The spinor representation of the Lorentz group does not accept simple generalization with the group GL(4,R) of general linear coordinate transformations. The Dirac equation may be written for an arbitrary choice of a coordinate system and a metric, but the covariant linear transformations of the four-component Dirac spinor exist only for isometries. For usual diagonal Minkowski metric the isometry is the Lorentz transformation. On the other hand, it is possible to define the Dirac operator on the space of anti-symmetric (exterior) forms, and in such a case the equation is covariant for an arbitrary general linear transformation. The space of the exterior forms is 16-dimensional, but usual Dirac equation is defined for four-dimensional complex space of Dirac spinors. Using suggested analogy, in present paper is discussed possibility to consider the space of Dirac spinors as some "subsystem" of a bigger space, where the group GL(4,R) of general relativity acts in a covariant way.
For such purposes in this article is considered both Grassmann algebra of complex anti-symmetric forms and Clifford algebra of Dirac matrices. Both algebras have same dimension as linear spaces, but different structure of multiplication. The underlying sixteen-dimensional linear space also may be considered either as space of complex 4 x 4 matrices, or as space of states of two particles: the initial Dirac spinor and some auxiliary system. It is shown also, that such approach is in good agreement with well known idea to consider Dirac spinor as some ideal of Clifford algebra. Some other possible implications of given model are also discussed.
A formulation of Dirac's equation using complex-quaternionic coordinates appears to yield an enormous gain in formal elegance, as there is no longer any need to invoke Dirac matrices. This formulation, however, entails several peculiarities, which we investigate and attempt to interpret.
We consider the consistent deformation of the relativistic quantum mechanics introducing the noncommutativity of the space-time and preserving the Lorentz symmetry. The relativistic wave equation describing the spinning particle on coordinate dependent noncommutative space-time (noncommutative Dirac equation) is proposed. The fundamental properties of this equation, like the Lorentz covariance and the continuity equation for the probability density are verified. To this end using the properties of the star product we derive the corresponding probability current density and prove its conservati…
We construct a Darboux transformation for a class of two-dimensional Dirac systems at zero energy. Our starting equation features a position-dependent mass, a matrix potential, and an additional degree of freedom that can be interpreted either as a magnetic field perpendicular to the plane or a generalized Dirac oscillator interaction. We obtain a number of Darbouxtransformed Dirac equations for which the zero energy solutions are exactly known.
The Dirac equation in curved spacetimes is formulated using coordinate-free notation. A Lagrangean density which corresponds to the subject equation is presented. The subject equation is invariant under a local rotation of the coframe. The current is independent of the local orientation of the coframe and it is conserved. The subject equation has an equivalent formulation which uses the Christoffel gamma. The stress-energy tensor is calculated.
We present a so called Dirac-type tensor equation (DTTE). This equation is written in coordinateless form with the aid of differential operators $d$ and $δ$. A wave function of DTTE belongs to a minimal left ideal of the algebra of exterior forms with respect to the Clifford product. We show that a coordinate form of DTTE is identical to the Dirac equation in a fixed coordinate system.
The relation between 3-cocycles arising in the Dirac monopole problem and nonassociative gauge transformations is studied. It is shown that nonassociative extension of the group U(1) allows to obtain a consistent theory of pointlike magnetic monopole with an arbitrary magnetic charge.
