IL NUOV0 CIMENTO %~OL. L V A , N.

2 21 5~aggio 1968

Gauge Invariance, Photon Mass and Weak Interaction of Photons;

~). B A S D Y O P A I ) t I Y A Y

I n d i a n Statistical Institute - Calcutta

(ricevuto il 2 Aprile 1968)

In recent times, several authors have put forward the argument that gauge invar-
iance has nothing to do with the vanishing rest-mass of photons. SCHWING~ (1) has
argued that the gauge-invariant coupling of a zero-bare-mass vector field to a fermion
field does not necessarily require that the physical mass of the vector particle be also
zero. Again OGIEVETSKIJ and POLUBAI~I.~'()V(2) have pointed out that gauge invariance
bears no direct relation to the mass of quanta with spin 1 and from the very beginning
it is possible to introduce a nonzero rest-mass of vector field. I n view of this it is desir-
able that there should be other theoretical aspects to justify the zero rest-mass of photons.
I n this note we shall show that the weak-interaction property of photons as suggested
in a previous note (a) introduces an indirect relation between gauge invariancc and zero
rest-mass of photons.
I n a recent note (4) it has been proposed that, in view of the neutrino theory of
light, photons are likely to interact weakly also apart from the usual electromagnetic
interactions. However it can be shown that photons can interact weakly only with
two-component neutrinos and with no other particles, charged or uncharged. This
is due to the fact that the weak interaction of photons must satisfy the condition that
the weak coupling constant g does not behave as (~weak charge ~ which happens to be
a conserved quantity in view of the invariauce of the total Lagrangian under the space-
time-dependent gauge transformations

y,(x) -* exp [-- igA] y,(x),

~A
(1) A~(x) -~ A~(x) + ~x--~ "

So it appears that the weak interaction of photons is possible only in case of a gauge
noninvariant interaction or in the special case where the gauge transformation of the
first kind is not an allowed transformation at all. Now we note that if we stick to the
conventional view that gauge invariance is related to the vanishing rest-mass of photons,

(~) J. SCl[WI~'C~ER: Phys. Rev., 125, 397 (1962).

* Proceedings o/ the 1962 InternaHonal Conference on
(z) V. I. OGIEVETSKIJ a n d I. V. Y)()LL'BARIN~OV.
High-E~ergg Physics at CEI?N, p. 666.
(a) l). BANDYOPADHYAY" p r e p r i n t .
(a) i ). BANDYOPADHYAY: N~tovo Cimento, 38, 1912 (1965).
368 t'. BAND YOPADttYAY

gauge n o n i n v a r i a n t interactions are a u t o m a t i c a l l y forbidden. B u t ill case we take the

