A non-uniqueness problem of the Dirac theory in a curved spacetime

The Dirac equation in a curved spacetime depends on a field of coefficients (essentially the Dirac matrices), for which a continuum of different choices are possible. We study the conditions under which a change of the coefficient fields leads to an equivalent Hamiltonian operator H, or to an equivalent energy operator E. We do that for the standard version of the gravitational Dirac equation, and for two alternative equations based on the tensor representation of the Dirac fields. The latter equations may be defined when the spacetime is four-dimensional, noncompact, and admits a spinor structure. We find that, for each among the three versions of the equation, the vast majority of the possible coefficient changes do not lead to an equivalent operator H, nor to an equivalent operator E, whence a lack of uniqueness. In particular, we prove that the Dirac energy spectrum is not unique. This non-uniqueness of the energy spectrum comes from an effect of the choice of coefficients, and applies in any given coordinates.Comment: 35 pages (standard article format). v4: Version accepted for publication in Annalen der Physik: Redactional improvements and precisions added in Section 2. Footnote added in the Conclusion, with new references. v3: Introduction and Conclusion reinforced. References added. v2: subsection 2.3 added: the Lagrangian and the spin group. Also, added explanations on admissible coefficient change

On the non-uniqueness problem of the covariant Dirac theory and the spin-rotation coupling

Gorbatenko & Neznamov [arXiv:1301.7599] recently claimed the absence of the title problem. In this paper, the reason for that problem is reexplained by using the notions of a unitary transformation and of the mean value of an operator, invoked by them. Their arguments actually aim at proving the uniqueness of a particular prescription for solving this problem. But that prescription is again shown non-unique. Two Hamiltonians in the same reference frame in a Minkowski spacetime, only one of them including the spin-rotation coupling term, are proved to be physically non-equivalent. This confirms that the reality of that coupling should be checked experimentally.Comment: 17 pages. V2: Version to appear in Int. J. Theor. Phys.: Details about the (gross) inequivalence of the Hamiltonians with either the inertial tetrad or the rotating one on pp. 11-12. Added Appendix proving that, for the (standard) covariant Dirac equation, the mean values of the energy can not be shifted by a constant after a smooth change of the tetrad field. Added Footnote 2 on p.

Summary of a non-uniqueness problem of the covariant Dirac theory and of two solutions of it

We present a summary of: 1) the non-uniqueness problem of the Hamiltonian and energy operators associated, in any given coordinate system, with the generally-covariant Dirac equation; 2) two different ways to restrict the gauge freedom so as to solve that problem; 3) the application of these two ways to the case of a uniformly rotating reference frame in Minkowski spacetime: we find that a spin-rotation coupling term is there only with one of these two ways.Comment: 16 pages in standard 12pt. v2: misprint fixed in Eq (20). Text of a talk given at the 14th International Conference on Geometry, Integrability and Quantization (Varna, Bulgaria, June 2012

A method for exploiting domain information in astrophysical parameter estimation

I outline a method for estimating astrophysical parameters (APs) from multidimensional data. It is a supervised method based on matching observed data (e.g. a spectrum) to a grid of pre-labelled templates. However, unlike standard machine learning methods such as ANNs, SVMs or k-nn, this algorithm explicitly uses domain information to better weight each data dimension in the estimation. Specifically, it uses the sensitivity of each measured variable to each AP to perform a local, iterative interpolation of the grid. It avoids both the non-uniqueness problem of global regression as well as the grid resolution limitation of nearest neighbours.Comment: Proceedings of ADASS17 (September 2007, London). 4 pages. To appear in ASP Conf. Pro

A simpler solution of the non-uniqueness problem of the covariant Dirac theory

24 pagesInternational audienceAlthough the standard generally-covariant Dirac equation is unique in a topologically simple spacetime, it has been shown that it leads to non-uniqueness problems for the Hamiltonian and energy operators, including the non-uniqueness of the energy spectrum. These problems should be solved by restricting the choice of the Dirac gamma field in a consistent way. Recently, we proposed to impose the value of the rotation rate of the tetrad field. This is not necessarily easy to implement and works only in a given reference frame. Here, we propose that the gamma field should change only by constant gauge transformations. To get that situation, we are naturally led to assume that the metric can be put in a space-isotropic diagonal form. When this is the case, it distinguishes a preferred reference frame. We show that by defining the gamma field from the "diagonal tetrad" in a chart in which the metric has that form, the uniqueness problems are solved at once for all reference frames. We discuss the physical relevance of the metric considered and our restriction to first-quantized theory