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Table of ontents
0.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
Introdu
tion
Motivation
Quantisation of elds
Euler-Lagrange equations
Tree-level diagrams
Hamiltonian perturbation theory
Path integrals in quantum me
hani
s
Path integrals in eld theory
Perturbative expansion for eld theory
The s
attering matrix
Cross se
tions
De
ay rates
The Dira
equation
Plane wave solutions of the Dira
equation
The Dira
Hamiltonian
Path integrals for fermions
Feynman rules for ve
tor elds
Quantum Ele
trodynami
s - QED
Non-Abelian gauge theories
The Higgs me
hanism
Gauge xing and ghosts
The Standard Model
Loop
orre
tions and renormalisation
Index to Problems
1
2
4
8
13
17
20
27
33
37
43
45
47
52
55
57
70
74
82
88
90
93
99
110
0 Introdu
tion
Field theory is most su
essful in des
ribing the pro
ess of s
attering of parti
les in the
ontext of the Standard Model, and in parti
ular in the Ele
tromagneti
and Weak Intera
tions.
From 1989, the Large Ele
tron Positron (LEP)
ollider is operational. In a ring of 27 km in
diameter, ele
trons and positrons were a
elerated in opposite dire
tions to energies of approximately 45 GeV. This energy is equivalent to half the mass (expressed as energy through
E = m
2 ) of the neutral Z o ve
tor boson mass, whi
h mediates part of the weak intera
tions.
The Z o parti
le
an thus be
reated in ele
tron-positron annihilation, at the regions where
the ele
tron and positron beams interse
t. As a Z o
an be formed out of an ele
tron and
its antiparti
le, the positron, it
an also de
ay into these parti
les. Likewise it
an de
ay
in a muon-antimuon pair and other
ombinations (like hadrons). The
ross-se
tion for the
formation of Z o parti
les shows a resonan
e peak around the energy where the Z o parti
le
an be formed. The width of this peak is a measure for the probability of the de
ay of this
parti
le. By the time you have worked yourself through this
ourse, you should be able to
understand how to
al
ulate this
ross-se
tion, whi
h in a good approximation is given by
4e2 E 2 =27
= 2
;
(0.1)
(E MZ2 o )2 + MZ2 o 2Z o
expressed in units where h =
= 1. e = 4e 1=137:037, is the ne-stru
ture
onstant,
E is twi
e the beam energy, MZ o the mass and Z o the de
ay rate (or width) of the Z o
ve
tor boson. The latter gets a
ontribution from all parti
les in whi
h the Z o
an de
ay, in
parti
ular from the de
ay in a neutrino and antineutrino of the three known types (ele
tron,
muon and tau neutrinos). Any other unknown neutrino type (assuming their mass to be
smaller than half the Z o mass) would
ontribute likewise. Neutrinos are very hard to dete
t
dire
tly, as they have no
harge and only intera
t through the weak intera
tions (and gravity)
with other matter. With the data obtained from the LEP
ollider (the gure is from the
ALEPH
ollaboration) one has been able to establish that there are no unknown types of
light neutrinos, i.e. N = 3, whi
h has important
onsequen
es (also for
osmology).
2
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1.05
1
0.95
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
g. 1
The main aim of this eld theory
ourse is to give the student a working knowledge
and understanding of the theory of parti
les and elds, with a des
ription of the Standard
Model towards the end. We feel that an essential ingredient of any eld theory
ourse has
1
to be to tea
h the student how Feynman rules are derived from rst prin
iples. With the
path integral approa
h this is feasible. Nevertheless, it is equally essential that the student
learns how to use these rules. This is why the problems form an integral part of this
ourse.
As Julius Wess put it during his
ourse as a Lorentz professor at our Institute \you won't
be
ome a good pianist by listening to good
on
erts".
These le
ture notes re
e
t the eld theory
ourses I taught in the fall of 1992 at Utre
ht
and in the fall of 1993, 1994 and 1996 at Leiden. I owe mu
h to my tea
hers in this eld,
Martinus Veltman and Gerard 't Hooft. As I taught in Utre
ht from 't Hooft's le
ture notes
\Inleiding in de gequantiseerde veldentheorie" (Utre
ht, 1990) it is inevitable that there is
some overlap. In Leiden I spent roughly 25% longer in front of the
lassroom (3 le
tures of
45 minutes ea
h for 14 weeks), whi
h allowed me to spend more time and detail on
ertain
aspe
ts. The set of problems, 40 in total, were initially
ompiled by Karel-Jan S
houtens
with some additions by myself. In their present form, they were edited by Jeroen Snippe.
