Supercharge Operator of Hidden Symmetry in the Dirac Equation

As is known, the so-called Dirac $K$-operator commutes with the Dirac Hamiltonian for arbitrary central potential $V(r)$. Therefore the spectrum is degenerate with respect to two signs of its eigenvalues. This degeneracy may be described by some operator, which anticommutes with $K$. If this operator commutes with the Dirac Hamiltonian at the same time, then it establishes new symmetry, which is Witten's supersymmetry. We construct the general anticommuting with $K$ operator, which under the requirement of this symmetry unambiguously select the Coulomb potential. In this particular case our operator coincides with that, introduced by Johnson and Lippmann many years ago.Comment: 3 page

Teaching the hidden symmetry of the Kepler problem in relativistic quantum mechanics - from Pauli to Dirac electron

Hidden symmetry in Coulomb interaction is one of the mysterious problems of modern physics. Additional conserved quantities associated with extra symmetry govern wide variety of physics problems, from planetary motion till fine and hyperfine structures of atomic spectra. In this paper we present a simple derivation of hidden symmetry operator in relativistic quantum mechanics for the Dirac equation in the Coulomb field. We established that this operator may be reduced to the one introduced by Johnson and Lippmann. It is worthwhile to notice that this operator was discussed in literature very rarely and so is not known well among physicists and was omitted even in the recent textbooks on relativistic quantum mechanics and/or quantum electrodynamics.Comment: 5 page

An "Accidental" Symmetry Operator for the Dirac Equation in the Coulomb Potential

On the basis of the generalization of the theorem about K-odd operators (K is the Dirac's operator), certain linear combination is constructed, which appears to commute with the Dirac Hamiltonian for Coulomb field. This operator coincides with the Johnson and Lippmann operator and is intimately connected to the familiar Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector. Our approach guarantees not only derivation of Johnson-Lippmann operator, but simultaneously commutativity with the Dirac Hamiltonian follows.Comment: 6 page