Berry phase in the phase space worldline representation: the axial anomaly and classical kinetic theory

Abstract

The Berry phase is analyzed for Weyl and Dirac fermions in a phase space representation of the worldline formalism. Kinetic theories are constructed for both at a classical level. Whereas the Weyl fermion case reduces in dimension, resembling a theory in quantum mechanics, the Dirac fermion case takes on a manifestly Lorentz covariant form. To achieve a classical kinetic theory for the non-Abelian Dirac fermion Berry phase a spinor construction of Barut and Zanghi is utilized. The axial anomaly is also studied at a quantum level. It is found that under an adiabatic approximation, which is necessary for facilitating a classical kinetic theory, the index of the Dirac operator for massless fermions vanishes. Even so, similarities of an axial rotation to an exact non-covariant Berry phase transform are drawn by application of the Fujikawa method to the Barut and Zanghi spinors on the worldline.