Physics Letters A 322 (2004) 173–178

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Exact solutions of Dirac equation on a 2D gravitational

background
S.K. Moayedi a,c , F. Darabi b,c,d,∗
a Department of Physics, Arak University, Arak, Iran
b Department of Physics, Azarbaijan University of Tarbiat Moallem, Tabriz, Iran
c Research Institute for Fundamental Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
d Institute for Theoretical and Mathematical Physics, Niavaran, 19395-5746, Tehran, Iran

Received 19 November 2003; received in revised form 7 January 2004; accepted 16 January 2004
Communicated by P.R. Holland

Abstract
We obtain classes of two-dimensional static Lorentzian manifolds, which through the supersymmetric formalism of quantum
mechanics admit the exact solvability of Dirac equation on these curved backgrounds. Specially in the case of a modified
supersymmetric harmonic oscillator the wave function and energy spectrum of Dirac equation is given explicitly.
 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PACS: 04.20.Jb; 04.62.+v; 11.30.Pb

Keywords: 2D gravity; Dirac equation; Electrodynamics; Supersymmetric quantum mechanics

1. Introduction

To describe the physics governing the dynamics of scalar and spinor particles the Klein–Gordon and Dirac
equations must be solved. In general, solving these equations in (3 + 1)-dimensional curved background is difficult
and a weak field approximation [1] may be required, or asymptotic solutions may be obtained [2]. One can also
solve these equations by numerical methods [3], and WKB approximations [4]. An alternative approach is to
consider lower-dimensional space–times and obtain exact solutions [5]. This may help us to get a deeper insight
into general features of (3 + 1)-dimensional problems.
In a previous work [6], we have solved exactly the Klein–Gordon equation on a static 2-dimensional space–
time, by using the standard techniques of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The purpose of the present Letter is
to solve exactly the Dirac equation on a 2-dimensional conformally flat static space–time and then find its energy

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: f.darabi@azaruniv.edu (F. Darabi).

0375-9601/$ – see front matter  2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2004.01.032
 174 S.K. Moayedi, F. Darabi / Physics Letters A 322 (2004) 173–178

spectrum. We are interested in solving the Dirac equation through the supersymmetric formalism of quantum
mechanics [7,8].

2. Dirac equation on a (1 + 1)-dimensional Lorentzian manifold

Dirac’s equation in curved space–time requires the use of bein formalism to project the spinors into a
Minkowskian local inertial frame [9]. In our notation, the Latin indices refer to local inertial frame with the metric
ηab , while the Greek ones refer to curved space–time with the metric gµν . The zweibeins ea µ are used to project
the vectors between the two frames, and satisfy the following relation [10]:

gµν (X) = ηab ea µ (X)eb µ (X), (1)

where X := (t, x), and ηab = diag(+1, −1). In flat space–time the Dirac equation is written as

iγ a ∂a Ψ − mΨ = 0, (2)
where the γ matrix conventions are
Dirac
a b  1  a b
γ , γ = 2ηab , σ ab = γ ,γ ,
Cebri 4
with σ ab being the generator of Lorentz rotations.
Dirac equation is generalized to curved space–time through the spin connections ωbc µ
spin connection: lokal
iγ µ ∇µ Ψ − mΨ = 0, dönüşümlerde oluşan ayar (3)
where alanı. Spinörler için bu terim
1 sıfırdan farklı olmalı!
∇µ = ∂µ + σ bc ωbcµ , ωbcµ ≡ Eb ν Ecν;µ ,
2
with the semicolon denoting covariant differentiation, and

µ ν
γ µ = γ a Ea µ , γ , γ = 2g µν ,
with Ea µ being the inverse of ea µ .
Now, we take the static conformally flat metric gµν
 
ds 2 = eσ (x) dt 2 − dx 2 , fiziksel anlamı? (4)
where σ (x) is a dilatonic static field. Using the relation (1), the zweibeins and their inverse corresponding to the
metric (4) are, respectively, obtained
 1 σ (x) 
e2 0
e µ=
a
1 , (5)
0 e 2 σ (x)
 − 1 σ (x) 
e 2 0
Ea µ = . (6)
e− 2 σ (x)
1
0
It is well known that Dirac equation in conformally flat space–time is identical to the Minkowskian one (apart from
a conformal factor) once an appropriate transformation is employed on the spinor Ψ .
In this regards, one may obtain the (1 + 1)-dimensional Dirac equation in the curved space–time (4) by
employing the following transformations
σ σ
γ a ∂a → e− 2 γ a ∂a , Ψ → e 4 Ψ, Neden bu dönüşüme ihtiyaç duyduk?
 S.K. Moayedi, F. Darabi / Physics Letters A 322 (2004) 173–178 175

on the Dirac equation (2). Therefore, we obtain

 0  i dσ (x) 1
iγ ∂t + iγ 1 ∂x + γ 1 − me 2 σ (x) Ψ (X) = 0, (7)
4 dx
where we consider Ψ as
 
