SPIN in the worldline path integral in 2 + 1 dimensions

DOI10.1016/J.AOP.2007.06.007MaRDI QIDQ2472353zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Yanyan Li

Publication date 21 February 2008

Published in Annals of Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0512081

zbMATH Keywords

Dirac equationpath integralsspin particle

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Relativistic dynamics for problems in Hamiltonian and Lagrangian mechanics (70H40) Closed and approximate solutions to the Schrödinger, Dirac, Klein-Gordon and other equations of quantum mechanics (81Q05) Path integrals in quantum mechanics (81S40)

Abstract: We construct a worldline path integral for the effective action and propagator of a Dirac field in 2+1 dimensions in an Abelian gauge field background. Integrating over an auxiliary gauge group variable we derive a worldline action depending only on $x(au)$, the spacetime paths. We show that that action is a combination of a kinetic term plus a spin action. The first is proportional to $delta[dot{x}^2(au)-1]$. The second agrees exactly with the spin action one should expect for a spin-1/2 field.

Review text

A path integral for the effective action and the propagator of a Dirac field in 2+1 dimensional space-time is derived in terms of space-time and SU(2) paths. The Grassmannian variables are not used in the construction suggested. The starting point is a relativistic integral of world-lines \(x(\tau)\) depending on the `fifth parameter', or `proper time' as it has been proposed by Feynman (1949) and Schwinger (1951). The resulting dynamics of spin degrees of freedom is studied with the help of the semiclassical expansion. It is shown that the classical equation of motion can be written in terms of the intrinsic geometric properties of the space-time path (arc length, curvature and torsion). Finally, the transformation properties of the gauge group variables are used for evaluating the gauge-group path integral. This yields a world-line path integral over space-time paths only, weighed by an `effective world-line action' which selects paths with \(\dot{x} = 1\). See also the following on (non-Grassmannian) path integrals for spinning particles in the fiber bundles over 3+1 space-times: \textit{L. Schulman}, Phys. Rev. 176, 1558--1569 (1968); \textit{M. B. Mensky}, Theor. Math. Phys. 18, No. 2, 136--144 (1974); translation from Teor. Mat. Fiz. 18, 190--202 (1974); Path Group: Measurements, Fields, Particles (in Russian), Nauka, Moscow (1983); extended Japanese translation: Yoshioka, Kyoto (1988).

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Cites work

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Cited in

(13)

• Path integrals and pseudoclassical description for spinning particles in arbitrary dimensions
• Path integrals and spinning particles in two-dimensional spaces
• Worldline path integrals for fermions with general couplings
• On the world sheet of anyon in the external electromagnetic field
• Path integral and pseudoclassical action for spinning particle in external electromagnetic and torsion fields
• World spinors revisited
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 4194647 (Why is no real title available?)
• A path integral for a nonrelativistic spinor particle
• Path integral for system with spin
• Worldgraph approach to Yang-Mills amplitudes from \(N = 2\) spinning particle
• Worldline path integral for the massive Dirac propagator: a four-dimensional approach
• A new nonGrassmannian pseudoclassical action for spin-1/2 particles
• Spin path integrals and generations

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