Tagged Questions

2
votes
1answer
55 views

Is conservation of statistics logically independent of spin?

If the number of fermions is $n$, we expect the quantity $(-1)^n$ to be conserved, i.e., $n$ never changes between even and odd. This is known as conservation of statistics. In the normal context of ...
7
votes
1answer
105 views

What do the modes of fermion fields look like?

A boson field can be understood as a collection of stationary modes (e.g. plane waves of various polarizations), and for each mode there is a quantum harmonic oscillator. If the QHO for some mode is ...
6
votes
1answer
231 views

What is the value of a quantum field?

As far as I'm aware (please correct me if I'm wrong) quantum fields are simply operators, constructed from a linear combination of creation and annihilation operators, which are defined at every point ...
5
votes
1answer
329 views

Faddeev-Popov ghost propagator in canonical quantization

Obtaining the propagator for the Faddeev-Popov (FP) ghosts from the path integral language is straightforward. It is simply $$\langle T(c(x) \bar c(y))\rangle~=~\int\frac{d^4 p}{(2\pi)^4}\frac{i ...
2
votes
3answers
315 views

Dirac equation as Hamiltonian system

Let us consider Dirac equation $$(i\gamma^\mu\partial_\mu -m)\psi =0$$ as a classical field equation. Is it possible to introduce Poisson bracket on the space of spinors $\psi$ in such a way that ...
1
vote
0answers
104 views

Number of Grassmann generators for Dirac field?

How many Grassmann generators are sufficient for the description of a Dirac spinor in 4 dimensions? i.e. The Dirac field is a map to $\Lambda_N$, the space of supernumbers with $N$ real Grassmann ...
7
votes
3answers
465 views

Grassmann paradox weirdness

I'm running into an annoying problem I am unable to resolve, although a friend has given me some guidance as to how the resolution might come about. Hopefully someone on here knows the answer. It is ...
2
votes
2answers
192 views

Fermion Field of Standard Model

Why fermion field is treated as anti-commuting and boson field as truly classical in standard model?
3
votes
1answer
217 views

What's the role of field equation in QFT?

For free field theory, it seems the solutions of a field equation are used to give a representation of Poincare group, and the field equation is still satisfied after quantization. However for an ...
1
vote
1answer
117 views

Superspace Uncertainty Principle

Do the "operator for translations in superspace" and the "position in superspace operator" follow an uncertainty principle? How "real" is superspace? Aside from being weird (and possibly just a ...
10
votes
1answer
233 views

Time reversal symmetry and T^2 = -1

I'm a mathematician interested in abstract QFT. I'm trying to undersand why, under certain (all?) circumstances, we must have $T^2 = -1$ rather than $T^2 = +1$, where $T$ is the time reversal ...
6
votes
1answer
357 views

Time reversal symmetry and T^2 = -1

I'm a mathematician interested in abstract QFT. I'm trying to undersand why, under certain (all?) circumstances, we must have $T^2 = -1$ rather than $T^2 = +1$, where $T$ is the time reversal ...
12
votes
1answer
383 views

A reading list to build up to the spin statistics theorem

Wikipedia's article on the spin-statistics theorem sums it up thusly: In quantum mechanics, the spin-statistics theorem relates the spin of a particle to the particle statistics it obeys. The spin ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views

What are the mathematical problems in introducing Spin 3/2 fermions?

Can the physics complications of introducing spin 3/2 Rarita-Schwinger matter be put in geometric (or other) terms readily accessible to a mathematician?
10
votes
2answers
691 views

What is the fundamental reason of the fermion doubling?

Recall that the fermion doubling is the problem in taking the $a \to 0$ limit of a naively discretized fermionic theory (defined on a lattice with lattice spacing $a$). After such a limit one finds ...
2
votes
1answer
233 views

A particular notation about fermions

I am not sure that this notation is specific to supersymmetry theories but I ran into this while studying that. I see people talking of component fields of a chiral superfield as $\phi$ and ...
5
votes
1answer
999 views

How does one prove Fierz identities?

Fierz identities are discussed in the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fierz_identity but the article doesn't give any derivation. The article implies that they arise from the blade ...
8
votes
2answers
335 views

Some Majorana fermion identities

I have been struggling with these Majorana fermion identities for quite sometime now. I would be grateful if someone can help me with them. Let $\lambda$,$\theta$ and $\psi$ be $4$-component ...