arXiv subjects

N. Redington

Publications and source records attributed to N. Redington.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2011

On the Apparent Superluminal Motion of a Damped Gaussian Pulse

Alicki has demonstrated that a travelling Gaussian pulse subject to damping is indistinguishable from an undamped pulse moving with greater speed; such an effect could create the illusion of a pulse moving faster than light. In this note, an alternative derivation of the same result is presented. However, it is unlikely that this particular illusion could explain the superluminal neutrino-velocities reported by OPERA.

physics.gen-ph↗

arXiv2007

A Simple Five-Dimensional Wave Equation for a Dirac Particle

A first-order relativistic wave equation is constructed in five dimensions. Its solutions are eight-component spinors, which are interpreted as single-particle fermion wave functions in four-dimensional spacetime. Use of a ``cylinder condition'' (the removal of explicit dependence on the fifth coordinate) reduces each eight-component solution to a pair of degenerate four-component spinors obeying the Dirac equation. This five-dimensional method is used to obtain solutions for a free particle and for a particle moving in the Coulomb potential. It is shown that, under the cylinder condition, the results are the same as those from the Dirac equation. Without the cylinder condition, on the other hand, the equation predicts some interesting new phenomena. It implies the existence of a scalar potential, and for zero-mass particles it leads to a four-dimensional fermionic equation analogous to Maxwell's equation with sources.

quant-ph↗

arXiv1997

On the Significance of the Fifth Coordinate in Wesson's Version of Kaluza-Klein Theory

It is argued that the fifth coordinate should correspond to an intensive parameter rather than to rest-mass as originally proposed by Wesson.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1997

Literal Rippling of Spacetime

The metric perturbation tensor corresponding to a transverse oscillation of spacetime is composed of products of cosines. When averaged over many wavelengths, such a metric may look either Minkowskian or Euclidean at large scales, depending on the amplitude and wavelength of the oscillation.

gr-qc↗