2

The massive Dirac fermion is strange in that it transforms under the Poincare group as a direct sum of two spin-1/2 representations of the group $(\frac{1}{2},0)\oplus (0,\frac{1}{2})$. This suggests that it is actually composed of two distinct particles, and may even be a ''bound state'' of two Weyl fermions.

To what extent can one say that the electron is a bound state of two Weyl fermions with the attractive force provided by the Higgs?

Luke
  • 2,390

1 Answers1

1

'Bound state' would not be an apropos depiction. Bounding two fermions would give rise to an effective boson.

Rather, an electron is a chameleon changing its color between two different Weyl (left-handed/right-handed) states all the time. An electron walks like a drunkard: it ziggs (left-handed) and zaggs (right-handed), constantly buffeted by the Higgs lampposts, which prevent the electron from traveling at the speed of light.

MadMax
  • 5,451
  • 13
  • 42