Dirac sea and chiral anomaly in the quantum kinetic theory
Jian-Hua Gao, Zuo-tang Liang, Qun Wang
Abstract
We revisit the chiral anomaly in the quantum kinetic theory in the Wigner function formalism under the background field approximation. Our results show that the chiral anomaly is actually from the Dirac sea or the vacuum contribution in the un-normal-ordered Wigner function. We also demonstrate that this contribution modifies the chiral kinetic equation for antiparticles.
Topics & Concepts
Chiral anomalyPhysicsWigner distribution functionAnomaly (physics)Kinetic energyDirac seaQuantum field theoryAntiparticleFormalism (music)Dirac equationQuantumQuantum mechanicsMathematical physicsDirac (video compression format)Quantum electrodynamicsDirac fermionFermionElectronLeptonMusicalNeutrinoVisual artsArtHigh-Energy Particle Collisions ResearchCold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein CondensatesQuantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions