Global and microlocal aspects of Dirac operators: propagators and Hadamard states

Abstract

We propose a geometric approach to construct the Cauchy evolution operator for the Lorentzian Dirac operator on Cauchy-compact globally hyperbolic 4-manifolds. We realise the Cauchy evolution operator as the sum of two invariantly defined oscillatory integrals -- the positive and negative Dirac propagators -- global in space and in time, with distinguished complex-valued geometric phase functions. As applications, we relate the Cauchy evolution operators with the Feynman propagator and construct Cauchy surfaces covariances of quasifree Hadamard states.