Of the many books on eld theory that exist by now, I re
ommend the student to
onsider
using \Quantum Field Theory" by C. Itzykson and J.-B. Zuber (M
Graw-Hill, New York,
1980) in addition to these le
ture notes, be
ause it oers material substantially beyond the
ontent of these notes. I will follow to a large extent their
onventions. I also re
ommend
\Diagrammati
a: The path to Feynman diagrams", by M. Veltman (Cambridge University
Press, 1994), for its unique style. The dis
ussion on unitarity is very informative and it has
an appendix
omparing dierent
onventions. For more emphasis on the phenomenologi
al
aspe
ts of eld theory, whi
h are as important as the theoreti
al aspe
ts (a point Veltman
often emphasised for
efully) I
an re
ommend \Field Theory in Parti
le Physi
s" by B. de
Wit and J. Smith (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1986). For path integrals, whi
h form a
ru
ial ingredient of these le
tures, the book \Quantum me
hani
s and path integrals" by
R.P. Feynman and A.R. Hibbs (M
Graw-Hill, New York, 1978) is a must. Finally, for an
introdu
tion to the Standard Model, useful towards the end of this
ourse, the book \Gauge
theories of weak intera
tions", by J.C. Taylor (Cambridge Univ.Press, 1976), is very valuable.
1 Motivation
Field theory is the ultimate
onsequen
e of the attempts to re
on
ile the prin
iples of relativisti
invarian
e with those of quantum me
hani
s. It is not too di
ult, with a lot of
hindsight, to understand why a eld needs to be introdu
ed. Although this is not an attempt
to do justi
e to history - and perhaps one should spare the student the long struggle to arrive
at a
onsistent formulation, whi
h most likely has not
ompletely
rystalised yet either - but
the traditional approa
h of introdu
ing the
on
ept is not very inspiring and most often
la
ks physi
al motivation. In the following dis
ussion I was inspired by \Relativisti
Quantum Theory" from V.B. Berestetskii, E.M. Lifshitz and L.P. Pitaevskii (Pergamon Press,
Oxford, 1971). The argument goes ba
k to L.D. Landau and R.E. Peierls (1930).
An important
onsequen
e of relativisti
invarian
e is that no information should propagate at a speed greater than that of light. Information
an only propagate inside the future
light
one. Consider the S
hrodinger equation
t
x
(~x; t)
ih
= H (~x; t) :
(1:1)
g. 2
t
N
Relativisti
invarian
e should require that (~x; t) = 0 for all (~x; t) outside the light
one of
the support N = f~xj (~x; 0) 6= 0g of the wave fun
tion at t = 0.
2
Naturally, a rst requirement should be that the S
hrodinger equation itself is relativisti
ally invariant. For ordinary quantum me
hani
s, formulated in terms of a potential
p~2
+ V (~x) ;
(1.1)
H=
2m
this is
learly not the
ase. Using the relation E 2 = ~p2
2 + m2
4 the most obvious attempt
for a relativisti
ally invariant wave equation would be the Klein-Gordon equation
2
2 (~x; t)
2
2 (~x; t) + m2
4 (~x; t) :
h 2
=
h
(1.2)
t2
~x2
However, for this equation the usual denition of probability density is not
onserved
Z
(1.3)
As this is a
onsequen
e of the fa
t that the equation is se
ond order in time, this
an be
easily remedied, it seems, by taking the \square root" of the Klein-Gordon equation
v
u
(~x; t) u
ih
=t
t
!
2
2
2
2
4
h
2 + m
(~x; t)
~x
(1.4)
We shall show that this, however, violates the prin
iple of
ausality, i.e. the wave fun
tion
propagates outside of its light
one, whi
h is una
eptable. Nevertheless, we will learn something important from that
omputation, namely that negative energies seem unavoidable
when trying to lo
alise wave fun
tions within the light
one of N . But rst we will provide
a simple heuristi
argument based on the un
ertainty relation.
