Dismiss Notice
Join Physics Forums Today!
The friendliest, high quality science and math community on the planet! Everyone who loves science is here!

Do spinors still do "funky" weird stuff in 1+1 spacetime?

  1. Jan 7, 2015 #1

    Spinnor

    User Avatar

    Apparently we still need spinors for the Dirac equation in 1+1 dimensional space-time. Do spinors still do "funky" weird stuff in 1+1 dimensional space-time?

    Thanks for any help!
     
    Spinnor, Jan 7, 2015
  2. jcsd
    Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories on Phys.org
  3. Jan 8, 2015 #2

    stevendaryl

    User Avatar
    Staff Emeritus
    Science Advisor
    Insights Author

    Different authors use slightly different definitions for "funky weird stuff". Which definition are you using?
     
    stevendaryl, Jan 8, 2015
  4. Jan 8, 2015 #3

    Khashishi

    User Avatar

    What is "funky" weird stuff? Spin is quantized angular momentum. I'm not sure how you can have angular momentum in one spatial dimension.
     
    Khashishi, Jan 8, 2015
  5. Jan 8, 2015 #4

    Spinnor

    User Avatar

    Why does the Dirac equation in 1+1 dimensions use 2 component spinors but more important what do the 2 compontents ? See the link below for a good paper on the Dirac equation in 1+1 d.

    http://academic.reed.edu/physics/faculty/wheeler/documents/Classical Field Theory/Miscellaneous Essays/A. 2D Dirac Equation.pdf
    Maybe spinors only do "funky" weird stuff in 3+1 spacetime? Funky, like a 4pi rotation is the same as no rotation. Why do we need spinors in 1+1d spacetime and do they have any interesting transformation properties?

    See link below for a nice paper on the Dirac equation in 1+1d spacetime.

    http://academic.reed.edu/physics/faculty/wheeler/documents/Classical Field Theory/Miscellaneous Essays/A. 2D Dirac Equation.pdf
     
    Spinnor, Jan 8, 2015
  6. Jan 8, 2015 #5

    stevendaryl

    User Avatar
    Staff Emeritus
    Science Advisor
    Insights Author

    The components of the Dirac spinor capture two different things: instrinsic spin, and particles/antiparticles (or positive/negative energy solutions). It works out perfectly in 3+1 spacetime dimensions, because there are 4 components to the spinor, and 4 combinations of types of particle: spin-up and positive energy, spin-up and negative energy, spin-down and positive energy, spin-down and negative energy.

    In 1+1 spacetime dimensions, you still have positive/negative energy solutions.
     
    stevendaryl, Jan 8, 2015
  7. Jan 8, 2015 #6

    Spinnor

    User Avatar

    What if any physics is encoded in the 2 component spinor?
     
    Spinnor, Jan 8, 2015
  8. Jan 8, 2015 #7

    Spinnor

    User Avatar

    Last edited: Jan 8, 2015
    Spinnor, Jan 8, 2015
Know someone interested in this topic? Share this thread via Reddit, Google+, Twitter, or Facebook




Similar Discussions: Do spinors still do "funky" weird stuff in 1+1 spacetime?

  1. Do we really need all this funky notation? (Replies: 15)

  2. Spin 1 particle, spinor state (Replies: 3)

  3. Why do fermions have 1/2-integer spins? (Replies: 2)

  4. Dirac spinor in 1+1d, do the 2 components represent spin? (Replies: 2)

  5. Quantum Mechanics in 1+1 spacetime (Replies: 12)

Loading...