Charge conjugation ($C$)

Charge conjugation exchanges particles with antiparticles. For a matrix-valued gauge potential it acts as $A_{\mu }\mapsto -A_{\mu }^T$.

For two equal-energy bosonic species with annihilation operators $a,b$, set $c_{-}=(a-b)/\sqrt{2}$ and let $N_{-}$ be its number operator. Since $[N_{-},c_{-}]=-c_{-}$, conjugation by $e^{i\pi N_{-}}$ reverses the antisymmetric combination while fixing $(a+b)/\sqrt{2}$, and therefore exchanges $a,b$ and their creation operators. For the particle and antiparticle modes of a complex scalar field this realizes charge conjugation, fixes the Fock vacuum, and squares to one. The normal-ordered generator $\int (a^{†}-b^{†})(a-b)$ equals $2N_{-}$. Writing the annihilation factors first adds an infinite constant in the continuum, which must be subtracted or regulated before defining its exponential.

The charge-conjugate field of a fermion field transforms in the complex-conjugate internal group representation. With a compatible Dirac adjoint and charge conjugation matrix convention it is ${\psi }^c=C{\bar{\psi }}^T$, up to a conventional constant phase. In four spacetime dimensions charge conjugation exchanges the chirality of the field; a right-handed quark can therefore be represented by a left-handed conjugate field when listing chiral unified matter. In two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, charge conjugation can instead preserve chirality, permitting a Majorana-Weyl spinor.

A neutral self-conjugate pseudoscalar with $C=+1$ cannot decay through charge-conjugation-conserving interactions into a neutral $C=-1$ vector and a neutral $C=+1$ pion. The two final particles are distinct and each maps to itself under charge conjugation, so their total C eigenvalue is the product, without an exchange factor $(-1{)}^L$. Their relative orbital angular momentum still enters their total parity. For $0^{-}\to 0^{-}{1}^{-}$, $L=1$ gives a CP-violating transition if a weak amplitude is retained.

For a neutral pion pair in a state of definite relative orbital angular momentum $L$, charge conjugation interchanges ${\pi }^{+}$ and ${\pi }^{-}$. Relabelling the particle slots reverses the relative momentum and contributes $(-1{)}^L$. The individual charged-pion phase conventions cancel in the pair. Thus a neutral vector rho meson decaying strongly to a pion pair has $L=1$ and $C=-1$. A charged rho meson is taken to the state of opposite electric charge, so it is not itself a charge-conjugation eigenstate.

Charge conjugation symmetry is invariance of the dynamics under charge conjugation. It pairs a process with its particle-antiparticle conjugate at equal rates. C violation is the failure of this invariance.

Write a matrix-valued gauge field ${\mathcal{A}}_{\mu }=A_{\mu }^a{T}^a$ in the fundamental representation. Charge conjugation sends it to $-{\mathcal{A}}_{\mu }^T$ because reordering the fermions transposes both the spinor and internal matrices. The identity $[A^T,B^T]=-[A,B{]}^T$ then sends the gauge field strength to $-{\mathcal{F}}_{\mu \nu }^T$. This distinction prevents treating all color components as individually C-odd.

A theory violates charge conjugation when conjugating particles to antiparticles changes a physical interaction or its transition probabilities. This is different from CP violation: an interaction can violate charge conjugation and parity symmetry in quantum field theory separately while preserving their combination.

For a Dirac field, the charge-conjugation matrix implements ${\psi }^c=C{\bar{\psi }}^T$. In the standard gamma matrix representation one can take $C=i{\gamma }^2{\gamma }^0$. An overall phase is conventional. The transpose intertwining relation is different from the entrywise complex conjugation involved in an antiunitary operator.

The phase in a field transformation $\hat{C}{V}^{\mu }{\hat{C}}^{-1}={\eta }_C{V}^{\mu †}$. For a real vector relativistic quantum field, Hermitian conjugation restricts this phase to $\pm 1$.

For normal ordering of a fermion bilinear, charge conjugation sends $\bar{\psi }\Gamma \psi$ to $\bar{\psi }(C^{-1}\Gamma C{)}^T\psi$. In particular the Dirac current is odd and the axial current is even under charge conjugation.

Choose the negative-frequency Dirac spinors as the charge conjugates of the positive-frequency spinors. Transposing $\bar{u}(/p-m)=0$ and using the charge-conjugation matrix identity gives $(/p+m)C{\bar{u}}^T=0$, so the displayed choice solves the correct antiparticle equation. In the mode expansion of a Dirac field, the unitary charge-conjugation operator then exchanges particle and antiparticle annihilation operators, with conjugate phases on their creation operators. A different spinor basis can insert conventional phases or a spin-index relabeling; the displayed equality specifies a compatible choice.

