Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2023/iii/paper-305/1/b/solution

For , choose the future-pointing rest momentum . Its little group is the rotation group , or on the double cover. Its finite-dimensional unitary irreducible representations are labelled by
and have dimension . These are the spin states of a massive particle.
For , choose . Its little group is the two-dimensional Euclidean group
Nontrivial unitary action of the translation subgroup produces infinite-dimensional continuous-spin representations. For the finite-helicity particles observed in ordinary relativistic field theory, that subgroup acts trivially, leaving a one-dimensional representation of rotations about . Such representations are labelled by helicity.

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