view t h a t gauge i n v a r i a n c e has n o t h i n g to do w i t h the p h o t o n mass, wc c a n n o t forbid
a ,priori a g a u g e - n o n i n v a r i a n t interaction, say iy~[,~7#(l -~ 75)Y'~ At, I- h.c. depicting the
weak interaction of photons with electrons. (The electromagnetic interaction of photons
w i t h eleclrons m u s t be g a u g e - i n v a r i a n t just by the r e q u i r e m e n t of the conservation
of electric charge.) B u t this leads to a conh'adietion. This is due to the fact t h a t if
the weak interaction of p h o t o n s w i t h electrons is alh)wed, a p h o t o n in an e x t e r n a l field
should create c - e + pairs b o t h e l e c l r o m a g n e t i c a l l y and weakly, which is absurd. In fact
if the process -(+~,, ~e--!-e + is allowed to occur weakly t h r o u g h the intcraction of
t h e form ig,pr i 75) y,r we should h a v e violation of parity. I n view of the experi-
m e n t a l fact t h a t no i)hoton-ele(-tron interaction violates parity, we can infer t h a t these
processes are forbidden. Thus the weak interaction of photons w i t h electrons is physi-
cally incompatible. This is true for any charged fermion. In case the fermion is neutral
b u t massive t h e n also t h e weak interac, tion of photons w i t h thesc particles will lead
to inconsistencies. F o r example, in t h a t case we can have ,~o_+ 2y decay t h r o u g h mech-
anisms like =~ ~,,~t..... ~ t ~ 2-( as well as n~ nii ,,e~2 2", which is absurd be-
cause the l a t t e r m e c h a n i s m suggests t h a t the process will not honour parity. Obviously
this result is ph)'sieally incompatible. Thus we find t h a t in the ease of any massive
spinor, charged or uncharged, g a u g c - n o n i n v a r i a n t w e a k interaction of p h o t o n s m u s t
be forbidden.
F r o m this analysis, we see t h a t the weak interaction of photons is possible only
in the special case where the gauge t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of the first kind is n o t an allowed
t r a n s f o r m a t i o n at all. A n d this condition is satisfied only by a M a j o r a n a spinor Z b y
v i r t u e of its unique p r o p e r t y 7. = C 12- As we k n o w t h a t a t w o - c o m p o n e n t neutral
spinor is e q u i v a l e n t to a ]Hajorana spinor (s). we come to the conclusion t h a t photons
can i n t e r a c t weakly only w i t h neutrinos.
W e h a v e observed a b o v e that, t h o u g h according to the view t h a t gauge i n v a r i a n c e
is n o t directly related w i t h the vanishing rest-mass of I)hotons g a u g e - n o n i n v a r i a n t
wcak interactions of photons are not forbidden, these processes are physically incon-
sistent. So to ensure the forhiddenncss of these processes, the c o n v e n t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p
between gauge i n v a r i a n c e and p h o t o n mass is solicited. Thus we see t h a t the assumed
weak-interaction p r o p e r t y of photons introduces a~t indirect relatiolb between gauge
invaria,~ce and zero rest-mass el photons.
I n this c o n t e x t we m a y n o t e t h a t a p h o t o n c a n n o t i n t e r a c t w e a k l y in case it behaves
as a (( massive particle ~>. F o r if a (~massive )> p h o t o n is endowed w i t h this weak-inter-
action p r o p e r t y , wc h a v e no reason to restrict these interactions h) the case of photon-
neutrino processes only. I n fact in case of a (~massive ~>p h o t o n we h a v e no grounds
to forbid g a u g e - n o n i n v a r i a n t w e a k interactions, t h o u g h g a u g e - n o n i n v a r i a n t electro-
m a g n e t i c interactions are forbidden just by the r e q u i r e m e n t of charge conservation.
Since, as shown above, g a u g e - n o n i n v a r i a n t weak interactions will lead to physical incon-
sistencies, we m u s t forbid any weak i n t e r a c t i o n of (, massive,) photons. F r o m ibis
9mMysis we see t h a t (r plasmons ~) (photons p r o p a g a t i n g in an electron gas) which b e h a v e
as particles of nonzero rest-mass c a n n o t decay ((weakly)) into ,.v pairs, t h o u g h such
a direct pair f o r m a t i o n is possible in case neutrinos h a v e got a small a m o u n t of
(~charge ~> (%

(~) F o r e x a m p l e , s e e C. I{Y.~N and. S. O K l m ) : Nuppl. A'uovo Cimento, 2, 234 (1964).

(*) :BERNS~I.'EIN, FEINBERG 0,I),d. I{UI)EItMAN h a v e iIl flte~ c a l c u l a t e d a n uI)i)('r l i m i t of t h e n e u t r i n o
c h a r g e f r o m a n a n a l y s i s of t h e s o l a r a g e c o n s i d e r i n g t h e e n e r g T loss d u e to t h e 4 i r ( ' c t d e c ~ y of p l a s m o l t s i n t o
neutrino-antineutrino pairs. Their rcmllt shmvs e~ < 10 -26 ~. (J. ]~EIINSTEIN, (~. I.'EINIH';RGand M. IIU-
I)ERMAN: Phys. l?cv., 132, 1227 (196;~)).