Variation of the action with respect to the independent Dirac adjoint gives . The gamma matrices chosen in a make the Dirac equation
Multiplication by gives the equivalent Dirac Hamiltonian form
For a plane wave , where is the signed one-dimensional momentum, the equation is
A nonzero spinor exists precisely when the determinant vanishes:
For , one possible unnormalized spinor solution is . Alternatively, follows from the Pauli matrix multiplication law, proving the same relativistic energy-momentum relation. Acting on the Dirac equation with also shows that each component satisfies , the Klein-Gordon equation.
In the chirality basis of a, the two rows of the Dirac Hamiltonian equation give
The Dirac mass term thus couples the two opposite chirality components. In particular, the Lagrangian density is
For , the coupling disappears and the massless Dirac equation splits into the independent transport equations
These are the two chiral transport equations in two spacetime dimensions. The chiral projectors are and ; in this basis they simply select the upper and lower components.