Dirac Equation and Spinor Field Transformations: Understanding the Basics

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the Dirac equation and the transformations of spinor fields under Lorentz transformations. Participants explore the mathematical details of these transformations, including the properties of the Dirac gamma matrices and the implications for the spinor fields.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents a transformation law for the spinor field under Lorentz transformations, expressing it in terms of a linear operator S(Λ).
  • The participant derives the transformation law for the dagger spinor and seeks to show that γ⁰S(Λ)†γ⁰ = S⁻¹(Λ).
  • Mathematical steps are provided, including the use of properties of the gamma matrices and exponentials.
  • Another participant confirms that the initial derivation appears correct and notes the ability to edit posts for minor corrections.
  • The original poster acknowledges a typographical error in their expression for the S operator.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

There is no explicit consensus on the correctness of the mathematical derivations, though one participant expresses that it looks right. The discussion remains open to further verification and refinement.

Contextual Notes

Participants have pointed out a typographical error in the original post, indicating the need for careful attention to detail in mathematical expressions.

Marco_84
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Dirac equation and friends :)

I was playing with Dirac equations and deriving some usefull details,
Note sure for a calculation, is all the math right?

Beginning:
we require for a pure Lorentz trasf that the spinor field trasform linearly as:

[tex]\psi'(x')=S(\Lambda)\psi(x)[/tex] (1)

where [tex]x'=\Lambda x[/tex] and [tex]S(\Lambda)[/tex] is a linear operator that we can write follow:

[tex]S(\Lambda)=exp(-\frac{i}{a}\sigma_{ab}\omega^{ab})[/tex] (2)

If we take the [tex]\dagger[/tex] and use Dirac gammas on (1) we obtain the transformation law for the dagger spinor:

[tex]\psi'(x')^{\dagger}=\psi(x)^{\dagger}S(\Lambda)^{\dagger}[/tex]

and using gamma zero we have:

[tex]\overline{\psi'(x')}=\overline{\psi(x)}\gamma^{0}S(\Lambda)^{\dagger}\gamma^{0}[/tex]

Now what i want to show is that:

[tex]\gamma^{0}S(\Lambda)^{\dagger}\gamma^{0}=S^{-1}(\Lambda)[/tex]

correct me in the following equalities if i make something wrong:

[tex]\gamma^{0}S(\Lambda)^{\dagger}\gamma^{0}=\gamma^{0}exp(\frac{i}{a}(\omega^{ab})^{\dagger}(\sigma_{ab})^{\dagger})\gamma^{0}=exp(\gamma^{0}\frac{i}{a}(\omega^{ab})^{\dagger}(\sigma_{ab})^{\dagger}\gamma^{0})[/tex]

Now using the properties of gamma zero on the matrices:

[tex]\gamma_{0}^2=Id[/tex]; [tex]\gamma_{0}\sigma_{ab}\gamma_{0}=(\sigma_{ab})^{\dagger}[/tex]

we get to:

[tex]\gamma^{0}exp(\frac{i}{a}(\omega^{ab})^{\dagger}(\sigma_{ab})^{\dagger})\gamma^{0}=exp(\gamma^{0}\frac{i}{a}(\omega^{ab})^{\dagger}\gamma^{0}\gamma^{0}(\sigma_{ab})^{\dagger}\gamma^{0})=exp(\frac{i}{a}\sigma_{ab}\omega^{ab})\equiv S^{-1}(\Lambda)[/tex]

The last follow from (2).

Am i correct??

thanks in advance.

marco
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Sorry i wrote a instead of 4 in the S operator underneath the i...
regards
marco
 
Marco_84 said:
Am i correct??

It looks right to me. And you can edit your posts here for 24 hours so you can fix things like the a versus 4 detail.
 
thanx because my prof...Im sure will be very miticoulous on this "Not so important" calculus...
regards
marco
 

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