I L I~UOVO CI MENT0 Vow. XXI I , N.

4 16 Nove mbr e 1961

C o n f o r m a l I n v a r i a n c e o f M a s s l e s s D i r a c - L i k e Wa v e E q u a t i o n s .
J . s . L o ~ o ~
Polytechnic Institute o] Brooklyn - Brooklyn, N. Y.
( r i eevut o i l 19 Lugl i o 1961)
Summary. - - I t is shown t h a t al l Di r ae- l i ke w~ve equat i ons wi t h pos i t i ve
i nt egr al or hal f - i nt egr al spi n, zer o r est mass, ~nd no i nt er act i on ar e con-
f or mMl y i nv~r i ant . The t r a ns f or ma t i on of T unde r t he eonf or mal gr oup,
and t he ~ssoei at ed cons er vat i on l~ws ~re gi ven i n a ve r y si mpl e f or m.
1. - I nt r oduc t i on.
Co n f o r ma l t r a n s f o r ma t i o n s we r e i n t r o d u c e d i n t o p h y s i c s v i a e l e c t r o ma g n e t i c
t h e o r y b y B S c m~ (~), ] 3 ~ AN (: ), a n d C U~ I ~ GHA~ (3), t h e l a t t e r t wo of
wh o m s h o we d t h a t t h e Ma x we l l e q u a t i o n s wi t h o u t s our c e s a r e c o n f o r ma l l y
i n v a r i a n t . Th e e o n f o r ma l i n v a r i a n c e of t h e lV[~xwell e q u a t i o n s wa s t h e n u s e d
b y BESSEL-]~AGEN (4) i n c o n j u n c t i o n wi t h I q o e t h e r ' s t h e o r e m (~) t o o b t a i n
s o me n e w c o n s e r v a t i o n l uws . I t wa s s u b s e q u e n t l y s h o wn b y MCLENI~AN (~,7)
t h a t c o n f o r ma l i n v a r i ~ n e e i s a p r o p e r t y s h a r e d b y p r a c t i c a l l y ni l ma s s l e s s ,
r e l a t i v i s t i c w~ v e e q u a t i o n s wi t h o u t i n t e r a c t i o n . Co n s e q u e n t l y , m~s s ] e s s wa v e
e q u u t i o n s i n g e n e r a l h ~ v e c o n s e r v a t i o n l a ws o t h e r t h a n t h e u s u a l r e l ~ t i v i s t i c
c o n s e r v a t i o n l a ws .
Mc L n ~ A~ p r o v e d t h e e o n f o r ma l i n v a r i a n e e of G~ r d i n g ' s (~) v e r y g e n e r a l
( 1 )
(~)
(~)
(~)
(~)
(~)
.tivistic
(~)
( s)
M. B6CHER: ~ber die Reihenentwicklungen der Potentialtheorie ( Lei pzi g, 1894).
H. BATEMAN: Proe. London Math. Soc., 7, 70 (1909); 8, 223, 469 (1910).
E. CU~NI~GHAM: Proc. London Math. Soc., 8, 77 (1910).
E. B~SSEL-HAGEN: Math. Ann. , 84, 258 (1921).
E. NO]~THEa: 2~aehr. Akad. Wiss. G6ttingen, Math. Phys. Kl., 235 (1918).
J. A. McL~NNAN j r . : On the invarianee properties and conservation laws [or rela-
wave equations, particularly ]or zero rest mass, Di ss. ( Lehi gh Uni ver s i t y, 1952).
J. A. McL]~N~A~-: ~ruovo Cimento, 3, 1360 (1956).
L. GARDING: Proc. Cambr. Phil. Soc., 41, 49 (1945).
674 J. S. LOMO:NT
class of massl ess w~ve equat i ons. Because of t he gener al i t y of Mc Le nna n' ~
anal ysi s, however , t he r esul t s were r at her comp] i cat ed.
The pur pose of t he pr es ent wor k is t o consi der a mor e r est r i ct ed class of
massl ess, r el at i vi st i c wave equat i ons, t he so-cal l ed Di r acl i ke wave equat i ons (~),
and obt ai n t he t r a ns f or ma t i on l aws and cons er vat i on l aws i n a ver y s i mpl e
form. For t hese equat i ons t he di scussi on becomes r el at i vel y t r a ns pa r e nt .
For conveni ence a nmnbe r of ot her paper s deal i ng wi t h eonf or mal t r ans f or -
mat i ons i n physi cs are l i st ed (~).
