"Why was the discovery of the ... so important for the physics of the 1920s and 30s? The answer is manifold. The Dirac equation provided a relativistic description of spin ½ particles and in particular of the electron. In doing so, it gave a relativistic description of spin and opened the way for the application of group theory to the description of particles of arbitrary spin. The reinterpretation of the Dirac equation as a field equation that followed from Dirac's theory of holes was decisive in the conceptual transformation of single particle theory to many particle (quantum field) theory. The resulting quantum electrodynamics of spin ½ particles, refined by two generations of theoretical work, is the best theory we have. Although it is an approximation since it does not include the effects of weak and strong interactions it has survived many stringent experimental tests when applied to electrons and s."
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People from New York (state)Physicists from the United StatesPrinceton University facultyYale University alumniYale University faculty
Original Language: English
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(quote from p. 95)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Wightman
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Arthur Wightman
(March 30, 1922 – January 13, 2013) was an American mathematical physicist, known for the .
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