Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/iii/paper-48/1/c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 48 1 c Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For , choose the corresponding spin liftThe spinor field transforms asThe infinitesimal Clifford algebra identity from part (b) exponentiates to , establishing Lorentz covariance of the Dirac operator. At fixed coordinates the infinitesimal variation also includes the orbital term .
A spatial rotation generator is anti-Hermitian, but a Lorentz boost generator is Hermitian. For example,Its eigenvalues are . A nonzero rapidity gives boost eigenvalues , which are not all on the unit circle. This proves that the finite-dimensional component Spinor representation of the Lorentz group cannot be unitary for a positive-definite component inner product, even after a change of basis. It does not contradict a unitary action on the physical space of quantum states.
Consequently need not equal : it is the time component of the Dirac current, not a Lorentz scalar. The appropriate invariant form is indefinite. From one obtainsThis Dirac spinor pseudo-unitarity gives and hence the Dirac scalar bilinear
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