2 . - P r e l i mi n a r i e s .
I t was shown i n (L) t ha t for ever y i nt egr al and hal f - i nt egr al spi n s > (~
t her e is ~ uni que 4s- di mensi onal wave equat i ons of t he f or m (~)
(2. 1) z"V. T = 0 ,
wher e
(2.2) ~o - - I
2 1
(2.3) ~ = ~ = ~s = '
(2.4) ~ = i ~
( 2 . 5 ) [ ~ 1 , ~2] * = 0
(2.6) ~, = ~ ,
(cycl. 1, 2, 3)
(cycl. ], 2~ 3)
(9) j . S. LOMONT: Phys. Rev., 111, 1710 (1958); hereafter referred to as (L).
(10) H. WEYL: Sitzungsber. d. Preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., 265 (1918); H. W]~YL: Space~
Time, and Matter, pp. 285, 324; P. A. M. DIRAC: Ann. o/ Math., 37, 429 (1936);
H. J . BHABHA: Proe. Cambr. Phil. Soc., 32, 622 (1936); J. A. SCHOUTEN and J. HAAN-
TJ]~S: Proc. Kon. Akad. v. Wet., 39, 1059 (1936); W. PAULI: Helv. Phys. Aeta, 13,.
204 (1940); J. HAANTJES: Proc. Kon. Akad. v. Wet., 43, 1288 (1940); J. A. SCHOUT]~N:
t~ev. Mod. Phys., 21, 421 (1949); R. L. ING~AHA~f: Proc. Kon. A?cad. v. Wet., 54,
315 (1951); E. L. H~LL: Phys. 17ev., 84, 1165 (1951); I. E. S]~GAL: Duke Math. Journ.,
18, 221 (1951); W. BRITTI~: Phys. Rev., 87, 898 (1952); R. L. INGI~AttA~: Proc. Nat.
Aead. Sei. U.S.A., 38, 921 (1952); Nuovo Cimento, 9, 886 (1952); 10, 27 (1953);~
B. HOFFMANN: Phys. Rev., 89, 49, 53 (1953); F. BoPP: Proe. Int. Con]. Theor. Phys.
(Kyoto and Tokyo, 1953), pp. 289, 295; R. L. INGRAHAM: Proc. Nat. Aead. Sei. U. S. A. ,
40, 237 (1954); Y. Mu~AI: Progr. Theor. Phys., 11, 441 (1954); R. ]-~. INGRAHAM:
Nuovo Cimento, 12, 825 (1954); 1, 82 (1955); A. PoPovIcI: Com. Acad. 1~. P. Rom~ne,
8, 877 (1958); 9, 671 (1959); Rev. Math. Pures Appl. , 4, 577 (1959); V. I. 0GI]~VETSKI
and I. V. POLUBAR~NOV: Soy. Phys. J ETP, 10, 335 (1960); F. CALOGEtr ~Vuo~2o
Cimento, 20, 297 (1961).
(~) We take c - - h=l , --goo=g~=g2~=gaa= l, x ~ x ~=x, x~=Y, x3=z, V~ (~/~x)t~,
I =~mi t matrix, ~ means adjoint. Greek indices run from 0 to 3, Lat i n indices from 1 to 3.
(2a0)
(2.11)
(2.12)
I f we l et
(2. 13)
(~.14)
t h e n (see (L) eqs. (9.5), (9. 6))
(~.15)
(2.16)
CONFORMAL INVhRIA~NCE OF MASSL:ESS DIRAC-LIK]~ WAVE :EQUATIONS 675
a n d wh e n t h e ~' s h a v e t h e c o r r e c t f o r m t h e l a s t 2 s - 1 c o mp o n e n t s of ~ a r e
zer o (~.a). Un d e r t h e Lo r e n t z t r a n s f o r ma t i o n
(2. 7) 8x a = oJ~x~ ,
wh e r e t h e p a r a me t e r s o ~" s a t i s f y
(2.8) o~ ~" - - - - o / a ,
t r a n s f o r ms a c c o r d i n g t o t h e e q u a t i o n
(2.9) ~ = - - 89 gol ~K , ~ .
Th e 4s 4s ma t r i c e s K, ~ s a t i s f y t h e f ol l owi ng r e l a t i ons
K t ~ v ~ - - K v ~ '
K ~ (K~a, Ks1, KI ~),
x =-- (Kol, Ko~, Ko3),
K =i x,
K += - - K.
