4442 Particle Physics

Ryan Nichol
Module 4

http://www.hep.ucl.ac.uk/~rjn/teaching/4442
Module 4
• Dirac equation recap
• Dirac equation solutions & their interpretation
• Helicity & Chirality, Projection Operators
• Currents and the adjoint spinor
• Adding interactions : covariant Maxwell’s equations
(the photon equation)
• The merger : Dirac (electron equation) + covariant
Maxwell (photon) = QED
• Gauge invariance and QED.

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Dirac Equation
• The Dirac Equation
!

• γ are 4x4 matrices

• Ψ is a 4x1 column matrix (spinor) -- not a 4 vector
• Solutions
are known as Dirac spinors.
!

• Particle solutions
!

• Antiparticle solutions

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 =5 0 ✓ 0 1 ◆ 211 0 0 ~ , = + imt=0
ight 01to
5Matrix~0 = ~Maths
left) 0 0S
~ = 1 101 ~
⌃~(~=1◆~10
~ ~ 0◆ A (t) = A (0)e
~ =✓ 1 ◆ 0 ✓=0 “S
2 ) ”✓ ⌃ µ µ ⌫⌫ µ⌫
(right to✓ 0 1
left)0 ~
◆ 1 0 2 0 ~ { { , , } }= = 2g
2g µ⌫
5 0•
ication
5 0~ = ✓ Multiplication
~
(right 0
to◆ left)
✓ (right ◆ to✓ left) ◆ { µ
, ⌫
} = 2g µ⌫
~ = ✓10 01 ✓◆= 0“1(~ ◆)✓ ”10 ~0 ◆0✓~ ◆ imt
5 0
~ = 5
0 ~ ✓0 1 ◆ 1 0
0 ~0 =00 0 ~ B (t) = For ABB (0)e
multiplication
5 0µ @ 5=1
~= µ ~ @
0✓0
~= ~0“ ◆
0
·(~r~ ) 1
” ~ 0 (~ ·
(~ ~
a ·)(~
~
a )(~· ~·
b) ~
b) = = ~
a ~
a
need· ~
·b~
Ab++
rows i(~
a
i(~
=B a ⇥
cols
~b)
b)
and ·
· ~
~
~
5 0 0 ~ ~10 0
= 0~ = “
0 (~ ) ”
1 ~ · ~a0)(~ · ~b) =A~acols= ~bBrows ~b) · ~
~0 = ✓ ~ ◆= “ (~ ) ” (~ · + i(~
a ⇥
µ
@µ = @0 0~~ · ~r 0 ~ 1 ~
µ µ5
5 0
~ µ= 5 5 µ = “ (~ ) ” X †S † = ⇤⇤⌃
X = (x2 ) = (x T
) T
, @µ = µ 0 + 0
=µ @@µ0 =00~ @·~0r ~ ·~r~ = 0
~ † ⇤ T
@ = @ ~ · r X = (x )
µ 5 µ µ5 5 0µ
•, Useful
= identities + =0
(prove in your own✓time)◆ u
✓
u = 2m
◆✓
µ µ
5 µ , ⌫µ 5= 5 µ µ⌫
5 5 µ+ 5 µ
=0 5 0 0 1u ui i= 1 2m 0 0
, { µ=, 5 } =+2g = 0 ~ = u
i i
u = 2m
µ ⌫ , = µ 5
µ⌫ + 5 µ
= 0 1 0 i i 0 1 ~
{ , } = 2g †
µ ⌫ µ⌫ u
†✓ i ui = 2E ◆
{ µ
, ⌫ { , µ⌫
} = 2g } = 2g u u
i† ~ i = 2E
~ ~
~a)(~ · b) = ~a · b + i(~a ⇥ b) · ~ ~ 5 0 0
ui ui = 2E = “ (~ ) ”
~ =
~a)(~ · ~b) = ~a · ~b + i(~a ⇥ ~b) · ~ ~
(~ · r) u1 = 0 0 ~ 0 ~ 1
(~ · r)u
(~ · ~a)(~ · ~b) = ~a · ~b + i(~a ⇥ ~b) · ~
† ⇤ T
X = (x ) µ 0 ~
† ⇤ T
X = (x ) @µ = @0 ~ ·r
† † †
(AB) = B A !4
 N (t) = N0 e
Helicity and Chirality
BRi = 1 = 1/⌧
i
• Chirality = 1/⌧ X
(c) Consider the solution to the DiracBR
equation, u , define
i = 1 A
– Fundamental eigenstate of weak interaction
X q
i !
– Weak interaction
= is
BR only LH particles or RH antiparticles
i BRi = i 1 ⇣ A⌘
– Lorentz invariant u A = |E| + m ~ ·~
p where A
i = BR
iE+m i A
• Helicity X X
– Measurable quantity,
= =
BR projection
†
and show that uA uA = 2E.
i i i
of spin on momentum
i =
– Not Lorentz iinvariant i
(d) By X
considering u in the massless limit and the helicit
– Massless limit helicity
= == chirality
A
i 1 5
as:
• Operators i ˆ= !
1 5 1 ~2 · p̂ 0
! ˆ= ĥ = ,
21 2 0 ~ · p̂
! ˆ= 5 1 5
2 ˆL = 1
show that
• Chiral Projections 2
1 5
ĥuA = 2
uA
1 5 1
ˆL = 1 ˆR = 1+ 5
and briefly 2explain the significance2 of this result.
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1
 Why~
do
0
we care
0
about
~
chirality?
ig ! ie µ
(~ · r) u1 = (~ · r)u1 EM
• The Feynman rules for QED and Weak include:
! µ1 5
ig ! ieEM µ ig ! ieW eak 1
! 2
• The weak interaction only involves left-chiral particles
µ1 5
ig !(right-chiral
ieW eak antiparticles)
1 ✓ ◆
2 =
⌫6
L
• Neutrinos only feel the weak interaction,
⌫¯R can write:
✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
! ⌫L ⌫¯L
= =
⌫¯R ⌫R
! 6 ✓ ◆
• But only the=χ  s⌫¯tates
L participate in the weak
⌫R
interaction
• Open questions
– What is Φ?
– Is the neutrino its own antiparticle?
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– What is the mass of the neutrino?
The Adjoint Spinor
Ψ
!
The maths of QED (and all interactions) is based on :

