Left and right-handed Weyl spinors

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the use of left and right-handed Weyl spinors in the context of helicity and their application to describe particles and antiparticles. Participants explore theoretical and practical aspects of Weyl fields, particularly in relation to charged and neutral currents.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Conceptual clarification, Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses confusion about when to use left or right-handed Weyl spinors to describe particles or antiparticles, noting that charged currents are associated with left-handed Weyl fields and suggesting helicity values for particles and antiparticles.
  • Another participant seeks clarity on how Weyl fields relate to the description of particles and antiparticles and their helicity, indicating a gap between theoretical understanding and practical application.
  • A later reply references Srednicki's text, suggesting it contains relevant discussions about anomalies that may clarify the topic.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not appear to reach a consensus on the practical application of Weyl spinors, and multiple viewpoints regarding their use in describing helicity and particle types remain unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Some limitations include the lack of detailed explanations on how Weyl fields are applied in practice and the dependence on specific theoretical frameworks that may not be universally accepted.

goronx
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Hi, I'm new on this forum.

I have a doubt regarding helicity and Weyl spinors: I can't understand when I have to use left or right-handed Weyl spinors in order to describe particles or antiparticles.

What i have understood is that a charged current is described by left-handed Weyl fields: in this case a particle has helicity h=-1/2 and an antiparticle has h=+1/2.
On the contrary a neutral current is a mix of left-handed and right-handed Weyl fields, so that I can't say anything about particle's and antiparticle's helicity, isn'it?

I have also a kind of homework, but I'll post it in the appropriate section of the forum. Thanks.
 
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I can try to be more explicit: my problem is that I don't understand how Weyl field can be used to describe particles and antiparticles and obtain information about their helicity.
Theoretically is it clear what a Weyl field is but I can't see how they are used in practice.
 
No one?
 
There is a discussion of this in Srednicki's text, I believe in the chapter about anomalies.
 
Thanks, it's seems to be useful for my purpose.
 

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