Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-groups-and-representations-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2025/3/d/solution

Because the present is anti-Hermitian, choose the Dirac adjoint with Hermitian intertwining matrix :
This convention makes the Dirac scalar bilinear Hermitian. For real , a Lorentz invariant mass term is
To check infinitesimal Lorentz invariance, put . Then and . Using a,
Equivalently, , and similarly for its complex conjugate. Exponentiation gives and therefore .
At fixed coordinates has only the orbital variation of a Lorentz scalar; the spacetime measure is invariant under the connected Lorentz group, so the integrated action is invariant. The mass term pairs the two opposite chiralities; retaining only one Weyl spinor removes this Dirac mass. An equivalent spinor phase convention gives a real multiple of instead.

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