  In recent papers (astro-ph/0306630, gr-qc/0312041) I have argued that the
observed cosmological acceleration can be accounted for by the inclusion of a
1/R term in the gravitational action in the Palatini formalism. Subsequently,
Flanagan (astro-ph/0308111, gr-qc/0403063) argued that this theory is
equivalent to a scalar-tensor theory which produces corrections to the standard
model that are ruled out experimentally.
  In this article I examine the Dirac field coupled to 1/R gravity. The Dirac
action contains the connection which was taken to be the Christoffel symbol,
not an independent quantity, in the papers by Flanagan. Since the metric and
connection are taken to be independent in the Palatini approach it is natural
to allow the connection that appears in the Dirac action to be an independent
quantity. This is the approach that is taken in this paper. The resulting
theory is very different and much more complicated than the one discussed in
Flanagan's papers.

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;Astrophysics;High Energy Physics - Theory