Dirac spinor
Mathematical description of fermions
Mathematical description of fermions
In physics, and specifically in quantum field theory, a Dirac spinor is a mathematical construction that is used to describe some of the fundamental particles of nature, including quarks and electrons. It is a specific embodiment of a spinor, specifically constructed so that it is consistent with the requirements of special relativity. Dirac spinors transform in a certain "spinorial" fashion under the action of the Lorentz group, which describes the symmetries of Minkowski spacetime. They occur in the relativistic spin-1/2 wave function solutions to the Dirac equation. They are constructed out of two simpler component spinors, the Weyl spinors. Each of the two component spinors transform differently under the two distinct complex-conjugate spin-1/2 representations of the Lorentz group. This pairing is of fundamental importance, as it allows the represented particle to have a mass, carry a charge, and represent the flow of charge as a current, and perhaps most importantly, to carry angular...
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