Quantum stresses in the hydrogen atom
Gravitational form factors are often interpreted as providing access to stresses inside hadrons, in particular through Fourier transforms of the form factors and . Some researchers, however, have expressed skepticism of this interpretation. I revisit the question, and argue that it is indeed appropriate to interpret these quantities as stress distributions. I consider the hydrogen atom's ground state as a familiar example, and use the pilot wave interpretation of quantum mechanics to give the distributions a clear meaning. A striking result is that -- rather than -- quantifies the force law binding the system, which can be understood through Cauchy's first law of motion.