Fermions in general relativity

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ABSTRACTS

in General Relativity. JOHN K. LAWRENCE. Institute fur Theoretische Physik der Universitlt Wien, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Wien, Austria. A discussion is given of the interaction of Fermions with linearized gravitational fields in general relativity by means of the covariant Dirac equation. A formulation of the Dirac equation is used in which the “spin-spin” interaction terms do not appear. The trajectories of the Fermions in a gravitational field are found by means of a WKB type limit. The resulting equations of motion are comparable to those of previous authors and lack certain ambiguities of the equations for classicSal spinning bodies. Although massless particles must follow null geodesics, massive particles exhibit nongeodetic motion. Any effect on the result of an Eotvos-Dicke type experiment would be of at least second order in the gravitational field strengths, but anomalous deflections are found for high energy Fermions passing near a massive body. Fertnions

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