From the un
ertainty prin
iple xp > h =2 and the bound on the speed involved in any
measurement of the position, it follows that pre
ision of a measurement of the momentum
is limited by the available time tp > h =
. Only for a free parti
le, where momentum is
onserved, su
h a measurement would be possible, but in that
ase, of
ourse, the position is
ompletely undetermined,
onsistent with the plane wave des
ription of su
h a free parti
le
(the light
one of N would in that
ase indeed give us no
onstraint). More instru
tive is
to look at how a
urately we
an determine the position of a parti
le. As the momentum is
bounded by the (positive) energy (p E=
) and as the maximal
hange in the momentum
is of the order of p itself, we nd that x > h =p h
=E , whi
h
oin
ides with the limit set
by the De Broglie wavelength.
If we take this serious, that is position
an in prin
iple not be measured with arbitrary
a
ura
y, the notion of a wave fun
tion looses its meaning. On the other hand, if we would
like to lo
alise the parti
le more a
urate than within its De Broglie wavelength, it seems
to require an un
ertainty in momentum that
an only be a
hieved by allowing for negative
energy states. But negative energy states will be interpreted as antiparti
les, and on
e
antiparti
les are introdu
ed, whi
h
an annihilate with parti
les, parti
le number is no longer
onserved and we likewise loose the notion of position of a parti
le. Only a free parti
le, as
a plane wave, seems to be
ompatible with relativisti
invarian
e.
We will now verify by dire
t
omputation that lo
alising the wave fun
tion within the light
one will indeed require negative energy states. We
onsider rst the positive square root
of the Klein-Gordon equation and solve the S
hrodinger equation for the initial
ondition
(~x; 0) = 3 (~x). From this we
an solve any initial
ondition by
onvolution. As the
S
hrodinger equation is rst order in time, the initial
ondition uniquely xes the wave
3
fun
tion for all later times and there will be a unique answer to the question whether the
wave fun
tion vanishes outside the light
one (i.e. for t > j~xj). Problem 1 asks you to
investigate this in the simpler
ase of one, instead of three, spatial dimensions. For the
latter we simply give the result here, using the fa
t that in Fourier spa
e the solution is
trivial. Computing (~x; t) thus requires just some skills in performing Fourier integrals.
Z
d3 ~p i~p~x=h itpp~ 2
2 +m2
4 =h
(~x; t) =
e
e
(2h )3
Z
p2 dp sin()d ipr
os()=h itpp2
2 +m2
4 =h
=
e
e
(2 )2h 3
p
1 Z
it p2
2 +m2
4 =h
=
pdp
sin(
pr=
h
)
e
2 2 rh 2
p
i 2 Z 1
os(pr=h )
it p2
2 +m2
4 =h :
p
(1.5)
e
=
dp
2 2 r rt 0
p2
2 + m2
4
We now introdu
e
p = m
sinh(u) ; m
r=h = z
osh(v ) ; m
2 t=h = z sinh(v ) ;
z 2 = m2
2 (r2
2 t2 )=h 2 ;
(1.6)
su
h that (the last identity simply being the denition of the modied Bessel fun
tion Ko )
i 2 Z 1
(~x; t) =
du
os(z sinh(u)
osh(v ))e iz sinh(v)
osh(u)
4 2 r
rt 1
i 2 Z 1 iz sinh(u+v)
iz sinh(u v)
du
e
+
e
=
8 2 r
rt 1
i 2
i 2 Z 1
du
os(
z
sinh(
u
))
K (z ) :
(1.7)
=
2 2 r
rt 0
2 2 r
rt o
Outside of the light
one, z is real (r2 >
2 t2 ) and (~x; t) is purely imaginary. It de
ays
exponentially, but does not vanish! Inside the light
one we nd by analyti
ontinuation (see
e.g. appendix C of \Relativisti
Quantum Fields" by J.D. Bjorken and S.D. Drell (M
Graw
Hill, New York, 1965)) the following expli
it expression
p
p
1 2
(~x; t) =
iYo (m
2 t2 r2 =h ) sign(t)Jo (m
2 t2 r2 =h ) ; r2 <
2 t2 :
4r
rt
(1.8)
If we want to insist on lo
ality, i.e. (~x; t) = 0 for j~xj >
t and want to stay as
lose as
possible to the solutions of the S
hrodinger equation, we
ould take the real part of as the
wave fun
tion. It satises the Klein-Gordon equation, but not its positive square root.
is a solution of the negative square root of the Klein-Gordon equation, and
orresponds to
a negative energy solution. Apparently, lo
alisation is only possible if we allow for negative
energy solutions.