Le t us a l wa y s s uppos e ~a a n d K, , t o be c hos e n so t h a t t h e l a s t 2 s - - 1
c o mp o n e n t s of ~ ar e zer o, a n d l et P be t h e ma t r i x wh i c h p r o j e c t s o n t o t h e
t o p 2 s q - 1 c o mp o n e n t s
wh e r e P is I s - d i me n s i o n a l a n d I is ( 2s q- 1) - di me ns i ona l . A r e l a t i o n wh i c h
( 1 2 ) See eq. (9.14)-(9.22) in (L).
(}76 J . s . LOMONT
WaS not p r o v e d i n (L) b u t will be needed her e is
{2.18) ~ K I , ~ P = ( s - ~ 1 ) ~ , P .
Thi s i d e n t i t y can be pr ove d i n a s t r a i ght f or wa r d b u t t edi ous wa y b y usi ng
t h e expl i ci t f or ms of t he ma t r i c e s ~ a nd K, ~ gi ven i n (L) (9.13)-(9.22).
3 . - Co n f o r ma l i n v a r i a n c e .
The conf or mM gr oup consi st s of t he pr oper , or t hochr onous~ i nhomoge ne ous
Lo r e n t z t r a ns f or ma t i ons t oge t he r wi t h t he l i near scal e t r a ns f or ma t i ons
(3.1) xx = e ~ x x , (~ = 0, 1, 2~ 3) (b = r eal c ons t a nt ) ,
a n d t he non- l i near t r a ns f or ma t i ons
x ~ - - a ~ x , (2 = 0, 1, 2, 3) ,
(3.2) x~ = 1 - - 2 a ' x , Jr- a' a~x~, x~
a~ = a n y real 4- t upl e.
Thus t he conf or mM gr oup is ~ 15- pa r a me t e r gr oup.
f i ni t esi ma] t r a ns f or ma t i ons ar e
(3.3) 3x~ - - bx~
(3.~) 3x~ = 2 a ' x ~ x a - - % c ' x ~ .
The cor r es pondi ng i n-
( 3 . 5 )
wher e b' is ~ny cons t ant .
3 T = b ' b W ,
Then si nce SV, = - bV,
(3.6) 8(~J~V~) = ~"( 3V, ) ~ - - uJ~V,8~/~ = - - b~' Vu~ ~- b ~ b ~ UV, ~ ~- O.
The t r a n s f o r ma t i o n of ~ unde r (3.4) is s o me wh a t mor e compl i cat ed, b u t
st i l l qui t e s i mpl e r el at i ve t o Ne Le n n a n ' s t r a n s f o r ma t i o n l aw f or t he G~r di ug
wa ve f unct i ons.
We will now defi ne t he t r a n s f o r ma t i o n of ~P unde r t he i nf i ni t esi mal c oor di na t e
t r a ns f or ma t i ons (3.3) a nd (3.4) i n such a wa y t h a t t he wa ve eq. (2.1) is f or m-
i nvar i ~nt . Unde r (3.3) we l et
CONFORMAL I RVARI ANCE OF MASSLE88 DI RAC- LI KE WAVE EQURTI ON~ 677
U n d e r ( 3. 4) we l e t
43. 7) S T - - 2 { - - (s 4- 1 ) ( a ' ~ c - ~ x " K , ~ } T .
S i n c e
we h a v e
43. 9) a(~ag~g 1) = ~( aVa) kP q- ~aV, (a(/l) = _ 2 ( a x ) ( ~ V ) t / / 4 - 2 ( ~ x ) ( a V ) ( / * -
-- 2(a~)(xV)g f - 2( s 4 . 1 ) ( o : g ) ( a x T 4- 2(~V)aSx~K J j ,
w h e r e t h e p a r e n t h e s e s i n d i c a t e t h e i n v a r i a n t i n n e r p r o d u c t os t h e v e c t o r s .
S u b s t i t u t i n g
( 3. 10)
: a n d
,(3.11)
( ~ V) ( a x ) T = ( a ~ ) T 4- ( a x ) ( o W) T ,
- - (x~)(aV)T + { a"x' Ks ~ + Xo(a~) - - ao(X~)} (~V)T,
i n t o ( 3. 9) we o b t a i n
{3. 12) 8 { ( ~ V) T} = 2 a " { ~ K ~ - - (s 4 . 1)~z.} T -~
+ 2 {a'*x~K,,~ + Xo(aOO - - ao(X~) - - (s + 2)(ax)} (~V)T.
