Intrinsic momentum in Poincare gauge theory

Abstract

While it is generally accepted, in the framework of Poincare gauge theory, that the Lorentz connection couples minimally to spinor fields, there is no general agreement on the coupling of the translational gauge field to fermions. We will show that the assumption that spinors carry a full Poincare representation leads to inconsistencies, whose origins will be traced back by considering the Poincare group both as the contraction of the de Sitter group, and as a subgroup of the conformal group. As a result, the translational fields do not minimally couple to fermions, and consequently, fermions do not possess an intrinsic momentum.