Quaternionic scalar field in the real Hilbert space

Abstract

Using the complex Klein–Gordon field as a model, we quantize the quaternionic scalar field in the real Hilbert space. The Lagrangian formulation has accordingly been obtained, as well as the hamiltonian formulation, and the energy and charge operators. Conversely to the complex case, the quaternionic quantization admits two quantization schemes, concerning either two or four components. Therefore, the quaternionic field permits a richer structure of states, if compared to the complex scalar field case. Moreover, the quaternionic theory admits as a further novel feature a non-associative algebraic structure in their complex components, something not observed in the complex case.