The separability of the massive Dirac equation in the non-extreme Kerr geometry in horizon-penetrating advanced Eddington-Finkelstein-type coordinates is shown. To this end, the Kerr geometry is described in the Newman-Penrose formalism by a regular Carter tetrad and the Dirac spinors and matrices are defined in a chiral Newman-Penrose dyad representation. Applying Chandrasekhar's mode ansatz, the Dirac equation is separated into radial and angular systems of ordinary differential equations. Asymptotic radial solutions at infinity, the event horizon, and the Cauchy horizon are derived, and the…
The semiclassical kinetic theory of Dirac particles in the presence of external electromagnetic fields and global rotation is established. To provide the Hamiltonian formulation of Dirac particles a symplectic two-form which is a matrix in spin indices is proposed. The particle number and current densities for the Dirac particles are acquired in the helicity basis. Following a similar procedure, semiclassical kinetic theory of the Weyl particles is accomplished. It is shown that the phase-space dynamics of the Weyl and Dirac particles is directly linked. The anomalous chiral effects due to the…
We consider optical systems where propagation of light can be described by a Dirac-like equation with $PT$-symmetric Hamiltonian. In order to construct exactly solvable configurations, we extend the confluent Crum-Darboux transformation for the one-dimensional Dirac equation. The properties of the associated intertwining operators are discussed and the explicit form for higher-order transformations is presented. We utilize the results to derive a multi-parametric class of exactly solvable systems where the balanced gain and loss represented by the $PT$-symmetric refractive index can imply loca…
Dirac's approach to gauge symmetries is discussed. We follow closely the steps that led him from his conjecture concerning the generators of gauge transformations {\it at a given time} --to be contrasted with the common view of gauge transformations as maps from solutions of the equations of motion into other solutions-- to his decision to artificially modify the dynamics, substituting the extended Hamiltonian (including all first-class constraints) for the total Hamiltonian (including only the primary first-class constraints). We show in detail that Dirac's analysis was incomplete and, in com…
We consider exact/quasi-exact solvability of Dirac equation with a Lorentz scalar potential based on factorizability of the equation. Exactly solvable and $sl(2)$-based quasi-exactly solvable potentials are discussed separately in Cartesian coordinates for a pure Lorentz potential depending only on one spatial dimension, and in spherical coordinates in the presence of a Dirac monopole.
By following the Foldy-Wouthuysen (FW) transformation of the Dirac equation, we work out the exact analytic expressions up to the $1/M^4$ order for the general cases in the covariant density functional theory. These results are further compared with the corresponding ones derived from another novel non-relativistic expansion method, the similarity renormalization group (SRG). Based on that, the origin of the difference between the results obtained by the FW transformation and SRG method is explored.
Darboux transformation is a powerful tool for the construction of new solvable models in quantum mechanics. In this article, we discuss its use in the context of physical systems described by $4\times4$ Dirac Hamiltonians. The general framework provides limited control over the resulting energy operator, so that it can fail to have the required physical interpretation. We show that this problem can be circumvented with the reducible Darboux transformation that can preserve the required form of physical interactions by construction. To demonstrate it explicitly, we focus on distortion scatterin…
The paper describes conditions for transformation from the Dirac representation to the Foldy-Wouthuysen representation. The necessary condition is the block-diagonal transformation of Hamiltonian relative to the upper and lower components of the wave function. The sufficient condition is the wave function transformation law described by relation (6). It has been demonstrated that the unitary transformations offered by the authors of the papers [14], [15], [16], [17] do not satisfy the sufficiency condition (6) and, hence, they are not the Foldy-Wouthuysen transformations. In applications, the …
We show how to define gauge-covariant coordinate transformations on a noncommuting space. The construction uses the Seiberg-Witten equation and generalizes similar results for commuting coordinates.
Inspired by the reconstituted similarity renormalization group method, the reconstituted Foldy-Wouthuysen (FW) transformation is proposed. Applied to the Dirac equation in the covariant density functional theory, the reconstituted FW transformation shows a fast convergence of the spectrum of the single-particle energy. The single-particle densities and the single-particle scalar densities obtained by this new method are also investigated. In particular, the relativistic corrections to the densities from the picture-change error between the Schrödinger and Dirac pictures are discussed in detail…
We present the properties of new Dirac-type operators generated by real or complex-valued special Killing-Yano tensors that are covariantly constant and represent roots of the metric tensor. In the real case these are just the so called complex or hyper-complex structures of the K\" ahlerian manifolds. Such a Killing-Yano tensor produces simultaneously a Dirac-type operator and the generator of a one-parameter Lie group connecting this operator with the standard Dirac one. In this way the Dirac operators are related among themselves through continuous transformations associated with specific d…
The block-diagonalization of the Hamiltonian is not sufficient for the transformation to the Foldy-Wouthuysen (FW) representation. The conditions enabling the transition from the Dirac representation to the FW one are formulated and proved. The connection between wave functions in the two representations is derived. The results obtained allows calculating expectation values of operators corresponding to main classical quantities.
Darboux transformations are employed in construction and analysis of Dirac Hamiltonians with pseudoscalar potentials. By this method, we build a four parameter class of reflectionless systems. Their potentials correspond to composition of complex kinks, also known as twisted kinks, that play an important role in the $1+1$ Gross-Neveu and Nambu-Jona-Lasinio field theories. The twisted kinks turn out to be multi-solitonic solutions of the integrable AKNS hierarchy. Consequently, all the spectral properties of the Dirac reflectionless systems are reflected in a non-trivial conserved quantity, whi…
We define spin frames, with the aim of extending spin structures from the category of (pseudo-)Riemannian manifolds to the category of spin manifolds with a fixed signature on them, though with no selected metric structure. Because of this softer requirements, transformations allowed by spin frames are more general than usual spin transformations and they usually do not preserve the induced metric structures. We study how these new transformations affect connections both on the spin bundle and on the frame bundle and how this reflects on the Dirac equations.
