Electrons and Photons: Fact not Fiction

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a relativistic description of charged particles in QED can be constructed by defining matter fields that recover particle modes at large times, challenging previous literature assertions.

Contribution

The authors construct matter fields in QED that recover particle modes at large times, establishing a relativistic particle description in QED.

Findings

Constructed matter fields recover particle modes at large times.

Established the existence of a relativistic charged particle description in QED.

Challenged previous literature claiming such a description was impossible.

Abstract

The particle Fock space of the matter fields in QED can be constructed using the free creation and annihilation operators. However, these particle operators are not, even at asymptotically large times, the modes of the matter fields that enter the QED Lagrangian. In this letter we construct the fields which do recover such particle modes at large times. We are thus able to demonstrate for the first time that, contrary to statements found in the literature, a relativistic description of charged particles in QED exists.