The Dirac equation in a curved spacetime depends on a field of coefficients (essentially the Dirac matrices), for which a continuum of different choices are possible. We study the conditions under which a change of the coefficient fields leads to an equivalent Hamiltonian operator H, or to an equivalent energy operator E. We do that for the standard version of the gravitational Dirac equation, and for two alternative equations based on the tensor representation of the Dirac fields. The latter equations may be defined when the spacetime is four-dimensional, noncompact, and admits a spinor structure. We find that, for each among the three versions of the equation, the vast majority of the possible coefficient changes do not lead to an equivalent operator H, nor to an equivalent operator E, whence a lack of uniqueness. In particular, we prove that the Dirac energy spectrum is not unique. This non-uniqueness of the energy spectrum comes from an effect of the choice of coefficients, and applies in any given coordinates.

We study the basic quantum mechanics for a fully general set of Dirac matrices in a curved spacetime by extending Pauli's method. We further extend this study to three versions of the Dirac equation: the standard (Dirac-Fock-Weyl or DFW) equation, and two alternative versions, both of which are based on the recently proposed linear tensor representations of the Dirac field (TRD). We begin with the current conservation: we show that the latter applies to any solution of the Dirac equation, iff the field of Dirac matrices γ µ satisfies a specific PDE. This equation is always satisfied for DFW with its restricted choice for the γ µ matrices. It similarly restricts the choice of the γ µ matrices for TRD. However, this restriction can be achieved. The frame dependence of a general Hamiltonian operator is studied. We show that in any given reference frame with minor restrictions on the spacetime metric, the axioms of quantum mechanics impose a unique form for the Hilbert space scalar product. Finally, the condition for the general Dirac Hamiltonian operator to be Hermitian is derived in a general curved spacetime. For DFW, the validity of this hermiticity condition depends on the choice of the γ µ matrices.