INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING EugoPean JOURNAL OF PHYSICS Eur. J. Phys, 28 (2007) NI-N6 doi: 10,1088/0143-0807/28/1/NO3 NOTE A note on the suppression and restoration of constants in physical equations C Vrejoiu Deparunent of Physics. University of Bucharest, PO Box MG-I1, Bucharest, Romania E-mail: cviejoiu@yahoo.com Received 5 September 2006, in final form 16 October 2006 Published 11 December 2006 Online at stacks.iop.org/EJP/28/N1 Abstract In order to restore physical constants in equations expressed in different systems of units, a simple procedure is introduced, taking into account consistently the correspondence between the symbols representing physical quantities and the pairs comprising numerical values and unit symbols. Applications to the frequently used atomic and natural unit systems are presented To simplify calculations one frequently sets the values of some fundamental physical constants equal to unity, For a clearer physical interpretation or didactic reasons, sometimes it is necessary to restore these constants both in the equations and their solutions. This topic is less treated in most textbooks. One can find a general theoretical exposition on this subject, for example, in [1]. In the present note, we introduce simple prescriptions for restoring the constants in any expression, with particular emphasis on the unified treatment of the various electromagnetic unit systems. (1) Let us consider a system of units labelled by @. A physic: the given system by the correspondence X — (Xi, Xa}. quantity X is specified in where the first element of the pair is a real number and the second one stands for the unit used in measuring X. In the same way, we can write for X,, in a system of units the correspondence Xo — {Xop. Xp} interrelating the units of the same physical quantity X from the two systems a and f such that Xp = XaXap- a) 0143-0807/07/010001+06$30.00 (©) 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK NtN2 Note By writing the successive correspondences X — {Xa Ka} > (XoXags Xp} > (XaXapX por Rals one obtains a simple and natural relation XpoXop = 1 Consider now a physical equation written in the a-system as Fee Xi) = 0 The corresponding equation in the 6 system is obtained replacing Xq by Xp X gq. resulting Xe-2 eX (x) om) ag ke7keXe pay yc oy) FOX XP) =O TEM FO (KR, XG") = 0. (2) In order to obtain a restoration procedure suitable for the large variety of electromagnetic units, we use the ‘system free” expressions of Maxwell’s equations in vacuum. (2.31: i 1aB vx B= 185 VxE=-—-—, V-B=0, co co or where the positive parameters €, sZo, ¢y are constants depending on the system of units, satisfying the relation (2) c being the light speed in vacuum. For the sake of completeness, we also give the ‘system free” definitions of the electromagnetic potentials, 4-potential, energy and momentum densities with their corresponding current densities, and the Lorentz force: laa B=VxA, E=-vo- » y= (20,4); co Ot cs ie, & Wem = 5 ( SE? + —B S=—(E x B); = Ho Ho & Gem (E x B), 0 q Fem = E+ 4(v x B). co The Maxwell equations and all their consequences are obtained in the common electromagnetic unit systems by the following substitutions: Sl:co> 1, > 6, lo —> Hos Se 5 . 3) MKSQuiray 60> 1, > Hl Are Ho: 2 4m eui@>l 3 3 3 é ) emu : co > I, 20a eo Ho > 4m: ' ane Gauss : & —> —. jig 4, ee: ‘0 an Ho 0 c (5) Heaviside :& —> 1, fia —> 1, co where eo and j1o are given in equations (3) by their well-known values in SI, and ¢ is given in equations (4) and (5) by its value in egs units. In the present note we use the label ‘ f” for any of the unit systems listed in equations (3)-(5). referred from now on as a “free unit system’.Note, NB (3) In the following, we present examples for two unit systems frequently used in the physics literature—the atomic and the natural systems of units. (a) The atomic system of units (@ = a) is imroduced by taking the following values for the mass and electric charge of the electron, and the reduced Planck’s constant: (me) = 1. a= 1, (i) = 1 (6) Considering the relation between this system and the free unit system (f), (me) Mya = 1. (e) Ora (i) MyaliyTjg =1 q) it remains open the possibility for an arbitrary choice of two out of the three constants co. , Ho. Let us take (r€0)a (Ho/47)a = (8) such that (co), = (c)a following equation (2). With this choice, the atomic system of units is defined as an unrationalized system. The Maxwell equations in these atomic units are expressed in the same way as in the Gauss unit system. Particularly, the Coulomb law is written in the atomic unit system as (Qa (Fy = Ss. 0) (R), By writing equation (1) as (Oa = Os X jar ‘and comparing equation (9) with the Coulomb law written as a system free equation, (2) y= oe, (4rr€) ¢ (RV; and considering the obvious relation