Dimensional reduction of the Dirac equation in arbitrary spatial dimensions
Abstract
We investigate the general properties of the dimensional reduction of the Dirac theory, formulated in a Minkowski spacetime with an arbitrary number of spatial dimensions. This is done by applying Hadamard's method of descent, which consists in conceiving low-dimensional theories as a specialization of high-dimensional ones that are uniform along the additional space coordinate. We show that the Dirac equation reduces to either a single Dirac equation or two decoupled Dirac equations, depending on whether the higher-dimensional manifold has even or odd spatial dimensions, respectively. Furthermore, we construct and discuss an explicit hierarchy of representations in which this procedure becomes manifest and can easily be iterated.
- Publication:
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European Physical Journal Plus
- Pub Date:
- April 2023
- DOI:
- 10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-03919-0
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2212.11965
- Bibcode:
- 2023EPJP..138..324L
- Keywords:
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- Quantum Physics;
- Mathematical Physics
- E-Print:
- 22 pages, several figures