arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G. Longhi.
The locality hypothesis is generally considered necessary for the study of the kinematics of non-inertial systems in special relativity. In this paper we discuss this hypothesis, showing the necessity of an improvement, in order to get a more clear understanding of the various concepts involved, like coordinate velocity and standard velocity of light. Concrete examples are shown, where these concepts are discussed.
In this paper a set of canonical collective variables is defined for a classical Klein-Gordon field and the problem of the definition of a set of canonical relative variables is discussed. This last point is approached by means of a harmonic analysis is momentum space. This analysis shows that the relative variables can be defined if certain conditions are fulfilled by the field configurations. These conditions are expressed by the vanishing of a set of conserved quantities, referred to as supertranslations since as canonical observables they generate a set of canonical transformations whose algebra is the same as that which arises in the study of the asymptotic behaviour of the metric of an isolated system in General Relativity.
A canonical realization of the BMS (Bondi-Metzner-Sachs) algebra is given on the phase space of the classical real Klein-Gordon field . By assuming the finiteness of the generators of the Poincaré group, it is shown that a countable set of conserved quantities exists (supertranslations); this set transforms under a particular Lorentz representation, which is uniquely determined by the requirement of having an invariant four-dimensional subspace, which corresponds to the Poincaré translations. This Lorentz representation is infinite-dimensional, non unitary, reducible and indecomposable. Its representation space is studied in some detail. It determines the structure constants of the infinite-dimensional canonical algebra of the Poincaré generators together with the infinite set of the new conserved quantities. It is shown that this algebra is isomorphic with that of the BMS group.