QM + Applications (Term 2)
Introduction [1L]
Why do atoms bond and solids form?
Free Fermions–Metals [5L]
Core and conduction electrons. Free electron model,
density of states, Fermi surface. Electrical conduction,
current operator. Heat capacity, Pauli susceptibility.
Degenerate fermions in stars. Liquid drop model.
Crystal Structure [2.5L]
Bravais lattices, crystal structure and point groups.
Diffraction studies.
Insulators and Semiconductors [3.5L]
Energy gaps. Valence and conduction bands, Doping.
Electrons and Holes, pn junctions (diodes)
Standard Model [5L]
The constituents, use of natural units. Quantum
mechanics of elementary particles, antiparticles, origin
of spin. Force as exchange of bosons. W± exchange
and Fermi’s contact interaction.
Models and Dirac Notation [3L]
2-state systems. Ammonia molecule, neutrino
oscillations, K mesons.
1/14/2015 Standard Model of Elementary Particles
(Give Schroedinger eqn in non-relativistic limit)
Lecture 13
Sign of i corrected from lecture. Sign convention
only relevant if we want to use rho to describe
charge density - it can’t be a prob density.
Dirac Equation
In the following, I set h̄ = c = 1 and use the notation @t = @
@t
, and @j = @
@xj
.
Dirac suggested the equation (DE)
(i@t + i↵.r m) = 0. (1)
The DE needs to be consistent with the correspondence principle, ie solutions to the DE
must also satisfy the Klein-Gordon equation (KG):
@t2 + r2 m2 = 0. (2)
As we will see, the DE requires the wavefunction to have more than one component, so
that each of the three components of the vector ↵ = (↵1 , ↵2 , ↵3 ) and the quantity will
be matrices.
It looks as if something like the square of the DE might have something to do with KG. In
fact, if we write the DE as
(A + B) = 0 with A = i@t and B = i↵.r m,
we see that operating from the left with (A B) ensures that there are no cross-terms
involving @t :
0 = (A B)(A + B) = A2 B2 = ( @t2 B2) ,
with
B2 = (i↵.r m) (i↵.r m)
⇥ 2 2
= (↵1 @1 + ↵2 @2 + ↵3 @3 )(↵1 @1 + ↵2 @2 + ↵3 @3 ) m
+ im ((↵1 @1 + ↵2 @2 + ↵3 @3 ) + (↵1 @1 + ↵2 @2 + ↵3 @3 ))]
" #
X X X
= ↵j2 @j2 2 2
m + (↵j ↵k + ↵k ↵j ) @j @k + i (↵j + ↵j ) m@j .
j j<k j
Now, if we can find ↵ and so that
↵j2 = 2 = 1 j = 1, 2, 3
↵j + ↵ j = 0 j = 1, 2, 3
↵j ↵k + ↵k ↵j = 0 j 6= k, (3)
then the KG equation is satisfied
0 = ( @t2 B2) = @t2 + r2 m2 . (4)
Can we find such quantities?
Pauli Matrices
Anticommuting Matrices
Matrices A and B which satisfy AB BA = 0 are said to commute, while those that
satisfy AB + BA = 0 are said to anticommute. The conditions in (3) require us to look
for four anticommuting matrices ↵1 , ↵2 , ↵3 and .
The 3 Pauli Matrices
We can find three (but not four) linearly independent anticommuting 2 ⇥ 2 matrices. They
are the Pauli spin matrices:
✓ ◆ ✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
0 1 0 i 1 0
1
= , 2
= , 3
= . (5)
1 0 i 0 0 1
The 2 ⇥ 2 identity matrix is sometimes denoted by 0 :
✓ ◆
1 0
0
= . (6)
0 1
We can check that the Pauli matrices satisfy the conditions in (3). For example,
✓ ◆✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
1 2 0 1 0 i i 0
= = ,
1 0 i 0 0 i
✓ ◆✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
2 1 0 i 0 1 i 0
= =
i 0 1 0 0 i
1 2 2 1
) + = 0;
and
✓ ◆✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
2 2 0 i 0 i 1 0
= =
i 0 i 0 0 1
etc
If the rest mass of the particles is zero, then the term proportional to is no longer present
in (1) and we could satisfy the conditions (3) using only three anticommuting matrices.
The resulting equation (called the Weyl equation) comes in two inequivalent forms (for
so-called right-handed and left-handed particles) and describes massless fermions.
NB The conditions (3) can be shown quite easily to restrict the dimensionality of the
matrices to be even. It follows after noting that the eigenvalues of the matrices have to
equal ±1 and that the trace of the matrices, which is equal to the sum of the eigen values,
can be shown to vanish.
2
The ↵ and Matrices
A set of four anticommuting matrices satisfying (3) is
✓ i
◆ ✓ 0
◆
0 0
i
↵ = i , with i = 1, 2, 3, and = 0 . (7)
0 0
Here I have used a 2 ⇥ 2 block notation. For example:
0 1
✓ ◆ 0 1 0 0
1
0 B 1 0 0 0 C
↵1 = ⌘ B @
C,
0 1
0 0 0 1 A
0 0 1 0
0 1
✓ ◆ 0 0 1 0
0 0 B 0 0 0 1 C
= ⌘ B @ 1 0
C.
0
0 0 0 A
0 1 0 0
The dashed lines delineate the 2 ⇥ 2 blocks.
If we insert these matrices into (1), we obtain the DE. The DE is an equation for a
four-component wavefunction which is sometimes called a Dirac spinor. Note that this
choice of matrices gives the so-called chiral form of the DE (it is the one usually used
when constructing the standard model though not the one usually used when introducing
relativistic quantum mechanics). As explained on the next page, other choices are possible
but the physics described by the DE is independent of this choice.
The theory needs to be invariant under Lorentz transformations, rotations, inversions and
translations, ie all inertial frames of reference are equivalent, and no direction or origin is
special. You need to aware that Lorentz transformations (which ‘mix up’ time and one
space direction for the particle) or rotations (which ‘mix up’/relabel directions in space for
the particle) also require corresponding transformations of the components of the spinor
and of the quantity ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 ). These are of the type discussed on the next two pages.
In fact, an alternative derivation of the DE simply establishes the relations between
components of spinors, which are forced on any theory by symmetry.
3
Lecture 13 (recap)
Lecture 14
Lecture 14 (recap)
Lecture 15
Lecture 15 recap
Lecture 16