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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Helicity is a topological invariant of massless particles: C=−2h

Eric Palmerduca* and Hong Qin†

  • *Contact author: ep11@princeton.edu
  • †Contact author: hongqin@princeton.edu
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, L022001 – Published 2 April, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.L022001

Abstract

There is an elementary but indispensable relationship between the topology and geometry of massive particles. The geometric spin s is related to the topological dimension of the internal space V by dimV=2s+1. This breaks down for massless particles, which are geometrically characterized by their helicity h, but all have 1D internal spaces. We show that a subtler relation exists between the topology and geometry of massless particles. Wave functions of massless particles are sections of nontrivial line bundles over the light cone whose topology is completely characterized by their first Chern number C. We prove that in general C=−2h. In doing so, we also exhibit a method of generating all massless bundle representations via an Abelian group structure of massless particles.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, L022001– Published 2 April, 2025
  • Received 11 July 2024
  • Accepted 11 February 2025
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