klein‐Gordon equation results as a particular case of the EMWE. An enthalpic Dirac‐like equation applicable to both fermions and bosons is presented, which is equivalent to a matrix EMWE, i.e., to a set of n = 2(2j + 1) scalar EMWEs, j being the particle's spin. The concept of an enthalpic wave‐packet containing two nondispersive terms is introduced.
Keywords: relativistic enthalpy‐momentum invariance, relativistic wave equations, Dirac relativistic equation for bosons and fermions, electromagnetic field equations, relativistic energy‐momentum invariance, Lorentz invariance, new solutions of Schrödinger‐Klein‐Gordon relativistic equation, superluminal propagation, negative mass energy, interactive vacuum
Received: June 11, 1998; Published online: December 15, 2008