Refine
Document Type
- Article (2)
Has Fulltext
- yes (2)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (2) (remove)
Institute
- Physik (2) (remove)
The meaning of a recently proposed formalism for quantization of interacting fields is discussed by studying the consequences of the time-dependent unitary transformation which is essential for this approach. It turns out that non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics in dipole approximation may serve as a useful, although rather singular, example for this method. In the relativistic case a different point of view is suggested in order to avoid inconsistent interpretation. It is further possible to give arguments for a reasonable choice of the unitary transformation concerned.
The often discussed question concerning the energy-momentum tensor of the electromagnetic field in matter can be answered using NOETHER'S theorem. The separation of the electromagnetic system from the mechanical system introduced here leads to the asymmetric expression for the energy momentum tensor. From covariance with respect to scale transformations one further concludes that the trace of the energy-momentum tensor vanishes.