Left and right-handed Weyl spinors

In summary, the conversation revolves around the use of left and right-handed Weyl spinors to describe particles and antiparticles. The consensus is that left-handed Weyl fields are used for charged currents, with a particle's helicity being -1/2 and an antiparticle's being +1/2. For neutral currents, a mix of left and right-handed Weyl fields is used, making it unclear how to determine the helicity of particles and antiparticles. There is also a mention of a homework assignment and a recommendation to refer to Srednicki's text for further discussion.
  • #1
goronx
14
0
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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  • #2
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.
 
  • #3
No one?
 
  • #4
There is a discussion of this in Srednicki's text, I believe in the chapter about anomalies.
 
  • #5
Thanks, it's seems to be useful for my purpose.
 

1. What are Weyl spinors?

Weyl spinors are fundamental particles in quantum field theory that describe the spin and chirality of fermions. They are represented by two-component complex-valued spinor fields and are used to describe massless particles.

2. What is the difference between left and right-handed Weyl spinors?

The main difference between left and right-handed Weyl spinors is their chirality, or handedness. Left-handed Weyl spinors have negative chirality and right-handed Weyl spinors have positive chirality. This distinction is important in particle physics as it affects how particles interact with the weak nuclear force.

3. How are Weyl spinors related to the Standard Model of particle physics?

In the Standard Model, Weyl spinors are used to describe the fundamental building blocks of matter, such as quarks and leptons. They are used to construct the Dirac spinors, which are the building blocks of the Standard Model and are essential for understanding the behavior of elementary particles.

4. Are Weyl spinors only used in particle physics?

No, Weyl spinors are also used in other fields of physics, such as condensed matter physics and general relativity. In condensed matter physics, they are used to describe the behavior of electrons in certain materials. In general relativity, they are used to study the properties of black holes and other extreme astrophysical objects.

5. What is the significance of Weyl spinors in physics?

Weyl spinors play a crucial role in our understanding of the fundamental forces and particles in the universe. They help explain the behavior of particles at the quantum level and are an essential part of the Standard Model of particle physics. They also have important applications in other areas of physics, making them a fundamental concept in modern physics.

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