Generally covariant quantization and the Dirac field

Canonical Hamiltonian field theory in curved spacetime is formulated in a manifestly covariant way. Second quantization is achieved invoking a correspondence principle between the Poisson bracket of classical fields and the commutator of the corresponding quantum operators. The Dirac theory is investigated and it is shown that, in contrast to the case of bosonic fields, in curved spacetime, the field momentum does not coincide with the generators of spacetime translations. The reason is traced back to the presence of second class constraints occurring in Dirac theory. Further, it is shown that the modification of the Dirac Lagrangian by a surface term leads to a momentum transfer between the Dirac field and the gravitational background field, resulting in a theory that is free of constraints, but not manifestly hermitian.     

Relativistic motion of a free particle in a uniform gravitational field

The problem of the motion of a free particle in a uniform gravitational field is considered. A relativistic solution based on the assumption that the motion is a consequence of the curvature of spacetime is obtained. The results are compared with various results based on the assumption that spacetime is flat in a region in which the gravitational field is uniform. In the curved spacetime approach, if a particle is projected from a point in a uniform gravitational field, the vertical distance covered by the particle in infinite coordinate time is infinite, but the horizontal distance covered and the elapsed proper time of the particle are finite. If spacetime is assumed to be flat and the gravitational motion of a particle a consequence of a relativistic force proportional to the relative mass of the particle, then the results obtained for the motion of a particle in a uniform gravitational field are close to the curved spacetime results. All other assumptions, including the assumption that the motion of a particle in a uniform gravitational field is equivalent to the motion of a particle in a uniformly accelerating frame of reference, lead to results in serious disagreement with the curved spacetime results.     

A non‐uniqueness problem of the Dirac theory in a curved spacetime

The Dirac equation in a curved spacetime depends on a field of coefficients (essentially the Dirac matrices), for which a continuum of different choices are possible. We study the conditions under which a change of the coefficient fields leads to an equivalent Hamiltonian operator H, or to an equivalent energy operator E. We do that for the standard version of the gravitational Dirac equation, and for two alternative equations based on the tensor representation of the Dirac fields. The latter equations may be defined when the spacetime is four‐dimensional, noncompact, and admits a spinor structure. We find that, for each among the three versions of the equation, the vast majority of the possible coefficient changes do not lead to an equivalent operator H, nor to an equivalent operator E, whence a lack of uniqueness. In particular, we prove that the Dirac energy spectrum is not unique. This non‐uniqueness of the energy spectrum comes from an effect of the choice of coefficients, and applies in any given coordinates.     

Maximal symmetry and mass generation of Dirac fermions and gravitational gauge field theory in six-dimensional spacetime

The relativistic Dirac equation in four-dimensional spacetime reveals a coherent relation between the dimensions of spacetime and the degrees of freedom of fermionic spinors. A massless Dirac fermion generates new symmetries corresponding to chirality spin and charge spin as well as conformal scaling transformations. With the introduction of intrinsic W-parity, a massless Dirac fermion can be treated as a Majorana-type or Weyl-type spinor in a six-dimensional spacetime that reflects the intrinsic quantum numbers of chirality spin. A generalized Dirac equation is obtained in the six-dimensional spacetime with a maximal symmetry. Based on the framework of gravitational quantum field theory proposed in Ref. [1] with the postulate of gauge invariance and coordinate independence, we arrive at a maximally symmetric gravitational gauge field theory for the massless Dirac fermion in six-dimensional spacetime. Such a theory is governed by the local spin gauge symmetry SP(1,5) and the global Poincar′e symmetry P(1,5)= SO(1,5) P~(1,5) as well as the charge spin gauge symmetry SU(2). The theory leads to the prediction of doubly electrically charged bosons. A scalar field and conformal scaling gauge field are introduced to maintain both global and local conformal scaling symmetries. A generalized gravitational Dirac equation for the massless Dirac fermion is derived in the six-dimensional spacetime. The equations of motion for gauge fields are obtained with conserved currents in the presence of gravitational effects. The dynamics of the gauge-type gravifield as a Goldstone-like boson is shown to be governed by a conserved energy-momentum tensor, and its symmetric part provides a generalized Einstein equation of gravity. An alternative geometrical symmetry breaking mechanism for the mass generation of Dirac fermions is demonstrated.     

