Relativistic rotator. III. Contraction limits and experimental justification

Abstract

In this paper we give theoretical and experimental justification for the model of the quantum relativistic rotator (QRR) which was defined and analyzed in two preceding papers. We give purely theoretical arguments which involve the process of group contraction to show that the Hamilton operator for the QRR goes into the Hamilton operators for the structureless relativistic mass point and the nonrelativistic rotator in the elementary and nonrelativistic limits, respectively. We also give the experimental verification for the QRR by showing that the known meson resonances do form rotational bands.