Four-vector vs. four-scalar representation of the Dirac wave function

30 pagesInternational audienceIn a Minkowski spacetime, one may transform the Dirac wave function under the spin group, as one transforms coordinates under the Poincaré group. This is not an option in a curved spacetime. Therefore, in the equation proposed independently by Fock and Weyl, the four complex components of the Dirac wave function transform as scalars under a general coordinate transformation. Recent work has shown that a covariant complex four-vector representation is also possible. Using notions of vector bundle theory, we describe these two representations in a unified framework. We prove theorems that relate together the different representations and the different choices of connections within each representation. As a result, either of the two representations can account for a variety of inequivalent, linear, covariant Dirac equations in a curved spacetime that reduce to the original Dirac equation in a Minkowski spacetime. In particular, we show that the standard Dirac equation in a curved spacetime, with any choice of the tetrad field, is equivalent to a particular realization of the covariant Dirac equation for a complex four-vector wave function