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From: DAM%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: Quantum Field Theory
Message-ID: <400@sri-arpa.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 15-Jul-85 13:59:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.400
Posted: Mon Jul 15 13:59:00 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 20:57:07 EDT
Lines: 31


	It is interesting that you pointed out that the wave
function is not distributed in space.  I find this to be one
of the most disturbing properties of quantum mechanics.  The
wave function is distributed in configuration space, i.e. the
space of all possible CONFIGURATIONS of the system.  For classical
n-particaal systems this configuration space has 3n dimensions.

(Footnote: Actually, as was pointed out, many representations of the
wave function are possible.  The wave function can be thought of as a
point in a Hilbert space and the Hilbert space can have different
spectral representations corrosponding to different sets of operators.
But I like to think in terms of configuration space because it allows
me to switch between classical and quantum-mechanical thinking.)

	What bothers me is that I don't fully understand the
relationship between a wave function distributed over configuration
space and real-live space-time.  Given a wave function distributed
over configuration space how can one talk about "events" which
occur at particular points of "space-time"?  It seems to me that
the physical theory should account for events which accur in a
SINGLE FOUR DIMENSIONAL SPACE-TIME MANIFOLD.  But I don't see how
to define such a manifold in terms of quantum field theory (but then
again I don't really understand quantum field theory).

	As a somewhat sophisticated non-physicist it seems to me
that this question would be important for understanding the
relationship between quantum field theory and gravitation.  If
one could define a single four-dimensional "causal manifold" in
terms of quantum field theory one might see why such a manifold
is curved.