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  A Question About 4-Spinor Contractions

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Let fabc be a constant which is totally anti-symmetric with respect to indices a, b and c. Let ψa, ψb, ψc and ϵ be Grassmann-valued Majorana fermions. How  to prove the following famous identity?

fabc(ˉϵγμψa)(ˉψbγμψc)=0

 

I am trying to use the Fierz identity show the following equation:

fabc(ˉϵγμψa)(ˉψbγμψc)=fabc(ˉϵγμψb)(ˉψaγμψc).

Then, using cyclic permutation symmetry of fabc, one has (1).



My calculation goes as follows, but I cannot find where I made mistakes. 

fabc(ˉϵγμψa)(ˉψbγμψc)=fabcˉϵγμ[(ψaˉψb)(γμψc)]

The Fierz identity is 

(λˉρ)χ=14(ˉλχ)ρ14(ˉλγμχ)(γμρ)14(ˉλγ5χ)(γ5ρ)+14(ˉλγμγ5χ)(γμγ5ρ)+18(ˉλγμνχ)(γμνρ)

where λ, ρ, χ are three arbitrary Grassmann-valued Majorana 4-spinors.

Using the above identity, one has 

fabcˉϵγμ[(ψaˉψb)(γμψc)]=fabcˉϵγμ[14(ˉψaγμψc)ψb14(ˉψaγργμψc)(γρψb)14(ψaγ5γμψc)(γ5ψb)+14(ˉψaγργ5γμψc)(γργ5ψb)+18(ˉψaγρσγμψc)(γρσψb)]

Since 

(ˉψaγργμψc)=(ˉψcγργμψa),(ˉψaγ5γμψc)=(ˉψcγ5γμψa),

The second and third terms in (4.1) vanish. One ends up with 

fabcˉϵγμ[(ψaˉψb)(γμψc)]=fabcˉϵγμ[14(ˉψaγμψc)ψb+14(ˉψaγργ5γμψc)(γργ5ψb)+18(ˉψaγρσγμψc)(γρσψb)]

The last term in the above expression can be simplified by using the identity.

γρσγμ=γρσμ+ησμγρηρμγσ=ϵρσμλγλγ5++ησμγρηρμγσ

Thus,
 
18(ˉψaγρσγμψc)(γρσψb)=18[ˉψa(ϵρσμλγλγ5+ησμγρηρμγσ)ψc]γρσψb=18ϵρσμλ(ˉψaγλγ5ψc)γρσψb+18(ˉψaγρψc)γρσησμψb18(ˉψaγσψc)γρσηρμψb.

Thus,

18ˉϵγμ(ˉψaγρσγμψc)γρσψb=18(ˉϵγμγρσψb)(ˉψaγρσγμψc)=18ϵρσμλ(ˉϵγμγρσψb)(ˉψaγλγ5ψc)+18(ˉϵγσγρσψb)(ˉψaγρψc)18(ˉϵγργρσψb)(ˉψaγσψc)

Since (ˉψaγλγ5ψc)=(ˉψcγλγ5ψa), the first term in the above line does not contribute. The last two terms are equal due to the anti-symmetry of γρσ.

From (5), one finds

γσγρσ=ησαγαγρσ=3γρ

Thus, 

18ˉϵγμ(ˉψaγρσγμψc)γρσψb=18ϵρσμλ(ˉϵγμγρσψb)(ˉψaγλγ5ψc)34(ˉψaγρψc)(ˉϵγρψb)

Plugging the above result into (4.2), one finds

fabcˉϵγμ[(ψaˉψb)(γμψc)]=fabcˉϵγμ[14(ˉψaγμψc)ψb+14(ˉψaγργ5γμψc)(γργ5ψb)+18(ˉψaγρσγμψc)(γρσψb)]=fabcˉϵγμ[14(ˉψaγμψc)ψb+14(ˉψaγργ5γμψc)(γργ5ψb)]34fabc(ˉψaγρψc)(ˉϵγρψb)+18fabcϵρσμλ(ˉϵγμγρσψb)(ˉψaγλγ5ψc)=fabc(ˉψaγμψc)(ˉϵγμψb)14fabc(ˉψaγργμγ5ψc)(ˉϵγμγργ5ψb).

For the last term, one can use the identity 

ˉψaγργμγ5ψc=ˉψcγ5γμγρψa=ˉψc(2ημργ5γργμγ5)ψa,

which implies 

ˉψaγργμγ5ψcˉψcγργμγ5ψa=2ημρˉψcγ5ψa.

Thus,

fabcˉϵγμ[(ψaˉψb)(γμψc)]=fabc(ˉψaγμψc)(ˉϵγμψb)14fabc(ˉψaγργμγ5ψc)(ˉϵγμγργ5ψb)=fabc(ˉψaγμψc)(ˉϵγμψb)18[fabc(ˉψaγργμγ5ψc)+fcba(ˉψcγργμγ5ψa)](ˉϵγμγργ5ψb)=fabc(ˉψaγμψc)(ˉϵγμψb)18[fabc(ˉψaγργμγ5ψc)fabc(ˉψcγργμγ5ψa)](ˉϵγμγργ5ψb)=fabc(ˉψaγμψc)(ˉϵγμψb)18fabc[2ημρˉψcγ5ψa](ˉϵγμγργ5ψb)

But since ˉψcγ5ψa=ˉψaγ5ψc, the last term in the above expression vanish. Thus, one ends up with

fabc(ˉϵγμψa)(ˉψbγμψc)=fabcˉϵγμ[(ψaˉψb)(γμψc)]=fabc(ˉψaγμψc)(ˉϵγμψb)=fabc(ˉψcγμψa)(ˉϵγμψb),

which is trivially correct due to the cyclic property of fabc.

Other than using the Fierz identity to rearrange the spinors, I cannot find any other way to prove equation (1). 

Did I make any mistakes in the above derivations?

If not, how to prove (1)?

asked Jul 18, 2019 in Theoretical Physics by Libertarian Feudalist Bot (270 points) [ no revision ]

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