Ψ1 (X)
Ψ (X) = . (8)
Ψ2 (X)
Following Jackiw and Rebbi [7,11], we take the following representations for the γ a matrices

γ 0 = σ 1, γ 1 = iσ 3 , (9)
where σ 1 , σ 3 are the Pauli spin matrices. If we now operate γ 0 , from left, on both sides of Eq. (7), we have
 1 
0 −∂x − 14 dσdx(x) + me 2 σ (x)
1
Ψ (X) = i∂t Ψ (X). (10)
∂x + 14 dσdx(x) + me 2 σ (x) 0

3. Exact solutions of 2D Dirac equation by SUSY QM methods

In this section, we will find the exact solutions of Dirac equation by using the standard techniques of
supersymmetric quantum mechanics. By assuming the time dependence of the two-component spinor Ψ (X) as

Ψ (X) = e−i E t ψ(x), (11)

Eq. (10) can be written as the following eigenvalue equation:

HD ψ(x) = Eψ(x), (12)

where HD , and ψ(x) are
 1 dσ (x) 1 
0 − dx
d
− 4 dx + me 2 σ (x)
HD = 1
, (13)
1 dσ (x)
d
+ + me 2 σ (x) 0
dx 4 dx
ψ1 (x)
ψ(x) = . (14)
ψ2 (x)
By defining the transformation matrix H_D’yi neden herhangi bir operatör değil de,
verilen U matrisi ile işleme sokuyoruz?
 1 σ (x) 
e4 0
U (x) = 1 , (15)
0 e 4 σ (x)
and doing a similarity transformation on Eq. (12), we have

H̃D ψ̃(x) = E ψ̃(x), (16)

where
 1 
0 − dx
d
+ me 2 σ (x)
H̃D = U HD U −1 = 1
, (17)
+ me 2 σ (x)
d
dx 0
 
1 ψ1 (x)
ψ̃(x) = U ψ(x) = e 4 σ (x) . (18)
ψ2 (x)
176 S.K. Moayedi, F. Darabi / Physics Letters A 322 (2004) 173–178

Now, we show that the Dirac equation (16) is equivalent to the spinor field equation which is obtained from the
(1 + 1)-dimensional Lagrangian in the flat space–time

L = i Ψ̃¯ γ a ∂a Ψ̃ − Ψ̃¯ Ψ̃ W, Nereden geliyor, araştır! (19)

where W (x) is a static scalar function to be determined later.
The field equation derived from the Lagrangian (19) becomes

iγ a ∂a Ψ̃ (t, x) − W (x)Ψ̃ (t, x) = 0. (20)

By using the representations (9), and considering the time dependence of the spinor as Ψ̃ (t, x) = e−i E t ψ̃(x), the
equation of motion (20) after multiplying by γ 0 from left, can be written as
 
0 − dx
d
+ W (x)
ψ̃(x) = E ψ̃(x). (21)
dx + W (x)
d
0
Now, considering Eqs. (21) and (16), it is seen that they have equivalent mathematical structures. The function
W (x) in Eq. (21) is commonly called superpotential [8,12] in the context of supersymmetric quantum mechanics.
By direct comparison of (21) and (16) the conformal factor in the metric (4) is related to the superpotential W (x)
through the relation
1
W (x) = me 2 σ (x) . (22)
Now we define the operators A† and A, respectively, as

d
A† := − + W (x), (23)
dx
d
A := + W (x). (24)
dx
Therefore, Eq. (21) can be written as
 
0 A†
ψ̃(x) = E ψ̃(x). (25)
A 0

By operating H̃D , defined by Eq. (17), from left on both sides of Eq. (16) (or Eq. (25)) we obtain

H− ψ̃1 (x) = E 2 ψ̃1 (x), (26)

H+ ψ̃2 (x) = E ψ̃2 (x),
2
(27)
where H− = A† A and H+ = AA† are Partner Hamiltonians [8,12]. Eqs. (26) and (27) can now be solved by
supersymmetric quantum mechanical methods for shape-invariant potentials. aynı türden ama farklı parametreli potansiyeller
For a typical example we study the superpotential associated with the modified harmonic oscillator, namely [8],

1
W (x) = ω|x| + c, (28)
2
where ω and c are real positive quantities. Using Eqs. (22) and (28) the metric (4) is obtained
 2
ω|x| c  
ds 2 = + dt 2 − dx 2 . (29)
2m m
 S.K. Moayedi, F. Darabi / Physics Letters A 322 (2004) 173–178 177

