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Interpretation of Dirac equation states

In Pauli theory the components of two-component wavefunction were interpreted as probability amplitudes of finding the particle in
particular spin state. This seems easy to understand.

But when talking about Dirac equation, we have four-component wavefunction, two of which correspond to usual spin components of Pauli
electron, and another two... How do I interpret positron-related components of Dirac electron? Are they probability amplitudes for the
particle to appear to be positron? Or maybe to appear to not be positron (taking Dirac sea picture into account)?

wavefunction dirac-equation

asked Dec 29 '13 at 13:18

Ruslan
4,722 3 18 41

3 Strictly speaking, the spin components, both the positron pair and electron pair, are only defined as such in the rest
frame of the particle, and in other frames they mix. You can, however, define things like helicity and chirality that
work better. lionelbrits Dec 29 '13 at 13:35

1 @Ruslan, if my answer answered your question, you are always free to accept it :). Dominique May 19 '14 at 10:23

@Nick sure, will just wait until bounty period expires to avoid restraining others from attempting to answer it if
they think they can add something valuable. I didn't forget about accepting :) Ruslan May 19 '14 at 13:21

@Ruslan, ok no problem :). Idd the more information the better, smart thinking! In the meanwhile, another book
that might be an enlightment is "Modern particle physics" by Mark Thomson (it's only a few months old but written
in a very good way :) ). Dominique May 19 '14 at 18:40

1 Answer

The interpretation of the Dirac equation states depend on what representation you choose for
your -matrices or your i and -matrices depending on what you prefer. Both are linked via
= (, ). Choosing your representation will (more or less) fix your basis in which you

consider the solutions to your equation (choosing another representation will rotate your
entire solution).

The representation that I will choose is the Dirac-Pauli representation, given by:
i
I22 0 i 0
= ( ) and = ( ),
i
0 I22 0

where i are the Pauli-matrices.

If you would solve the Dirac-equation in this representation, you will find 4 independent
solutions:

0

1 (x) = N1 pz
exp(ip x )
E+m


p x +ip y

E+m

1

2 (x) = N2 p x ip y exp(ip x )

E+m
p z

E+m

pz

Em

p x +ip y

3 (x) = N3 Em exp(ip x )

1

i
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4/4/2017 wavefunction - Interpretation of Dirac equation states - Physics Stack Exchange
p x ip y

Em

p z

4 (x) = N4 Em exp(ip x )

0

The way to interpret these states is to look at them in the rest-frame, so the frame in which they
stand still p = (E, 0, 0, 0), the states will become simply the following:

1 0 0

0 iEt 1 iEt 0 iEt

1 = N 1 e , 2 = N 2 e , 3 = N 3 e and4
0 0 1

0 0 0

0 iEt
= N4 e ,
0

by inspection of the time-evolution of the phase factor we can already see that 1 and 2
represent positive energy states (particles) and the 3 and 4 represent negative energy states
(so anti-particles).

In order to know the spin you should use the helicity-operator, given by:

^ ^
p S
p = ,
|p |

In the case of the Dirac-equation the spin operator is given by the double Pauli-matrix:

1 0
^
S = ( ),
2 0

if we let this one work on the spinors 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 , we find that their spin is respectively
up, down, up, down. So looking at electrons the Dirac-spinor can be interpreted in the Pauli-
Dirac representation as (for example for the electron):

e


e
= .
e+

+
e

When the momentum is NOT equal to zero these different states mix up and you can't make
such a simple identification. Usually one says that the electron becomes a mixture of an
electron with positrons when it starts moving.

edited Dec 4 '14 at 12:27 answered May 15 '14 at 10:38

Piotr Migdal Dominique
3,844 15 47 1,833 8 27

How should a state of 1 + 3 then be interpreted? Will a measurement find sometimes electron, other times
positron? Ruslan May 15 '14 at 10:55

1 I wouldn't say that the Dirac representation is "the most common". The Chiral (or Weyl) representation


02
= ( )


02

where
i i
= (I2 , ) and
= (I2 , )

with the i the usual Pauli matrices, is also very common. As with the metric convention, it is an unfortunate case
that everyone won't agree on. Flint72 May 15 '14 at 14:40

1 @Ruslan, as Flint72 pointed out, I mad a typo, it's indeed the states 1 and 3 I was talking about. Dominique
May 15 '14 at 15:40

1 @Ruslan 1) Bear in mind that

1
( 1 + 3 ) isn't an eigenstate of the Dirac Hamiltonian, since one has energy>0
2

while the other <0. Their superposition is possible but undefined in the Hamiltonian basis. 2) Sure, 3,4 are
electrons with energy<0. You may then interpret them as belonging to the Dirac sea, as Dirac did, and say that
positrons are holes; or you may look at the conserved current and reinterpret them as positively charged states.In
either way, you realize that the Dirac equation does admit energy<0 states for electrons. That was Pauli's
concern,indeed. Wizzerad May 17 '14 at 9:50

2 @Ruslan, indeed in semi-conductors you also have electrons and holes, and if you want you can draw that kind of
anology since a hole also acts like a positive charged particle, see also Wizzerad's comment! Because 1 , 2 , 3 and
4 all follow Dirac's equation we know it are particles with mass m (so all the same mass), if you look at the charge

you see that the charge of 1 and 2 is opposite to that of 3 and 4 (you can do this by symmetry, or by calculating
the probability density and interpreting this as a charge distribution as Pauli did). Dominique May 17 '14 at 22:30

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