Hadronic Isospin Helicity and the Consequent <i>SU</i>(4) Gauge Theory

Abstract

A new approach to the Dirac equation and the associated hadronic symmetries is proposed. In this approach, we linearize the second Casimir operator of the Lorentz Group, which is defined by the energy–momentum four-vector and the fermion spin, thereby using the spinor-helicity representation instead of the three-vector representation of the particle momentum and spin vector. We then expand the so-obtained standard Dirac equation by employing an inner abstract “hadronic” isospin, initially describing a SU(2) fermion doublet. Application of the spin-helicity representation of that isospin leads to the occurrence of a quadruplet of inner states, revealing the SU(4) symmetry via the isospin helicity operator. This further leads to two independent fermion state spaces, specifically, singlet and triplet states, which we interpret as U(1) symmetry of the leptons and SU(3) symmetry of the three quarks, respectively. These results indicate the genuinely very different physical nature of the strong SU(4) symmetry in comparison to the chiral SU(2) symmetry. While our approach does not require the a priori concept of grand unification, such a notion arises naturally from the formulation with the isospin helicity. We then apply the powerful procedures developed for the electroweak interactions in the SM, in order to break the SU(4) symmetry by means of the Higgs mechanism involving a scalar Higgs field as an SU(4) quadruplet. Its finite vacuum creates the masses of the three vector bosons involved, which can change the three quarks into a lepton and vice versa. Finally, we consider a toy model for calculation of the strong coupling constant of a Yukawa potential.

Keywords

• Lorentz group symmetry
• expanded Dirac equation
• isospin helicity
• <i>SU</i>(4) electro-strong symmetry