Name: Resolving the Dirac-Sommerfeld Paradox via the Path to Quantum Computers
Start: 2024-08-24T09:00:00-07:00
End: 2024-08-24T10:00:00-07:00

In 1916 Arnold Sommerfeld (Heisenberg's Ph.D. advisor) derived a relativistic version of the Bohr hydrogen atom (1913): both Newtonian particle models. It correctly accounted for the observed "fine splitting" in hydrogen spectral lines. A decade later, P.A.M. Dirac (1928) derived the first relativistic wavefunction model of the hydrogen atom by incorporating the spin matrices of Pauli (1924)). The Dirac equation also predicted the existence of antimatter (anti-electrons or positrons). This created a paradox: How could Sommerfeld possibly have obtained the correct spectrum without including spin? Surprisingly, this paradox has remained contentious, with most physicists assuming it was just some kind of lucky mistake. Other luminaries, such as Heisenberg and Weinberg, suggested that the resolution might lie in the underlying dynamical symmetries. We take a more contrarian view: that Sommerfeld did not make a mistake so, there is no paradox. Rather, we examine what we call his Über Relativistic approximation. Finally, we show that by slightly adjusting Sommerfeld's ad hoc quantization rules, we arrive at the correct quantum rules that underlie the "infinite parallelism" sought-after in QC.

Taposh Roy

Silicon Valley Quantum & Advanced Computing Group

Silicon Valley Quantum Computing Group

Technology

Cloud Computing

High Scalability Computing

Statistical Computing

Artificial Intelligence

Machine Learning

Quantum Computing

Quantum Physics

Quantum Mechanics

Data Science

Dr. Neil J. Gunther, M.Sc. (Applied Mathematics), Ph.D. (Theoretical Physics), SMIEEE, SMACM, AMS, APS, is a distinguished scientist and founder of Performance Dynamics, established in 1994. With a remarkable career that includes contributions to NASA-JPL's Voyager and Galileo missions, groundbreaking work at Xerox PARC, and advanced technology development at Pyramid-Siemens, Dr. Gunther has significantly influenced computational performance and theoretical physics.
He is the author of several influential books on performance analysis and capacity planning, which can be found at [Performance Dynamics Books](http://www.perfdynamics.com/books.html). In 2008, Dr. Gunther was honored with the prestigious A. A. Michelson Award for his contributions to the field.
Dr. Gunther's academic journey is equally noteworthy. He completed his M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics under the mentorship of Prof. Christie Eliezer, a renowned Sri Lankan mathematician and one of Paul Dirac's few research students. This unique academic lineage has profoundly shaped Dr. Gunther's approach to theoretical physics and performance dynamics. He often shares intriguing stories from Prof. Eliezer about Dirac, including discussions on the Sommerfeld-Dirac paradox.



Silicon Valley Quantum & Advanced Computing Group

Resolving the Dirac-Sommerfeld Paradox via the Path to Quantum Computers

Silicon Valley Quantum & Advanced Computing Group

Details

Members are also interested in