2 Quantisation of elds
As position is no longer a quantum observable, but free parti
les do not seem to be in
ontradi
tion with relativisti
invarian
e, we
an try to introdu
e su
h a free parti
le as a
quantum observable. This observable is hen
e des
ribed by a plane wave
'~ (~x; t) = e i(ko t ~x~k)=h ;
(2.1)
k
(2.2)
where k0 =
2~k2 + m2
4 is the energy of the free parti
le. By superposition of these plane
waves we
an make a superposition of free parti
les, whi
h is therefore des
ribed by a eld
'(~x; t) = (2h )
3
2
(2.3)
It satises the Klein-Gordon equation if the Fourier
omponents '~(~k; t) satisfy the harmoni
equation
2 '~(~k; t)
2
= (
2~k2 + m2
4 )'~(~k; t) ko2 (~k)'~(~k; t) :
(2.4)
h
2
t
Its solutions split in positive and negative frequen
y
omponents
'~(~k; t) = '~+ (~k)e iko t=h + '~ (~k)eikot=h
(2.5)
The wave fun
tion, or rather the wave fun
tional ('), des
ribes the distribution over the
various free parti
le states. The basi
dynami
al variables are '~(~k). These play the role the
oordinates used to play in ordinary quantum me
hani
s and will require quantisation. As
they satisfy a simple harmoni
equation in time, it is natural to quantise them as harmoni
os
illators. The Hamiltonian is then simply the sum of the harmoni
os
illator Hamiltonian
for ea
h ~k, with frequen
y ! (~k) k0 (~k)=h .
ih
X
(')
= H (') = H(~k) (') ;
t
~k
(2.6)
1
2
1
2
In a nite volume with periodi
boundary
onditions, the integral over the momenta is
repla
ed by a sum as the momenta are in that
ase dis
rete, ~k = 2~nh =L; ~n 2 ZZ3 . Like for
the harmoni
os
illator, we
an introdu
e
reation and annihilation operators
1
! (~k)'~(~k) + i~ (~k) ;
2h! (~k)
1
! (~k)'~ (~k) i~ (~k) ;
ay (~k) = q
2h! (~k)
a(~k) = q
(2.7)
and express the eld operator (the equivalent of the
oordinates) in terms of these
reation
and annihilation operators. To give the eld operator its time dependen
e we have to invoke
the Heisenberg pi
ture, whi
h gives '(~x; t) = eiHt=h '(~x; 0)e iHt=h . Using the well known
fa
t that eiHt=h a(~k)e iHt=h = e i!(~k)t a(~k) and eiHt=h ay(~k)e iHt=h = ei!(~k)t ay (~k), whi
h is a
onsequen
e of [a(~k); H = h ! (~k)a(~k) and [ay (~k); H = h ! (~k)ay(~k), we nd
'(~x; t) = L
h y ~ i(~k~x
a (k)e
2ko (~k)
3 X
2
q
~k
ko t)=h
+ a(~k )ei(~k~x
ko t)=h
(2.8)
3 P
3 R
In an innite volume we repla
e L 2 ~k by (2h ) 2 d3~k. Note that in the Heisenberg
pi
ture positive energy modes behave in time as eiEt=h . Apparently we
an identify (up to a
fa
tor) '~ (~k) with ay ( ~k) and '~+ (~k) with a(~k), whi
h is
ompatible with '~ (~k) = '~( ~k ),
required to des
ribe a real eld (
omplex elds will be dis
ussed in problem 5).
The Hilbert spa
e is now given by the produ
t of the Hilbert spa
es of ea
h ~k separately
~k
~k
y(~k)n~k
aq
j0~ > ;
n~k ! k
(2.9)
with n~k the o
upation number, whi
h in eld theory is now interpreted as the number of
free parti
les of momentum ~k, a denition that makes sense as the energy of su
h a state
is n~k ko (~k) above the state with zero o
upation number (the \va
uum"). It is the property
of the harmoni
os
illator, that its energy is linear in the o
upation number, whi
h makes
the eld theory interpretation in terms of parti
les possible. The annihilation operator in
this language therefore removes a parti
le (lowering the energy by the appropriate amount),
whi
h
onsequently
an be interpreted as the annihilation of the removed parti
le with an
antiparti
le (des
ribed by the annihilation operator). For a real s
alar eld, a parti
le is its
own antiparti
le and this des
ription is perhaps somewhat unfamiliar. But for the
omplex
eld of problem 5, the Fourier
omponent with negative energy is independent of the one with
positive energy, hen
e des
ribing a separate degree of freedom, namely that of an antiparti
le
with opposite
harge.
