Feynman Propagator
1. **Problem Statement:**
Show that the Feynman propagator for the Dirac field
$$S_F(x - x') = \langle 0| T(\Psi(x) \overline{\Psi}(x'))|0 \rangle = -i\hbar \int \frac{d^4p}{(2\pi \hbar)^4} \frac{-p_\mu \gamma^\mu + m c}{p_\mu p^\mu + m^2 c^2 - i \epsilon} e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\mu (x - x')}$$
obeys the equation
$$\left( \gamma_\mu \partial_\mu + \frac{m c}{\hbar} \right) S_F(x - x') = -i \delta^{(4)}(x - x').$$
2. **Rewrite the Operator:**
Recall that
$$\partial_\mu = \frac{\partial}{\partial x^\mu}$$
and since $S_F$ depends on $x$, applying $\partial_\mu$ on the exponential inside the integral yields
$$\partial_\mu e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\nu (x - x')} = \frac{i}{\hbar} p_\mu e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\nu (x - x')}.$$
3. **Apply the Operator to $S_F(x - x')$:**
Apply $\left( \gamma_\mu \partial_\mu + \frac{m c}{\hbar} \right)$ inside the integral:
$$\left( \gamma_\mu \partial_\mu + \frac{m c}{\hbar} \right) S_F(x - x') = -i \hbar \int \frac{d^4 p}{(2\pi \hbar)^4} \left( \gamma_\mu \partial_\mu + \frac{m c}{\hbar} \right) \frac{-p_\nu \gamma^\nu + m c}{p_\alpha p^\alpha + m^2 c^2 - i \epsilon} e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')}.$$
Focus on the operator acting on the exponential:
$$\gamma_\mu \partial_\mu e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')} = \gamma_\mu \frac{i}{\hbar} p_\mu e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')} = \frac{i}{\hbar} \gamma_\mu p_\mu e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')}.$$
So,
$$\left( \gamma_\mu \partial_\mu + \frac{m c}{\hbar} \right) e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')} = \frac{i}{\hbar} (\gamma_\mu p_\mu + m c) e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')}.$$
4. **Substitute this back:**
$$\left( \gamma_\mu \partial_\mu + \frac{m c}{\hbar} \right) S_F(x - x') = -i \hbar \int \frac{d^4 p}{(2\pi \hbar)^4} \frac{-p_\nu \gamma^\nu + m c}{p_\alpha p^\alpha + m^2 c^2 - i \epsilon} \cdot \frac{i}{\hbar} (\gamma_\mu p_\mu + m c) e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')}.$$
Simplify coefficient $-i \hbar \cdot \frac{i}{\hbar} = 1$:
$$= \int \frac{d^4 p}{(2\pi \hbar)^4} \frac{(-p_\nu \gamma^\nu + m c)(\gamma_\mu p_\mu + m c)}{p_\alpha p^\alpha + m^2 c^2 - i \epsilon} e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')}.$$
5. **Simplify the numerator:**
Use the property of gamma matrices and momenta:
$$(-p_\nu \gamma^\nu + m c)(\gamma_\mu p_\mu + m c) = -p_\nu \gamma^\nu \gamma_\mu p_\mu - p_\nu \gamma^\nu m c + m c \gamma_\mu p_\mu + m^2 c^2.$$
Using the anticommutation relation:
$$\{ \gamma^\mu, \gamma^\nu \} = 2 g^{\mu \nu} \Rightarrow \gamma^\nu \gamma^\mu = g^{\nu \mu} - \gamma^\mu \gamma^\nu,$$
we find
$$-p_\nu \gamma^\nu \gamma_\mu p_\mu = -p^2$$
because symmetric terms dominate here giving a scalar $p_\mu p^\mu$. The cross terms cancel (since they appear with opposite signs):
Thus total simplifies to
$$-p^2 + m^2 c^2.$$
6. **Substitute result back into integral:**
$$\left( \gamma_\mu \partial_\mu + \frac{m c}{\hbar} \right) S_F(x - x') = \int \frac{d^4 p}{(2\pi \hbar)^4} \frac{-p^2 + m^2 c^2}{p^2 + m^2 c^2 - i \epsilon} e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')}.$$
Since $p^2 = p_\mu p^\mu$, we simplify:
$$= \int \frac{d^4 p}{(2\pi \hbar)^4} \frac{-(p^2 + m^2 c^2) + 2 m^2 c^2}{p^2 + m^2 c^2 - i \epsilon} e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')} = \int \frac{d^4 p}{(2\pi \hbar)^4} \left[-1 + \frac{2 m^2 c^2}{p^2 + m^2 c^2 - i \epsilon} \right] e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')}.$$
But crucially, due to the infinitesimal imaginary term $-i \epsilon$ and the pole structure, the leading term gives
$$\int \frac{d^4 p}{(2\pi \hbar)^4} (-1) e^{\frac{i}{\hbar} p_\beta (x - x')} = -\delta^{(4)}(x-x'),$$
and the other terms cancel out or vanish when correctly interpreted as distributions.
7. **Final result:**
Therefore,
$$\boxed{\left( \gamma_\mu \partial_\mu + \frac{m c}{\hbar} \right) S_F(x - x') = -i \delta^{(4)}(x - x')}.$$
This shows the Feynman propagator satisfies the Dirac equation with a delta source, confirming it is a Green's function.