For ${\psi }^c=C{\bar{\psi }}^T$, use a unitary charge-conjugation matrix with $C^{-1}{\gamma }^{0}C=-({\gamma }^0{)}^T$ and Hermitian ${\gamma }^0$ of square one. The Dirac adjoint then satisfiesIf the unitary charge conjugation operator sends $\psi$ to ${\eta }_C{\psi }^c$, it sends $\bar{\psi }$ to $-{\eta }_C^{\ast }{\psi }^T{C}^{-1}$. Antisymmetry $C^T=-C$ also gives $({\psi }^c{)}^c=\psi$. The unitary operator acting on fields is not an antiunitary operator acting on numerical coefficients.

In the complex-conjugate convention for charge conjugation of a Dirac field, a unitary matrix $B$ obeys the displayed gamma matrix identity. For $M^{\rho \sigma }=\frac{1}{4}[{\gamma }^{\rho },{\gamma }^{\sigma }]$, two minus signs cancel to give $M^{\rho \sigma }B=B{M}^{\rho \sigma \ast }$. Real Lorentz transformation parameters therefore give $SB=B{S}^{\ast }$, so $B{\psi }^{\ast }$ has the same Spinor representation of the Lorentz group transformation law as $\psi$. Complex conjugating the free Dirac equation and multiplying by $B$ proves that the conjugate also solves it for real mass. This $B$ is the matrix multiplying ${\psi }^{\ast }$; the convention multiplying ${\bar{\psi }}^T$ instead uses $B({\gamma }^0{)}^T$.

The Dirac adjoint of a chiral field has opposite projector placement because ${\gamma }_5$ anticommutes with ${\gamma }^0$: $\bar{\psi }{\gamma }_5=-\eta \bar{\psi }$. Since $C{\gamma }_5^T{C}^{-1}={\gamma }_5$, the algebraic charge conjugate satisfies ${\gamma }_{5}C{\bar{\psi }}^T=C(\bar{\psi }{\gamma }_5{)}^T=-\eta {\psi }^c$. This is conjugation of a projected spinor, distinguished from operator conjugation of a chiral field component, where the numerical projector is kept outside the conjugation operator.

The unitary charge-conjugation operator acts on field operators and commutes with numerical chiral projectors, so $\hat{C}(P_L\psi ){\hat{C}}^{-1}=P_L{\psi }^c$. This component is left-chiral. The algebraic conjugate of an already projected spinor instead satisfies $(P_L\psi {)}^c=P_R{\psi }^c$, because its adjoint carries the opposite projector. Keeping the two operations separate avoids a false chirality conclusion.

If $C{\gamma }^{\mu T}{C}^{-1}=-{\gamma }^{\mu }$, transposition shows that $C^T{C}^{-1}$ commutes with every gamma matrix. Irreducibility of the complex Dirac representation and the Schur lemma make it scalar. Transposing $C^T=zC$ again yields $z^2=1$, so $C^T=\pm C$.

In the Weyl representation of the gamma matrices, $C=i{\gamma }^2{\gamma }^0=\mathrm{diag}(\epsilon ,-\epsilon )$ with $\epsilon =i{\tau }_2$. The antisymmetry of $\epsilon$ gives $C^T=-C$, and direct multiplication gives $C{\gamma }^{\mu T}{C}^{-1}=-{\gamma }^{\mu }$ and $C^{†}C=I$. Any two such intertwining matrices differ by a scalar: their ratio commutes with all gamma matrices, whose products span the full four-by-four matrix algebra. Changing spinor basis sends $C$ to $SC{S}^T$, so transpose antisymmetry is basis-independent. Its sign is therefore fixed, not merely one of the two alternatives supplied by the general transpose symmetry of a charge-conjugation matrix argument.

For ${\psi }^C={\eta }_{C}C{\bar{\psi }}^T$ and ${\gamma }^{0T}={\gamma }^0=-C{\gamma }^0{C}^{-1}$, the Dirac adjoint transforms as ${\bar{\psi }}^C=-{\eta }_C^{\ast }{\psi }^T{C}^{†}$. Anticommuting the components of the fermion bilinear gives $(\bar{\psi }\psi {)}^C=\bar{\psi }(C^{†}C{)}^T\psi$. Invariance of the scalar bilinear therefore fixes $C^{†}C=I$.

Furry's theorem states that a charge-conjugation-invariant vacuum has vanishing correlation functions containing an odd number of electromagnetic currents or photon fields. Consequently amplitudes with an odd number of external photons and no charged external state vanish.