Is Lorentz invariant; but the usual is not.

: the Adjoint Dirac Equation (PS2 question)

2 useful adjoint properties (derivation on PS2)*

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Lorentz Invariance ✓ ◆
The following combinations are Lorentz invariant and used to define interactions.
⌫¯L
=
• What Lorentz invariant terms⌫Rcan be constructed from
spinors and adjoint spinors?
!
Scalar (+ve)
! µ
5
Pseudoscalar (-ve)
! 5
µ
Vector (-ve)
! µ
µ
5 5Axial-Vector (+ve)
!

!
µ⌫ µ⌫ Tensor
1 µ ⌫ ⌫ µ
! µ⌫ = ( )
2
!

• The weak current is a V-A current

– Results in the parity properties of the weak interaction
– No V+A currents are known
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 5= J @µ F
Aside:µ⌫Maxwell’s
⌫ Equations
@µ F =J µ ~ ~
A =Aµ( =, A)
( , A)
• Introducing the covariant µ
4-potential
! µ ~ µ⌫
5
µ⌫ µ ⌫µ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫µ µ
A = ( , A) F = @ =A@ A @ A
F @ A
! 0 1
0 0 µ⌫
Ex Ey Ez 1
! 0 B Ex Ey Ez C
BEx 0 Bz By C
Bµ⌫
F E=x @ 0 B BB C
A
µ⌫ B 0z y xC
! F =@ E
1y B z
Ey EzBzµBy ⌫0Bx µ B0⌫
x
A
!
µ⌫ =E ( B B z y )
x 0
• Allows us to write the2in-homogenous Maxwell’s
equations as:
µ⌫ ⌫
@µ F =J

µ ~
A = ( , A) !9
Gauge Invariance
• This & renormalisation are the truly great
“discoveries” of theoretical physics in the past 50
years & are the cornerstone of modern physics.
• Any predictive & useful theory must be
renormalisable, gauge and Lorentz invariant
• The imposition of gauge invariance / symmetry
naturally leads to requirement of “gauge boson” fields
e.g. photon for QED and conservation laws.
• The most used formalism to describe a system and
demonstrate gauge invariance is the Lagrangian
formalism which is derivable from the wave-equation
formalism or the Hamiltonian formalism.

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Gauge Invariance

Gauge invariance - requirement that our physics is unaltered by changes in

parameters, α, that are not measurable e.g. phase of a wave-function,
electrostatic potential.
!
If α is fixed everywhere then we speak of global gauge invariance under global
transformations; if α depends on position then we speak of local gauge invariance
under local transformations - we require our theories to be locally gauge invariant
!
Consideration of gauge invariance of electrostatic potential and consequence for
conservation of charge*
!
The covariant 4-vector potential, Aµ - definition and why we introduce it (*)
!
- Aharonov-Bohm effect (look it up on Wiki) demonstrates that in QM, Aµ is real.
!
Aµ reduces the redundancy in Maxwell’s equations (*)
!
A Gedanken to illustrate why we need Aµ and a gauge transformation of Aµ to
preserve gauge invariance in QED (*)

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Gauge Invariance in QED

Imposition of local Gauge invariance in QED has 3 consequences:

!
1. the existence of a field (the EM field) of infinite range which consequently must be
mediated by a massless particle
2. the conservation of charge
3. simplification of Maxwell’s equations (*)
!
The addition of the photon-electron interaction via Aµ that restores gauge
invariance under a local phase transformation can be added as an interaction term
to the Dirac equation which becomes:

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Lagrangian Formalism

!
QM and covariant analogue of Euler-Lagrange equation (ELE) is:

Where φ is a field amplitude

!
The wave equation is obtained by imposing the ELE on a QM Lagrangian
- examples (*) : Klein-Gordon, Maxwell’s, Dirac equation.

Is the conserved quantity in a gauge invariant /

Symmetric Lagrangian (this is Noether’s theorem
Expressed in the Lagrangian formalism)

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Demonstration (*) from requirement that QED Lagrangian is invariant that:
!
We need a long range field that has the gauge transformation:
!
!
That photon must be massless

The connection between Lagrangian and Feynman rules (*)

!
!
!
The QCD Lagrangian (*)

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Standard Model Lagrangian

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