Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 50 1 d ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For spin-up along the first axis, take the normalized eigenspinor of , namely . At rest this givesFor momentum , using the square roots displayed in part (i) with the same label givesThis is the massless limit of a transverse canonical-spin label: it is the equal superposition of the negative-helicity left-chiral mode and the positive-helicity right-chiral mode. It solves the massless Dirac equation and has norm squared .
A qualification is essential if “spin along the first axis” is interpreted literally at zero mass. The fixed transverse rotation generator is , with , and the massless Hamiltonian at this momentum is . They anticommute. If and both held, then , whereas , forcing . Thus there is no nonzero positive-energy massless solution with that literal transverse-spin eigenvalue. The displayed nonzero spinor is the transported rest-spin label requested by the massive-to-massless construction, rather than a transverse-spin eigenstate.