With the aid of a modified similarity transformation we obtained exact energy eigenvalues of the generalized Dirac-Coulomb equation. This equation consists of the time component of the Lorentz 4-vector potential V_v(r)=-A_1/r, and a Lorentz scalar potential V_s(r)=-A_2/r. The transformed radial equations are so simple that their solutions are inferred from the conventional solutions of the Schrodinger equation.
Finite gauge transformations in double field theory can be defined by the exponential of generalized Lie derivatives. We interpret these transformations as `generalized coordinate transformations' in the doubled space by proposing and testing a formula that writes large transformations in terms of derivatives of the coordinate maps. Successive generalized coordinate transformations give a generalized coordinate transformation that differs from the direct composition of the original two. Instead, it is constructed using the Courant bracket. These transformations form a group when acting on fiel…
The observation that the existance of the amazing reality and discreteness of the spectrum need not be attributed to the Hermiticity of the Hamiltonian is reemphasized in the context of the non-Hermitian Dirac and Klein-Gordon Hamiltonians. Complex Coulombic potentials are considered.
We recently constructed the $R$-Poincaré algebra from an appropriate deformed Poisson brackets which reproduce the Fock coordinate transformation. We showed then that the spacetime of this transformation is the de Sitter one. In this paper, we derive in the $R$-Minkowski spacetime the Dirac equation and show that this is none other than the Dirac equation in the de Sitter spacetime given by its conformally flat metric. Furthermore, we propose a new approach for solving Dirac's equation in the de Sitter spacetime using the Schrödinger picture.
The spatially-dependent mass Dirac equation is solved exactly for attractive scalar and repulsive vector Coulomb potentials including a tensor interaction potential under the spin and pseudospin (p-spin) symmetric limits by using the Laplace transformation method (LTM). Closed forms of the energy eigenvalue equation and wave functions are obtained for arbitrary spin-orbit quantum number Some numerical results are given too. The effect of the tensor interaction on the bound states is presented. It is shown that the tensor interaction removes the degeneracy between two states in the spin doublet…
We consider the massive Dirac equation in the non-extreme Kerr geometry in horizon-penetrating advanced Eddington-Finkelstein-type coordinates and derive a functional analytic integral representation of the associated propagator using the spectral theorem for unbounded self-adjoint operators, Stone's formula, and quantities arising in the analysis of Chandrasekhar's separation of variables. This integral representation describes the dynamics of Dirac particles outside and across the event horizon, up to the Cauchy horizon. In the derivation, we first write the Dirac equation in Hamiltonian for…
The fully covariant formulation of transformation optics is used to find the configuration of a cloaking device operating in an expanding universe modelled by a Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker spacetime. This spacetime cloak is used as a platform for probing the covariant formulation of transformation optics, thereby rigorously enhancing the conceptual understanding of the theory. By studying the problem in both comoving and physical coordinates we explicitly demonstrate the preservation of general covariance of electrodynamics under the transformation optics procedure. This platform also …
This paper presents the general theory of canonical transformations of coordinates in quantum mechanics. First, the theory is developed in the formalism of phase space quantum mechanics. It is shown that by transforming a star-product, when passing to a new coordinate system, observables and states transform as in classical mechanics, i.e., by composing them with a transformation of coordinates. Then the developed formalism of coordinate transformations is transferred to a standard formulation of quantum mechanics. In addition, the developed theory is illustrated on examples of particular clas…
SO(2,1) is the symmetry algebra for a class of three-parameter problems that includes the oscillator, Coulomb and Morse potentials as well as other problems at zero energy. All of the potentials in this class can be mapped into the oscillator potential by point canonical transformations. We call this class the "oscillator class". A nontrivial graded extension of SO(2,1) is defined and its realization by two-dimensional matrices of differential operators acting in spinor space is given. It turns out that this graded algebra is the supersymmetry algebra for a class of relativistic potentials tha…
The complementarity between the twin concepts of pseudo-Hermiticity and weak pseudo-Hermiticity, established by Bagchi and Quesne [Phys. Lett. A 301 (2002) 173-176], can be understood in terms of coordinate transformations.
The semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation of charged, massive fermions in a rotating frame of reference, in the presence of external electromagnetic fields is solved in the relaxation time approach to establish the distribution function up to linear order in the electric field in rotating coordinates, centrifugal force and the derivatives. The spin and spin current densities are calculated by means of this distribution function at zero temperature up to the first order. It is shown that the nonequilibrium part of the distribution function yields the spin Hall effect for fermions constrain…
A basic problem in linear particle optics is to find a symplectic transformation that brings the (symmetric) beam matrix to a special diagonal form, called normal form. The conventional way to do this involves an eigenvalue-decomposition of a matrix related to the beam matrix, and may be applied to the case of 1, 2 or 3 particle degrees of freedom. For 2 degrees of freedom, a different normalization method involving "real Dirac matrices" has recently been proposed. In the present article, the mathematics of real Dirac matrices is presented differently. Another normalization recipe is given, an…
\noindent We study the concept of the complementarity, introduced by Bagchi and Quesne in [Phys. Lett. A {\bf 301}, 173 (2002)], between pseudo-Hermiticity and weak pseudo-Hermiticity in a rigorous mathematical viewpoint of coordinate transformations when a system has a position-dependent mass. We first determine, under the modified-momentum, the generating functions identifying the complexified potentials $V_\pm(x)$ under both concepts of pseudo-Hermiticity $\widetildeη_+$ (resp. weak pseudo-Hermiticity $\widetildeη_-$). We show that the concept of complementarity can be understood and interp…
Despite being studied for over a century, the use of quadrupoles have been limited to Cartesian coordinates in flat spacetime due to the incorrect transformation rules used to define them. Here the correct transformation rules are derived, which are particularly unusual as they involve second derivatives of the coordinate transformation and an integral. Transformations involving integrals have not been seen before. This is significantly different from the familiar transformation rules for a dipole, where the components transform as tensors. It enables quadrupoles to be correctly defined in gen…
A generalized algebra of noncommutative coordinates and momenta embracing non-Abelian gauge fields is proposed. Through a two-dimensional realization of this algebra for a gauge field including electromagnetic vector potential and two spin-orbit-like coupling terms, a Dirac-like Hamiltonian in noncommutative coordinates is introduced. We established the corresponding energy spectrum and from that we derived the relation between the energy level quantum number and the magnetic field at the maxima of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. By tuning the non-commutativity parameter θin terms of the value…
As early as 1972, Penrose - in a purely formal way - introduced a "discontinuous coordinate transformation", which relates a continuous representation of the metric of impulsive pp-waves to a discontinuous one. On the basis of the invertibility concept for generalized functions developed recently by the first author, we show that this discontinuous coordinate transformation indeed represents an invertible generalized function in the appropriate sense.
We prove two results about Wigner distributions. Firstly, that the Wigner transform is the only sesquilinear map ${\mathcal S}(\mathbb{R}^n) \times {\mathcal S}(\mathbb{R}^n) \to {\mathcal S}(\mathbb{R}^{2n})$ which is bounded and covariant under phase-space translations and linear symplectomorphisms. Consequently, the Wigner distributions form the only set of quasidistributions which is invariant under linear symplectic transformations. Secondly, we prove that the maximal group of (linear or non-linear) coordinate transformations that preserves the set of (pure or mixed) Wigner distributions …
Tetrad based equation for Dirac-Kähler particle is solved in spherical coordinates in the flat Minkocski space-time. Spherical solutions of boson type (J =0,1,2,...) are constructed. After performing a special transformation over spherical boson solutions of the Dirac-Kähler equation, 4 \times 4-matrices U(x) \Longrightarrow V(x), simple linear expansions of the four rows of new representativeof the Dirac--Kähler field V(x) in terms of spherical fermion solutions Ψ_{i}(x) of the four ordinary Dirac equations have been derived. However, this fact cannot be interpreted as the possibility not to …
This paper presents an overview of physical ideas and mathematical methods for implementing non-smooth and discontinuous substitutions in dynamical systems. General purpose of such substitutions is to bring the differential equations of motion to the form, which is convenient for further use of analytical and numerical methods of analyses. Three different types of nonsmooth transformations are discussed as follows: positional coordinate transformation, state variables transformation, and temporal transformations. Illustrating examples are provided.
