This book explains and develops the Dirac equation in the context of general relativistic quantum mechanics in a range of spacetime dimensions. It clarifies the subject by carefully pointing out the various conventions used and explaining how they are related to each other. The prerequisites are familiarity with general relativity and an exposure to the Dirac equation at the level of special relativistic quantum mechanics, but a review of this latter topic is given in the first chapter as a reference and framework for the physical interpretations that follow. Worked examples and exercises with solutions are provided. Appendices include reviews of topics used in the body of the text. This book should benefit researchers and graduate students in general relativity and in condensed matter.

Many different approaches to calculate the Dirac equation in curved spacetime are fully discussed The text is supported with several preparatory exercises and solutions Some computational applications performed with the CARTAN software package are illustrated

Autorentext

Peter Collas is a professor emeritus of physics at California State University Northridge. His current research interests are General Relativity theory and cosmology, with his investigations focussing on Dirac particles in gravitational waves, Fermi coordinates, as well as statistical mechanical problems in curved spacetime. David Klein is a professor of mathematics at the California State University Northridge and is the director of the CSUN Climate Science Program. His research interests include mathematical physics, General Relativity and cosmology, statistical mechanics, mathematics education and climate change, a topic in which he has written the ebook, "Capitalism and Climate Change: The Science and Politics of Global Warming".

Inhalt
Introduction.- The Dirac equation in special relativity.- The spinorial covariant derivative.- Examples in (3+1) GR.- The Dirac equation in (1+1) GR.- The Dirac equation in (2+1) GR.- Scalar product.- Appendices.