On a Seldom Oversight in Fermi's Calculations: Seventy Years Later

TL;DR

This paper revisits a historical oversight in Fermi's 1954 lecture notes on quantum mechanics, clarifying the correct calculation for a Dirac free particle and providing a bibliography for further context.

Contribution

It identifies and corrects a mistake in Fermi's original calculations, offering a clearer derivation and historical perspective.

Findings

Corrected the Dirac free particle calculation

Clarified Fermi's original mistake

Provided relevant bibliographic references

Abstract

We discuss an unfortunate mistake, for a Dirac free particle, in the last Fermi lecture notes on quantum mechanics, in a course given at the University of Chicago in winter and spring of 1954. As is demonstrated, the correct result can be obtained by a simple matrix multiplication. An attempt to collect a relevant bibliography is made.