samalkhaiat said:
The object V \sim (\epsilon) \ (P) \ (M) is called Pauli-Lubanski vector if and only if (P) \ \mbox{and} \ (M) generate a closed algebra isomorphic to the Poincare’ algebra. In curved space-time, Poincare’ group can only be defined in the flat tangent space at a point.
Does your
closed algebra mean C_{ij}{}^k in [X_i,X_j]=C_{ij}{}^kX_k are constants, where X_i, i=1, ..., 10 are the Lie algebra basis of the Poincare group? Consider that for a curved spacetime in [P_a,P_b]=R_{ab}{}^{cd}J_{cd}, R_{ab}{}^{cd} are not constants.
Why must the Pauli-Lubanski vector be defined on the Poincare algebra? Is that because the original purpose of building the Pauli-Lubanski vector is to construct the unitary irreducible representations of the Poincare group? (In such a construction, we need a (maybe two) Casimir operator(s) of the Poincare group so that its eigenvalues can be used to label the unitary irreducible representations, and the Pauli-Lubanski vector serves such a purpose: the square of the Pauli-Lubanski vector is a Casimir operator of the Poincare group.) If we consider a curved spacetime whose curvature doesn't vanish, the square of V \sim (\epsilon) \ (P) \ (M) is not a Casimir operator of the group (which shouldn't be called the Poincare group because it's Lie algebra doesn't satisfy the Poincare algebra) consisting of the translation group and rotation-boost group of the curved spacetime. Is this the very reason you say the Pauli-Lubanski vector can only be defined on a flat spacetime?
So does V_a=\frac{1}{2}\epsilon_{abcd}P^bM^{cd} on a flat spacetime represent any physical quantity besides serving the function of labeling the unitary irreducible representations of the Poincare group? I ask this because if it represents a certain physical quantity, the definition of it may still serve the function of representing that physical quantity when the spacetime becomes curved though it can't serve the function of labeling the unitary irreducible representations of a certain group.
Maybe that's the case for the definition of L_i=\frac{1}{2}\epsilon_{ijkm}\theta^j\otimes\theta^{km} in Sparling's paper, in whose 1982 version the object was called the Pauli-Lubanski spin tensor (You can see this in
Eq. (8) and the text immediately prior to it of my attachment), which should be a misnomer (because the spacetime considered in Sparling's paper is curved). And that's why Sparling in his 2001 paper, which is a republication of his 1982 paper, changed to call it the Fefferman tensor (See Eq. (8) and the text immediately prior to it in the attachment of the 11th post of this thread). Thus V \sim (\epsilon) \ (P) \ (M) can actually be defined on a curved spacetime and indeed has functions (Sparling's paper said its symmetric part gives the conformal structure of the Cauchy-Riemann structure of the hypersurface in question and its skew symmetric part controls the Einstein equations and explains the origin of the Witten positive energy proof) though it can't serve the function of labeling the unitary irreducible representations of a certain group and thus can't be called the Pauli-Lubanski vector.
And, is \mathbb{V}_{\alpha\dot{\alpha}}=\mathbb{P}^\beta{}_{\dot{\alpha}}\mathbb{J}_{\beta\alpha}-\mathbb{P}_\alpha{}^{\dot{\beta}}\bar{\mathbb{J}}_{\dot{\beta}\dot{\alpha}} built to label the unitary irreducible representations of the proper spinorial group? If so, do \mathbb{P}, \mathbb{J}, \bar{\mathbb{J}} also satisfy some spinor version of the Poincare algebra, [\mathbb{X}_i,\mathbb{X}_j]=\mathbb{C}_{ij}{}^k\mathbb{X}_k (the commutator algebra version) (If so, now there are only 3 such equations!)? On the other hand, does it also represent any physical quantity?
samalkhaiat said:
If you have a Poincare’ symmetric field theory, then the abstract Poincare generators can be realized in terms of the dynamical variables (I said this in my first post). So, whatever (P,M) are, they need to satisfy the Poincare algebra. Then, and only then, you can call (\epsilon \ P \ M) the Pauli-Lubanski vector.
