Bilinear terms in QED lagrangian under charge conjugation

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on verifying the invariance of the QED Lagrangian under charge conjugation. The transformation involves changing the gauge field A_\mu to -A_\mu and the Dirac field \Psi to -i(\bar\Psi \gamma^0 \gamma^2)^T. The participant attempts to compute the bilinear term \bar\Psi \Psi under these transformations but encounters a discrepancy with a negative sign that contradicts established results in Peskin and Schroeder. Confusion arises regarding the handling of indices and the implications of the anticommutation relations for fermionic fields, particularly when considering the case where the spacetime points coincide. The discussion highlights the importance of careful index manipulation and the subtleties of fermionic statistics in quantum field theory.
faklif
Messages
17
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


I want to check that the QED lagrangian \mathcal{L}=-\frac{1}{4}F^{\alpha\beta}F_{\alpha\beta} + \bar\Psi(i\displaystyle{\not} D - m)\Psi where F^{\alpha\beta} = \partial^\alpha A^\beta - \partial^\beta A^\alpha, \ D^\mu = \partial^\mu - ieA^\mu is invariant under charge conjugation which is given as A_\mu \rightarrow A'_\mu = -A_\mu, \ \Psi \rightarrow \Psi' = -i(\bar\Psi \gamma^0\gamma^2)^T.

Homework Equations


See above.

The Attempt at a Solution


I have computed \bar\Psi \rightarrow \bar\Psi' = \Psi'\gamma^0 = -i(\gamma^0\gamma^2\Psi)^T which I have then checked in Peskin and Schroeder.

Next I wanted to compute \bar\Psi \Psi \rightarrow \bar\Psi' \Psi' = -i(\gamma^0\gamma^2\Psi)^T(-i\bar\Psi \gamma^0\gamma^2)^T = -(\bar\Psi \gamma^0\gamma^2)(\gamma^0\gamma^2\Psi) = - \bar\Psi \Psi. Where I transpose the whole expression which I thought should be ok since the Lagrangian is 1x1 and use \gamma^0\gamma^2\gamma^0\gamma^2 = I. Checking this in P&S is not as fun since it's wrong, there should be no minus sign. What am I doing wrong?

I also don't quite understand the computation in P&S which is \bar\Psi \Psi \rightarrow \bar\Psi' \Psi' = -i(\gamma^0\gamma^2\Psi)^T(-i\bar\Psi \gamma^0\gamma^2)^T = -\gamma^0_{ab}\gamma^2_{bc}\Psi_c\bar\Psi_d\gamma^0_{de}\gamma^2_{ea} = \bar\Psi_d\gamma^0_{de}\gamma^2_{ea}\gamma^0_{ab}\gamma^2_{bc}\Psi_c = -\bar\Psi\gamma^2\gamma^0\gamma^0\gamma^2\Psi = \bar\Psi \Psi. What I don't understand is the step between the two expressions with indices, why does the sign change?
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
I've kept studying and I think that the minus sign which appears is from \{\Psi_a(x),\Psi_b(y)\} = \delta(x-y)\delta_{ab}. What I don't understand is what happens at x=y with a=b? Don't I have to account for this as well since the sum is over all a and b and not limited in space?
 
Thread 'Help with Time-Independent Perturbation Theory "Good" States Proof'
(Disclaimer: this is not a HW question. I am self-studying, and this felt like the type of question I've seen in this forum. If there is somewhere better for me to share this doubt, please let me know and I'll transfer it right away.) I am currently reviewing Chapter 7 of Introduction to QM by Griffiths. I have been stuck for an hour or so trying to understand the last paragraph of this proof (pls check the attached file). It claims that we can express Ψ_{γ}(0) as a linear combination of...
Back
Top