On the uniqueness of the Dirac theory in curved and flat spacetime

In this work a number of examples are used to illustrate uniqueness of physical prediction of the Dirac theory in a curved and a flat spacetime. Dirac Hamiltonians in arbitrary, including time‐dependent, gravitational fields uniquely determine physical characteristics of quantum‐mechanical systems irrespective of the choice of the tetrad fields. Direct spin‐rotation coupling that occurs with a certain choice of tetrads does not manifest itself in final physical characteristics of the systems and therefore does not represent a physically relevant effect.     

5D Dirac Equation in Induced-Matter Theory

According to an induced-matter approach, Liu and Wesson obtained the rest mass of a typical particle from the reduction of a 5D Klein–Gordon equation to a 4D one. Introducing an extra-dimension momentum operator identified with the rest mass eigenvalue operator, we consider a way to generalize the 4D Dirac equation to 5D. An analogous normal Dirac equation is gained when the generalization reduces to 4D. We find the rest mass of a particle in curved space varies with spacetime coordinates and check this for the case of exact solitonic and cosmological solution of the 5D vacuum gravitational field equations.     

Spinor Relativity

Spinor relativity is a unified field theory, which derives gravitational and electromagnetic fields as well as a spinor field from the geometry of an eight-dimensional complex and ‘chiral’ manifold. The structure of the theory is analogous to that of general relativity: it is based on a metric with invariance group GL(ℂ²), which combines the Lorentz group with electromagnetic U(1), and the dynamics is determined by an action, which is an integral of a curvature scalar and does not contain coupling constants. The theory is related to physics on spacetime by the assumption of a symmetry-breaking ground state such that a four-dimensional submanifold with classical properties arises. In the vicinity of the ground state, the scale of which is of Planck order, the equation system of spinor relativity reduces to the usual Einstein and Maxwell equations describing gravitational and electromagnetic fields coupled to a Dirac spinor field, which satisfies a non-linear equation; an additional equation relates the electromagnetic field to the polarization of the ground state condensate.     

Stability and decay of the Dirac vacuum in external gauge fields

We consider various gauge fields coupled to the free Dirac equation according to symmetry principles. The gauge fields are treated as classical, unquantized fields. Sufficiently strong time-independent fields may give rise to spontaneous particle creation and to the decay of the symmetric Dirac vacuum into a new ground state with broken symmetry. The vacuum stability of the Dirac field is studied for the cases of external electromagnetic (U(1)), gravitational (Poincaré group including torsion) and Yang-Mills (SU(2)) potentials.     

Pauli’s Exclusion Principle in Spinor Coordinate Space

The Pauli exclusion principle is interpreted using a geometrical theory of electrons. Spin and spatial motion are described together in an eight dimensional spinor coordinate space. The field equation derives from the assumption of conformal waves. The Dirac wave function is a gradient of the scalar wave in spinor space. Electromagnetic and gravitational interactions are mediated by conformal transformations. An electron may be followed through a sequence of creation and annihilation processes. Two electrons are branches of a single particle. Each satisfies a Dirac equation, but together they are a solution of the curvature condition. As two so identified electrons approach each other, the exclusion principle develops from the boundary conditions in spinor space. The gradient motion does not allow the particles to overlap. Since the spinor-gradient of the scalar wave function is odd in the coordinates, the sign of the wave function must change at the electron-electron boundary. The exclusion principle becomes geometry intrinsic and all electrons are combined into one field. Further applications are proposed including the possibility of improved numerical calculations in atomic and molecular systems. There also may be extensions to nuclear or particle physics. Implications are expected for the properties of rotating objects in a gravitational field.     

Constraining chameleon field driven warm inflation with Planck 2018 data

The European Physical Journal C - We study the Yukawa model with one scalar and one axial scalar fields, coupled to N copies of Dirac fermions, in curved spacetime background. The theory possesses...     