Fy, = M yal faTj, . one gets (Are) LGM ja Tj QGa (10) From equations (7) and (10) one obtains the transformation factors Mya, L ya, Tra and Q ja used in equation (1) for the mass, length, time and electric charge units for passing from an original system f to the atomic system a: 1 a ee ee (me) y Ws 4 mee f Tr =(") - fe e( wi () Oua a (0 These are the transformation factors for the fundamental units. In the case of other units, the corresponding factors result from any known relation between the different parameters. All the operations are simple applications of dimensional analysis. For instance, the velocity factor V/, is given by Lae Via = a) 12 Ts (2), ve value (c), of the light speed in atomic units is obtained: aby and from this equation the numeric: he (a= OsV ju = (=) ~ 137, “ls 1 owNote Asan application implying units from electrodynamics and quantum physics, we consider the Dirac equation for an electron (electric charge —e) in an external electromagnetic field given by scalar () and vectorial (A) potentials, This equation written in atomic units reads a (i +-A- ‘) W(x) = 0. (atomic units), c where @ = ya, and y" are the Dirac matrices. Writing this equation as a ‘system free” equation (13) Vie) Wx) = 0. ' we have to specify the transformation factors A ;, for the electromagnetic potentials. Let us consider the time independent equation for the vectorial potential in the Lorenz gauge, written both in atomic units and as a ‘system free” equation: An i i. =~ ( i) | (4) (4) es) eo), From equation (1) and the first expression from above (14), it results, | Ora (1. Qra (Are ) =H (=) apy. p Ey \ toc J; Ta Asad yAy fa Using equation (2) we can write Introducing this expression in equation (13) we obtain (id + 12 Ore co Vea 1 Following equations (8), (12) and (11), we obtain the final form of the ‘system free” Dirac equation for the electron: (11a+£4—me) Ws =O. (5) j co Related to the Dirac equation, we can see how the expression for a physical parameter may be translated from atomic units to any other system. Let us consider the example of the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron He = —(8e/4c)o written in atomic units. The transformation factor .M ,, for the magnetic moment is obtained comparing its definitions in the two systems! : =i il i m= (4 firxaa ) M, = (55 forx oa x) I - 0 Miu My = bi 0n(z fr x id's) = LQ (2) My. ; 2 ¢ Writing * Or, more simple, comparing the expressions for the magnetic moment of a current loop: (M)jc = ((1/e)I S), (My; = (eo) 81NS one gets i) Mra = (2) Lia Qs Tt results (Hed = May (Heda = 1 1 8 A va “)=(5) LjeVieQja foa)e (su,),¢--* Gea) ee aa) ae neg being the Dirac spin operator. (b) The natural system of units (oc = n) is introduced by the following values of the reduced Planck constant and the speed of light in vacuum: (i), =1 (On (16) By expressing equations (16) in ‘system free’ form, one obtains (i) My 3, Ty) (pL nT a7) The choice (41 60)n = (io /4)u = (18) such that (Con = (On = 1, corresponds to the introduction of an unrationalized natural system of units. With this choice, together with equations (16), one unit remains undefined. Take, for example, a given mass mo as the natural unit of mass, (m9), = 1, such that (m0) M yn = (19) From equations (17) and (19) one obtains 1 moc moc? My = a Lm=(—-)- Ty = 5 (mo) : ( h ) i ( hi ) The factor Lyy = 1/L yn = (h/moc), is the value of the Compton length associated to the particle of mass imp. As in the case of atomic units, from the choice of (é)), one obtains the equation similar to (10): (6) (Lig Mju Tin Qin = be From equation (20) it results the natural value of the electron charge: and we have (20) - eo a 1 con= (Seige) = (Se) =v VAréoic } vhe/ ; 137 As an illustration, we also consider the Dirac equation for the electron in an electromagnetic field in the simplest natural form choosing mo = me: (id +eA — 1) W(x) =0 (natural units) 1) The equation for the vector potential in the natural units AA=—42j.Ne Note Comparing this equation with the ‘system free’ equation (14), we obtain , -(* #2) tie ( ) i co Jy Lm \mecove/; Writing equation (21) as fo (Gold + Qin ned - ') vr f one finally obtains equation (15). If we chose (4), = (doa 1 and (€0)n rather than equations (8) and (18), (Fiodn then the rationalized atomic and natural systems of units are introduced. It is not difficult to see that in these cases all the transformation factors are obtained from the factors corresponding to the unrationalized systems by the substitutions Are > &, Ho/4x > jo. Although in the present note the discussion is limited to quantum physical systems with electromagnetic interactions, the procedure can be casily extended to a wider field of application: References [1] Desloge E 1984 Am. J. Phys. $2 312 [2] Leung P'T 2004 Evo: J. Phys, 28 NI [3] Vrejoiu C 2004 Eur J. Phys. 25 L37