Use the metric and . Transposing a product reverses its order but does not conjugate the factor . Thus the charge-conjugation matrix identity gives
where reversing the four distinct gamma matrices requires six exchanges. Similarly,
To fix the transpose sign, work in the Weyl representation of the gamma matrices:
The Pauli identity checks directly, and gives , with . Any other intertwiner differs from by a scalar: its ratio with commutes with all gamma matrices, whose products span the full four-by-four matrix algebra. A matrix commuting with all matrix units is scalar. Under a spinor basis change , the intertwiner becomes , whose transpose is still its negative. Therefore in every such four-component representation
This proves the antisymmetry of the four-dimensional charge-conjugation matrix, rather than leaving the sign undetermined by the general transpose argument.
Hermitian conjugating the charged Dirac equation, using real and , gives the adjoint Dirac equation
Transpose it and multiply by . Since , the field obtained by charge conjugation obeys
Thus algebraic charge conjugation reverses the electromagnetic coupling.
If , , Hermiticity of and its anticommutation with imply
Using the first transpose identity,
Hence : algebraic charge conjugation reverses chirality. This concerns conjugating the already projected spinor, not the distinct operation of keeping a chiral projector outside an operator conjugation.
For the Grassmann variation of a chiral Majorana mass term, variations of odd fields must be moved past odd fields with a minus sign. If , componentwise reordering gives
Both and are antisymmetric. Treating independently, integrating the kinetic variation by parts, and placing varied Grassmann fields on the left gives
The factors two from variation cancel the mass-term factors . The first coefficient gives one equation; multiplying the second by gives the other:
The variations can be restricted to their chiral subspaces: the two terms in each equation have the same opposite output chirality, so no inactive component equation has been imposed.
Applying to the first equation and substituting the second, using , gives
A phase rotation removes the phase of , and combining the chiral field with its conjugate then gives a Majorana fermion of this mass, not two independent chiral species.
Let and . Question 1 shows they are gauge singlets, so both terms in preserve electroweak gauge invariance. The original PDF has in the first term; the TeX aid incorrectly replaces it by . At the Higgs field vacuum,
so
Comparing with the just-derived chiral mass equations yields the Majorana neutrino mass from the Weinberg operator:
For nonzero this generates a mass without introducing a right-handed neutrino. Under lepton number rotation , the first operator acquires and its conjugate acquires . Thus the interaction violates lepton number by . Each composite contains one scalar of mass dimension one and one fermion of dimension , so the interaction is dimension five and has dimension . This is the Weinberg operator, an effective extension of the minimal renormalizable Standard Model, consistent with the absence of bare quadratic masses in Question 1.
With the Standard Model field content, every gauge-invariant, Lorentz-invariant operator of dimension at most four automatically preserves baryon number and total lepton number. They are therefore accidental symmetries, rather than symmetries imposed in constructing the renormalizable Lagrangian. This explains perturbative conservation in ordinary reactions. They are not exact principles: the electroweak chiral anomaly violates , the dimension-five Weinberg operator violates lepton number, and dimension-six proton-decay operators can violate baryon number. The combination is anomaly free when a right-handed neutrino is included in each generation.
The unique dimension-five operator built solely from Standard Model fields is the Weinberg operator
which gives a Majorana mass term after the Higgs condenses. A dimension-six example that mediates proton decay is
with Lorentz and weak indices contracted appropriately; is another. Their dimensions explain why neutrino masses are tiny and proton decay is rare: both probe a high scale, while the stronger proton-lifetime bound places especially severe constraints on baryon-number violation.
In the convention , one Standard Model fermion generation including a right-handed neutrino is
A bare Dirac mass term pairs left- and right-handed fields in the same gauge representation, but every charged left-handed Standard Model fermion is an doublet while its right-handed partner is a singlet. The Higgs field and permit the gauge-invariant Yukawa interactions
The neutral Higgs vacuum expectation value turns them into masses after electroweak symmetry breaking.
Because is a gauge singlet, it may also have a large Majorana mass term . Together with its Dirac mass , the seesaw mechanism gives a light neutrino mass . If no right-handed neutrino is retained, the same low-energy physics is encoded by the dimension-five Weinberg operator .
Now let be an electroweak scalar triplet with . Its weights are , and electric charge is , so its components have charges
In the given matrix convention,
Thus the electromagnetic-neutral direction satisfies and .
The gauge-invariant type-II seesaw mechanism Yukawa interaction is
The two lepton doublets have total hypercharge , which is cancelled by , and the displayed contraction is a singlet. Expanding it contains
Therefore a neutral condensate preserves electromagnetism and generates a left-handed-neutrino Majorana mass term proportional to .