The Dirac Sea Revisited: Negative Energy, Vacuum Structure, and Antiparticles in the ψ₀–OCM
This paper presents a foundational reinterpretation of the Dirac sea within the ψ₀-OCM (Osborne Cosmological Model), a redistribution-based framework in which physical structure emerges through stabilization of underlying redistribution dynamics rather than through occupation of pre-existing energy states. Negative-energy solutions of the Dirac equation are reinterpreted as redistribution directions toward ψ₀ reintegration rather than as physical states requiring filling. Within this framework, the vacuum is modeled as an active redistribution medium governed by boundary-locking and detachment admissibility, eliminating the need for an infinite filled sea or ad hoc subtraction of vacuum energy. Antiparticles arise naturally as stabilized, boundary-locked excitations with reversed redistribution orientation, without invoking hole-based ontology. The paper further shows how quantum vacuum renormalization can be understood as an effective consequence of boundary-locked redistribution, explaining why only differences in vacuum structure are physically observable. Standard relativistic quantum field theory is recovered in redistribution-locked limits, positioning the ψ₀-OCM as an ontological completion rather than an alternative formalism. This work establishes conceptual priority for a redistribution-based resolution of the Dirac sea problem and contributes to ongoing discussions in quantum foundations, vacuum structure, and the interpretation of relativistic quantum theory.
Authors
- John Francis Osborne
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2026-02-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18448635
- Primary Topic
- Algebraic and Geometric Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00