Quantum Mechanics in the Geometry of Space-Time

Book excerpt: This book continues the fundamental work of Arnold Sommerfeld and David Hestenes formulating theoretical physics in terms of Minkowski space-time geometry. We see how the standard matrix version of the Dirac equation can be reformulated in terms of a real space-time algebra, thus revealing a geometric meaning for the “number i” in quantum mechanics. Next, it is examined in some detail how electroweak theory can be integrated into the Dirac theory and this way interpreted in terms of space-time geometry. Finally, some implications for quantum electrodynamics are considered. The presentation of real quantum electromagnetism is expressed in an addendum. The book covers both the use of the complex and the real languages and allows the reader acquainted with the first language to make a step by step translation to the second one.