Spinor Matter in a Gravitational Field: Covariant Equations à la Heisenberg

A fundamental tenet of general relativity is geodesic motion of point particles. For extended objects, however, tidal forces make the trajectories deviate from geodesic form. In fact Mathisson, Papapetrou, and others have found that even in the limit of very small size there exists a residual curvature-spin force. Another important physical case is that of field theory. Here the ray (WKB) approximation may be used to obtain the equation of motion. In this article I consider an alternative procedure, the proper time translation operator formalism, to obtain the covariant Heisenberg equations for the quantum velocity, momentum, and angular momentum operators for the case of spinor fields. I review the flat spacetime results for Dirac particles in Yang-Mills fields, where we recover the Lorentz force. For curved spacetime I find that the geodesic equation is modified by an additional term involving the spin tensor, and the parallel transport equation for the momentum is modified by an additional term involving the curvature tensor. This curvature term is the Lorentz force of the gravitational field. The main result of this article is that these equations are exactly the (symmetrized) Mathisson-Papapetrou equations for the quantum operators. Extension of these results to the case of spin-one fields may be possible by use of the KDP formalism.     

Spin, gravity, and inertia

The gravitational effects in the relativistic quantum mechanics are investigated. The exact Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation is constructed for the Dirac particle coupled to the static spacetime metric. As a direct application, we analyze the nonrelativistic limit of the theory. The new term describing the specific spin (gravitational moment) interaction effect is recovered in the Hamiltonian. The comparison of the true gravitational coupling with the purely inertial case demonstrates that the spin relativistic effects do not violate the equivalence principle for the Dirac fermions.     

Massive, Non-ghost Solutions for the Dirac Field Coupled Self-consistently to Gravity

We present new, massive, non-ghost solutions for the Dirac field coupled self-consistently to gravity. We employ a gauge-theoretic formulation of gravity which automatically identifies the spin of the Dirac field with the torsion of the gauge fields. Homogeneity of the field observables requires that the spatial sections be flat. Expanding and collapsing singular solutions are given, as well as a solution which expands from a singularity before recollapsing. Torsion effects are only important while the Compton wavelength of the Dirac field is larger than the Hubble radius. We study the motion of spinning point-particles in the background of the expanding solution. The anisotropy due to the torsion is manifest in the particle trajectories.     

Gravity and Spin Forces in Gravitational Quantum Field Theory

In the new framework of gravitational quantum field theory(GQFT) with spin and scaling gauge invariance developed in Phys. Rev. D 93(2016) 024012-1, we make a perturbative expansion for the full action in a background field which accounts for the early inflationary universe. We decompose the bicovariant vector fields of gravifield and spin gauge field with Lorentz and spin symmetries SO(1,3) and SP(1,3) in biframe spacetime into SO(3) representations for deriving the propagators of the basic quantum fields and extract their interaction terms. The leading order Feynman rules are presented. A tree-level 2 to 2 scattering amplitude of the Dirac fermions, through a gravifield and a spin gauge field, is calculated and compared to the Born approximation of the potential. It is shown that the Newton's gravitational law in the early universe is modified due to the background field. The spin dependence of the gravitational potential is demonstrated.     

Quantum theory in external electromagnetic and gravitational fields: A comparison of some conceptual issues

The quantum theories of a scalar field interacting with external electromagnetic and gravitational fields respectively are compared. It is shown that several peculiar features, like the ambiguity of particle definition, thermal effects etc., which are thought to be special to quantum theory in curved spacetime, have analogues in the case of electromagnetism.     

Photon Decays in the Radiation-Dominated Universe: Scalar Electrodynamics

The effect of the creation of an arbitrary number of massive pairs by a photon in the spatially flat model of the radiation-dominated Universe is considered. The process added-up probability is calculated within the framework of scalar quantum electrodynamics conformally related to the metric of a curved spacetime. The rate of photon decay in the radiation-dominated universe as well as the mean number of the created particles have been found. Comparison of the rate of the pair creation in the photon decays with the rate of the pair creation in the photon-photon collisions which take place in the Minkowski spacetime has been carried out. The estimates having been made show the number density of the particles created in the processes of the photon decays in the radiation-dominated Universe to be by a factor of 10³⁰ higher than the number density of the particles created from the vacuum of the free scalar field by the gravitational background.