Editing Dirac operator (section)

{{short description|First-order differential linear operator on spinor bundle, whose square is the Laplacian}}
In [[mathematics]] and in [[quantum mechanics]], a '''Dirac operator''' is a first-order [[differential operator]] that is a formal square root, or [[half-iterate]], of a second-order differential operator such as a [[Laplacian]]. It was introduced  in 1847 by [[William Rowan Hamilton|William Hamilton]]<ref name="Hamilton1847" /> and in 1928 by [[Paul Dirac]].<ref name="Dirac1928">{{ cite journal
|author=Dirac, P. A. M.
|title=The Quantum Theory of the Electron
|journal= Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character
|year=1928
|volume=117
|number=778
|pages=610−624
|doi=10.1098/rspa.1928.0023
|doi-access=free
}}
</ref> The question which concerned Dirac was to factorise formally the [[Laplace operator]] of the [[Minkowski space]], to get an equation for the [[wave function]] which would be compatible with [[special relativity]].