Nonlinear PDE Models in Semi-relativistic Quantum Physics

Abstract We present the self-consistent Pauli equation, a semi-relativistic model for charged spin- 1 / 2 1/2 particles with self-interaction with the electromagnetic field. The Pauli equation arises as the O ⁢ ( 1 / c ) O(1/c) approximation of the relativistic Dirac equation. The fully relativistic self-consistent model is the Dirac–Maxwell equation where the description of spin and the magnetic field arises naturally. In the non-relativistic setting, the correct self-consistent equation is the Schrödinger–Poisson equation which does not describe spin and the magnetic field and where the self-interaction is with the electric field only. The Schrödinger–Poisson equation also arises as the mean field limit of the 𝑁-body Schrödinger equation with Coulomb interaction. We propose that the Pauli–Poisson equation arises as the mean field limit N → ∞ N\to\infty of the linear 𝑁-body Pauli equation with Coulomb interaction where one has to pay extra attention to the fermionic nature of the Pauli equation. We present the semiclassical limit of the Pauli–Poisson equation by the Wigner method to the Vlasov equation with Lorentz force coupled to the Poisson equation which is also consistent with the hierarchy in 1 / c 1/c of the self-consistent Vlasov equation. This is a non-trivial extension of the groundbreaking works by Lions & Paul and Markowich & Mauser, where we need methods like magnetic Lieb–Thirring estimates.