Considering the superpotential (28), the partner Hamiltonians H± are


 H+ = − d 22 + 1 ω2 x 2 + 1 ω + ωxc + c2 ,
dx 4 2
x > 0, 29. eşitlikten buraya geçerken W(-d/dx)
 H = − d 2 + 1 ω2 x 2 − 1 ω + ωxc + c2 , terimi yerine 1/2w terimi geldi???
− dx 2 4 2

 H+ = − d 22 + 1 ω2 x 2 − 1 ω − ωxc + c2 ,
dx 4 2
x < 0. (30)
 H = − d 2 + 1 ω2 x 2 + 1 ω − ωxc + c2 ,
− dx 2 4 2
ω

Now, by inserting ψ̃i (x) = e− 4 (x+ ω ) φi (x) (i = 1, 2) in Eqs. (26), (27) and change of variable y = ω2 (x + 2c
2c 2
ω)
for x > 0, we find the following differential equations:
2

d 2 φ1 dφ1 E2 d 2 φ2 dφ2 E
− 2y + 2 φ 1 = 0, − 2y + 2 − 1 φ2 = 0, (31)
dy 2 dy ω dy 2 dy ω
ω
In the same way, inserting ψ̃i (x) = e− 4 (−x+ ω ) φi (x) (i = 1, 2) and change of variable y =
2c 2
respectively.

2 (−x + ω ) for x < 0 leads to
ω 2c

d 2 φ1 dφ1 E d 2 φ2 dφ2 E2 Hermite denklemine (32)

− 2y +2 − 1 φ1 = 0, − 2y + 2 φ2 = 0,
dy 2 dy ω dy 2 dy ω benzetilmiş. Çözüm de Hermite
polinomları
respectively. The wave functions ψ̃1 (x) and ψ̃2 (x) in Eqs. (26) and (27) are given by olacak
    

 e− 4 (x+ ω ) Hn
ω 2c 2
2 x+ ω
ω 2c
, x > 0,
ψ̃1 (x) =     (33)
 e− ω4 (−x+ 2cω )2 H

2 −x + ω
ω 2c
n−1 , x < 0,
    

 e− 4 (x+ ω ) H(n−1)
ω 2c 2
2 x+ ω
ω 2c
, x > 0,
ψ̃2 (x) =     (34)

 e− 4 (−x+ ω )2 Hn
ω 2c
2 −x + ω
ω 2c
, x < 0,
where Hn and Hn−1 are Hermite polynomials leading to the following energy spectrum:
√
En = ± nω, (35)
for both x < 0 and x > 0, where n is a non-negative integer number. Now, using Eqs. (11), (18), (33), and (34), the
final solution of Dirac equation is obtained:
     

   √ H ω
x + 2c

 a ωx + c − 2 e− 4 ω(x+ ω )2 −i nωt 
1 n 2 ω
  + C.C.,
1 2c

   x > 0,


2m m
Hn−1 ω
x + 2c
2 ω
Ψn (X) =      (36)

 ω
−x + 2c
  −ωx
  − 1 √ H n−1
 + mc 2 e− 4 ω(−x+ ω ) −i nωt 
2 ω
  + C.C., x < 0,
1 2c 2

 b  
 2m
2 −x + ω
ω 2c
Hn
where a and b are complex constants and C.C. means complex conjugation.
We note that the ansatz (11) does not work for n = 0 quantum number. Therefore, we restrict ourselves to
the positive integer for the quantum numbers, n. This gives rise to a broken supersymmetry [8]. The continuity
condition for the spinor wave function (36) at x = 0 implies
aHn (λ) = bHn−1 (λ), aHn−1 (λ) = bHn (λ),
∗ ∗
a Hn (λ) = b Hn−1 (λ), a ∗ Hn−1 (λ) = b ∗ Hn (λ), (37)
178 S.K. Moayedi, F. Darabi / Physics Letters A 322 (2004) 173–178

where the positive constant λ is defined as follows:


λ = c 2/ω. (38)
Eqs. (37) have non-trivial solutions if
Hn (λ) = Hn−1 (λ) or Hn (λ) = −Hn−1 (λ). (39)
√
For example, when n = 1, according to Eqs. (37), the allowed value for λ is 12 (c = 12 ω/2 ), and for n = 2 the
√ √
corresponding allowed values are λ = 1 (c = ω/2 ) and λ = 12 (c = 12 ω/2 ). Therefore, the continuity of spinor
wave function (36) at x = 0 requires, for each mode n, a relation between the constants ω and c in Eq. (28).

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the referee for useful comments. This work has been supported by the Research
Institute for Fundamental Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

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