Does the Four Fermion Interaction Conserve Current Like Standard Models?

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SUMMARY

The four fermion interaction, as proposed by Enrico Fermi, describes weak interactions through the Hamiltonian involving Dirac fields. The interaction is represented by the bilinear form J1^{}u*J2_{}u, where J1^{}u is defined as phi_d(x)*y^{}u*phi_c(x). This discussion confirms that the currents associated with the Dirac Lagrangian for massless fermions maintain conservation under both vector and axial symmetries, specifically through the use of gamma matrices. However, introducing mass disrupts chiral symmetry, leading to the non-conservation of axial currents.

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  • Familiarity with the Dirac Lagrangian and its symmetries
  • Knowledge of conserved currents in quantum field theory
  • Basic principles of weak interactions and Fermi's theory
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quantumfireball
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four fermion interaction??

The four fermion interaction proposed by enrico fermi to learn weak interaction
postulates that four dirac fields interact via the interaction hamilton

J1^{}u*J2_{}u

where J1^{}u=phi_d(x)*y^{}u*phi_c(x)

but by question is this
is the bilinear form taken between wavefuctions asscoiated with different particles
conserve current just like \Psi
\bar{}*\gamma*\Psi
 
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The Dirac Lagrangian for a massless fermion f has two symmetries each of U(1) type: "vector" and "axial" (or "chiral"). For the vector symmetry, there is an associated conserved current with gamma^{m} inbetween f-bar and f, with spacetime index m; and for the axial, there is instead a gamma^{m}*gamma^{5} inbetween. This also means that the currents with gamma^{m}*(1-gamma^{5}) and gamma^{m}(1+gamma^{5}) are conserved; these are chiral currents in that the (1 +or- gamma^{5}) are projections of general dirac spinors onto right and left chiral spinors.
Once you add a mass for the fermion, the chiral symmetry is ruined. For a massive fermion, chirality (and the axial current) is no longer a conserved quantity, so neither are the left and right chiral currents.
Take massless fermions again. If you have a new 4-fermion interaction among the fermions, you have to ask again about the symmetries and therefore which currents are conserved. The Fermi interaction for beta decay or quark interactions is
\bar{f}_{1}\gamma^{m}(1-\gamma^{5})f_{2}\bar{f}_{3}\gamma_{m}(1-\gamma^{5})f_{4} where the numbered indices just label different types of fermions. (The projectors in parentheses mean you can rewite this term by replacing the Dirac fermions with left-chiral fermions f_{L} and remove the projection operators in parentheses.) You can check this term preserves both vector and axial symmetries, and so also left-chiral currents and right-chiral currents are separately conserved (the interaction term, afterall, involves left-handed fermions only). Again, a mass term, or other types of interactions such as with QCD instantons, can break chiral symmetry.
 
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