Intera
tions between the parti
les are simply introdu
ed by modifying the Klein-Gordon
equation to have non-linear terms, after whi
h in general the dierent Fourier
omponents
no longer de
ouple. Field theory thus seems to be nothing but the quantum me
hani
s of an
innite number of degrees of freedom. It is, however, its physi
al interpretation that
ru
ially
diers from that of ordinary quantum me
hani
s. It is this interpretation that is known as
se
ond quantisation. We were for
ed to introdu
e the notion of elds and the interpretation
involving antiparti
les, when
ombining quantum me
hani
s with relativisti
invarian
e. We
should therefore verify that indeed it does not give rise to propagation of information with
a speed larger than the speed of light. This is implied by the following identity, whi
h for
the free s
alar eld will be veried in problem 6
['(~x; t); '(~x0 ; t0 ) = 0; for (~x ~x0 )2 > (t t0 )2
2 :
(2.10)
It states that the a
tion of an operator on the wave fun
tional at a given spa
e-time point
is independent of the a
tion of the operator at an other spa
e-time point, as long as these
two points are not
ausally
onne
ted. Due to the des
ription of the time evolution with
a Hamiltonian, whi
h requires the
hoi
e of a time
oordinate it remains to be established,
however, that these equations are
ovariant under Lorentz transformations. We will resolve
this by using the path integral approa
h, in whi
h the Lorentz invarian
e is intrinsi
, but
whi
h
an also be shown to be equivalent to the Hamiltonian formulation.
Before preparing for path integrals by dis
ussing the a
tion prin
iple, we would rst like
to address a simple physi
al
onsequen
e of the introdu
tion and subsequent quantisation
of elds. It states that empty spa
e (all o
upation numbers equal to zero) has nevertheless
a non-trivial stru
ture, in the same way that the ground state of a Hydrogen atom is nontrivial. Put dierently, empty spa
e is still full of zero-point
u
tuations, whi
h are, however,
only visible if we probe that empty spa
e in one way or another. Also, formally, as ea
h
6
zero-point energy is non-zero, the energy of the va uum in eld theory seems to be innite
E0 =
~k
~k2 2 + m2 4 = ?
(2.11)
However, (as long as gravity is left out of our
onsiderations) one is only sensitive to differen
es in energy. If we probe the va
uum, its energy
an only be put to zero for one
parti
ular value of the probe. The dependen
e of the va
uum energy on the probe
an be
used to dis
over the non-trivial stru
ture of the va
uum.
A famous and elegant method for probing the va
uum was introdu
ed by Casimir (Pro
.
Kon. Ned. A
ad. Wet., ser. B51 (1948) 793), who
onsidered using two
ondu
ting plates in
empty spa
e. The energy of the va
uum is a fun
tion of the distan
e between the two plates,
whi
h gives a for
e. Stri
tly speaking we should dis
uss this in the situation of the quantised
ele
tromagneti
eld (see Itzykson and Zuber, par. 3-2-4), but the essential ingredient is
that Fourier
omponents of the eld are ae
ted by the presen
e of the
ondu
ting plates.
We
an also dis
uss this in the
ontext of the simple s
alar eld we have introdu
ed before,
by assuming that the eld has to vanish at the plates. For simpli
ity we will also take the
mass of the s
alar parti
les to vanish. If furthermore we use periodi
boundary
onditions
in the two other perpendi
ular dire
tions over a distan
e L, than one easily veries that the
for
e per unit area on the
ondu
ting plates is given by
v
!
1 u
u 2 h
X
~n 2
t
1 d X
FL (x) = dEo (x)=dx =
2L2 dx ~n2ZZ2 k=1
!
h
k 2
+
;
x
(2.12)
where due to the vanishing boundary
onditions the Fourier modes in the x1 dire
tion,
perpendi
ular to the
ondu
ting walls, are given by sin(kx1 =x) with k a positive integer,
whereas the quantisation of the momenta in the other two dire
tions is as usual.
