A realistic interpretation of the density matrix I: Basic concepts

Abstract

A realistic interpretation of Schroedinger and Dirac equations for density matrices is proposed, in which the difference between the position arguments of the density matrix is considered as an objective extra space dimension. "Particle" solutions are found, which are perfectly localized both in position space and in momentum space (the position and momentum operators commute in the density matrix representation); definitions for all observable quantities are given and the values associated to the "particle" solutions are the correct ones, both for the non-relativistic and the relativistic case. Finally, a non-linear interaction (the electromagnetic one) is introduced in an attempt to single out the "particle" solutions of the Dirac equation from all other solutions; the dynamical evolution of the electromagnetic field is described by the classical (unquantized) Maxwell equations.