Dirac equation

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In particle physics, the Dirac equation is a relativistic wave equation derived by British physicist Paul Dirac in 1928. In its free form, or including electromagnetic interactions, it describes all spin-⁠1/2⁠ massive particles, called Dirac particles, such as electrons and quarks, for which parity is a symmetry. It is consistent with both the principles of quantum mechanics and the theory of special relativity, and was the first description to fully account for special relativity in the context of quantum mechanics. The equation is validated by its rigorous accounting of the observed fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum and has become vital in the building of the Standard Model. The equation also implied the existence of a new form of matter, antimatter, previously unsuspected and unobserved. The existence of antimatter was experimentally confirmed several years later. It also provided a theoretical justification for the introduction of several component wave functions in Pauli's phenomenological...

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