The Dirac equation is a fundamental equation in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory that describes the behavior of fermions, such as electrons and quarks, that have spin-½. It was formulated by the British physicist Paul Dirac in 1928 as a way to reconcile the principles of quantum mechanics with special relativity. The equation incorporates both the wave-like nature of matter and the relativistic effects of high velocities.
Adds special relativity to the Schrödinger equation, and the following conclusions come basically as a direct consequence of this!
Experiments explained:
Experiments not explained: those that quantum electrodynamics explains like:See also: Dirac equation vs quantum electrodynamics.
- Lamb shift
- TODO: quantization of the electromagnetic field as photons?
The Dirac equation is a set of 4 partial differential equations on 4 complex valued wave functions. The full explicit form in Planck units is shown e.g. in Video 1. "Quantum Mechanics 12a - Dirac Equation I by ViaScience (2015)" at youtu.be/OCuaBmAzqek?t=1010:Then as done at physics.stackexchange.com/questions/32422/qm-without-complex-numbers/557600#557600 from why are complex numbers used in the Schrodinger equation?, we could further split those equations up into a system of 8 equations on 8 real-valued functions.
Equation 1.
Expanded Dirac equation in Planck units
. PHYS 485 Lecture 14: The Dirac Equation by Roger Moore (2016)
Source. New to topics? Read the docs here!