U s i n g t h e w a v e e q u a t i o n ( ~ V ) T = 0 we h a v e
{3. 13) ~{(~V)~P} : - 2aS{~VK~-- (s 4- 1)~/*} ~P,
a n d u s i n g t h e i d e n t i t y ( 2. 18) we h a v e t h e d e s i r e d r e s u l t
, ( 3 . 1 ~ ) 8 { ( ~ V ) ~ } = o ,
4 . - Co n s e r v a t i o n l a ws .
GOOD (~3) h a s s h o w n h o w c o n s e r v a t i o n l a ws c a n b e d e r i v e d v e r y s i m p l y
f r o m D i r a e - l i k e w a v e e q u a t i o n s w i t h o u t r e c o u r s e t o L a g r a n g i a n s a n d N o e t h e r ' s
(13) R. H. GOOD j r . : Phys. Rev., 105, 1914 (1957).
43 - I I Nuovo Ci ment o.
678 J. S. LOMONT
t h e o r e m. Le t T( x) s a t i s f y t h e wa v e eq. (2.1) ( i . e . , ( ~V) } P= 0), a n d u n d e r t h e
c o o r d i n a t e t r a n s f o r ma t i o n x ' = x ' ( x ) l e t T ' ( x ) = O } P ( x ) , wh e r e 0 is a l i n e a r
o p e r a t o r a n d ( ~V' ) }P' ( x ~) = 0. The n, i f we l et jz ~ ~ * %0 }P we h a v e V" j ; = 0..
F o r t h e i nf i ni t es i mal scal e t r a n s f o r ma t i o n (3.3) we h a v e
(4.1) 0~ = - - b(xV) -~ b b ' ,
a n d f or t h e i nf i ni t es i mal non- l i ne a r t r a n s f o r ma t i o n (3.4)
(4.2) 0 = - - { 2 ( a x ) x ~ - - x ~ a ~} V x - - 2 ( s ~ 1)(ax) @ 2 a ' x ~ K z , .
Th u s t h e qua nt i t i e s
(4.3) j~ = T : ~ { - b(xV) + b' }~P,
a n d
( 4 . 4 ) j~ = ~P*c~ ~ { - - 2 ( a x ) ( x V ) -}- x2(aV) - - 2(s @ 1) ( ax) ~- 2 a ' x ~ K ~ , } ~ J ,
a r e di ver gencel es s . Th e coef f i ci ent s of t h e a r b i t r a r y r eal p a r a me t e r s b a n d a z
mu s t al so be di ver gencel es s . He n c e , i f
(4.4)
a n d
AA~
we h a v e t h e f i ve c o n s e r v a t i o n l aws
(4.5)
(4.6) V~A~, = O.
GOOD (13), a n d HAMMER a n d Go o d (14) h a v e o b s e r v e d t h a t t h e c ons e r -
v a t i o n l aws
(4.7) V' { T~%0 k P} --~ 0 ,
(14) C. L. H~tM~t]~R ~nd R. I t . Good j r. : P h y s . R e v . , 108, 882 (1957).
CONFORMAL INVAtCIANCE OF MASSLESS DIRAC-LIKE WAVE EQUATIONS 679
di f f er i n f o r m f r o m t h e u s u a l eonserv~t i ~)n l aws e s s e nt i a l l y b e c a u s e ~ i s n o t
t h e wa v e f u n c t i o n . Ho we v e r , t h e q u a n t i t y
( 4 . s )
wh e r e
(4. 9)
is t h e wa v e f u n c t i o n , a n d i f
O~
t h e n
H = - - 'ir162 V
(4. 10) V" ~r ~ 0q~ ? = 0 ,
is t h e us ua l f o r m of t h e c o n s e r v a t i o n e qua t i ons .
R I AS S UNT O (*)
Si d i mo s t r a c h e t u t t e l e e q u a z i o n i d ' o n d a di t i p o Di r a c c o n s p i n p o s i t i v o i n t e r o
o s e mi n t e r o , ma s s a a r i pos o n u l l a , e p r i v e d ' i n t e r a z i o n e , s ono c o n f o r me me n t e i n v a r i a n t i .
Si d a n n o i n f o r ma mo l t o s e mp l i c e l a t r a s f o r ma , z i o n e di T r i s p e t t o al g r u p p o c o n f o r me
e l e l eggi di c o n s e r v a z i o n e a s s oc i a t e .
( ' ) T v a d u z i o n e a e u r a d e l l a R e d a z i o n e .