In classical mechanics, though both the dynamical variables and the Lie algebra basis vectors satisfy the Poincare algebra, what the dynamical variables satisfy is the Poisson algebra version of the Pincare algebra while what the Lie algebra basis vectors satisfy is the commutator version of the Poincare algebra. Doesn't this difference matter?
If which version of the Poincare algebra is satisfied really doesn't matter, why don't the numerical values of (P,M) matter in the definition of the Pauli-Lubanski vector? Is that due to that the only purpose of building the Pauli-Lubanski vector is to label the irreducible unitary representations of the Poincare group so what matters is only whether (P,M) satisfies the Poincare algebra? I just wonder if it also represents a physical quantity, how could its numerical values unmatter?
samalkhaiat said:
Have you studied the representation theory of the proper spinorial group? These are the Poincare’ generators written using the spinor indices of the group SL(2,C):
\mathbb{P}_{\alpha \dot{\alpha}} = (\sigma^{a})_{\alpha \dot{\alpha}} \ P_{a} \mathbb{J}_{\alpha \beta} = (1/2) (\sigma^{ab})_{\alpha \beta} \ M_{ab} , \ \ \ \mathbb{J}_{\dot{\alpha} \dot{\beta}} = -(1/2) (\bar{\sigma}^{ab})_{\dot{\alpha} \dot{\beta}} \ M_{ab} .
I had never heard about the proper spinorial group until you mentioned it to me. I googled "the proper spinorial group" and read some related material on web to have a little bit of understanding of it. But I still have some questions about your expressions for \mathbb{P}_{\alpha \dot{\beta}}, \mathbb{J}_{\alpha \beta}, \bar{\mathbb{J}}_{\dot{\alpha} \dot{\beta}}.
I wonder about the choice of the spinor indices of \mathbb{P}, \mathbb{J}, \bar{\mathbb{J}}. Does the choice of the undotted spinor indices or the dotted indices of them as well as putting these indices as covariant or contravariant ones imply the desired spinor transformation rules under the Lorentz transformation? I have long learned the transformation rule for \mathbb{P}=\sigma_aP^a is A\mathbb{P}A^\dagger=\Lambda^a{}_b(A)P^b\sigma_a \Rightarrow A\sigma_bA^\dagger=\Lambda^a{}_b(A)\sigma_a, where A\in SL(2,C), \Lambda \in SO(1,3) and \Lambda^a{}_b(A) denotes \Lambda^a{}_b is a function of A, so I think the spinor indices for \mathbb{P} should be put as \mathbb{P}^\alpha{}_\dot{\beta}, instead of \mathbb{P}_{\alpha\dot{\beta}}, which shall transform as A^{-1T}\mathbb{P}A^\dagger. I think the rationalization for the transformation rule A\mathbb{P}A^\dagger is that a 4-vector transforms as the (\frac{1}{2}, \frac{1}{2}) spinor representation of the Lorentz group. On the other hand, I also learned an anti-symmetric 2-rank tensor transforms as the (0,1)\oplus(1,0) spinor representation of the Lorentz group. Does this entail the transformation rules for \mathbb{J} and \bar{\mathbb{J}} to be, respectively, A\mathbb{J}A^{T}=\Lambda^a{}_c(A)M^{cd}\Lambda^b{}_d(A)\sigma_{ab} \Rightarrow A\sigma_{cd}A^{T}=\frac{1}{2}\Lambda^a{}_c(A)\sigma_{ab}\Lambda^b{}_d(A) and A^{\dagger-1}\bar{\mathbb{J}}\bar{A}^{-1}=-\frac{1}{2}\Lambda^a{}_c(A)M^{cd}\Lambda^b{}_d(A)\bar{\sigma}_{ab} \Rightarrow A^{\dagger-1}\bar{\sigma}_{cd}\bar{A}^{-1}=-\frac{1}{2}\Lambda^a{}_c(A)\bar{\sigma}_{ab}\Lambda^b{}_d(A), and thus justify the spinor indices for \mathbb{J} and \bar{\mathbb{J}} to be put as \mathbb{J}^{\alpha\beta} and \bar{\mathbb{J}}^{\dot{\alpha}\dot{\beta}}, respectively?