Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-particle-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/5/b/solution

With the gamma matrices derived in a, the momentum-space Dirac equation reads
For a positive-energy particle at rest, and , so . The Dirac adjoint in this basis is , and the specified normalization gives
Therefore, for any normalized two-component spinor ,
Equivalently, choosing and gives the two independent rest-frame spin states. A strictly massless particle has no rest frame; this step requires .

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