6*
L
L
x ?
g. 3
v
u
u
t
!
h k 2
2
F (x) = Llim
F (x) =
:
d p~ p~ +
!1 L
x
8 2h 2 dx k=1 2
1 Z
d X
(2.13)
The integral and the sum are
learly divergent, but as Casimir observed, in pra
tise no
ondu
ting plate
an shield a eld perfe
tly and espe
ially for high frequen
y the boundary
onditions should be modied. One
an mimi
this by arti
ially
utting o the integral and
sum at high momenta. We would not expe
t the physi
al result to depend on the details of
how we do this, as otherwise we
ould use this experiment in an ingenious way to learn how
nature behaves at arbitrarily high energies. Indeed Casimir's
areful analysis showed that
7
the result is independent of the
uto fun
tion
hosen. It is an important example of what
we will later re
ognise as renormalisability of eld theory. Sin
e the result is insensitive to
the method of regularisation (only an overall
onstant
ontribution to Eo (x) depends on it,
but that is not observable, as we argued before), we
an
hoose a
onvenient way to perform
the
al
ulation. Details of this will be provided in problem 2. The method of
al
ulation
is known as dimensional regularisation, where one works in an arbitrary dimension (n 6= 2)
and then analyti
ally extends the result to n = 2. We will nd that
v
!
u
1 Z
u
d X
h k 2
t 2
F (x) = nlim
d p~ p~ +
!2 8 2h
x
2 dx k=1 n
h
( (n + 1)=2) (n+2)
x
:
(2.14)
= nlim
(n + 1) ( n 1) 3n=2
!2
8
( 1=2)
i
in whi
h (i) 1
k=1 k is the Riemann fun
tion. It
an be analyti
ally extended to odd
negative arguments, where in terms of Bernoulli
oe
ients (1 2i) = B2i =(2i). Also
( 12 ) = 32 ( 32 ) is nite, and we simply nd that
2 h
F (x) =
:
(2.15)
480x4
Please note that we have disregarded the spa
e outside the
ondu
ting plates. Imposing
also periodi
boundary
onditions in that dire
tion, one easily nds that the region outside
the plates
ontributes with F (L x) to the for
e, and vanishes when L ! 1. Therefore,
the ee
t of the zero-point
u
tuations in the va
uum leads to a (very small) attra
tive
for
e, whi
h was ten years later experimentally measured by Sparnaay (Physi
a, 24 (1958)
751). Another famous example of the in
uen
e of zero-point
u
tuations is the Lamb shift
in atomi
spe
tra (hyperne splittings), to be dis
ussed at the end of the last se
tion.
P
3 Euler-Lagrange equations
The Klein-Gordon equation in Lorentz
ovariant form (x (
t; x; y; z ) (x0 ; ~x))
0
1
1
C
B
1
C
C
;
B
g '(x) + m2 '(x) = 0 ; g = B
A
1
1
an be derived by variational
al
ulus from an a
tion prin
iple
Z
S = d4 x L('; '; x) ; L('; '; x) = 1 ( ')2 V (') ;
(3.1)
(3.2)
We assume the eld to be given at the boundary of the domain M of integration (typi
ally
assuming the eld vanishes at innity) and demand the a
tion to be stationary with respe
t
to any variation '(x) ! '(x) + '(x) of the eld,
S (')
d4 x
'(
' +
d4 x
'
'
V (')
'
'
Z
V (')
) +
d (' ') = 0 ;
'
M
(3.3)
where d is the integration measure on the boundary M . The variation ' is arbitratry,
ex
ept at M , where we assume ' vanishes, and this implies the Euler-Lagrange equation
' +
V (')
=0 ;
'
(3.4)
whi
h
oin
ides with the Klein-Gordon equation. We
an also write the Euler-Lagrange
equations for arbitrary a
tion S (') in terms of fun
tional derivatives
S
S
=
'(x) '(x)
S
=0 ;
'(x)
(3.5)
where stands for the total fun
tional derivative, whi
h is than split a
ording to the expli
it
dependen
e of the a
tion on the eld and its derivatives (usually an a
tion will not
ontain
higher than rst order spa
e-time derivatives). Please note that a fun
tional derivative has
the property '(x)='(y ) = 4 (x y ), whi
h is why in the above equation we take fun
tional
derivatives of the a
tion S and not, as one sees often, of the Lagrangian density L.
The big advantage of using an a
tion prin
iple is that S is a Lorentz s
alar, whi
h
makes it mu
h easier to guarantee Lorentz
ovarian
e. As the a
tion will be the starting
point of the path integral formulation of eld theory, Lorentz
ovarian
e is mu
h more easy
to establish within this framework (there are instan
es where the regularisation, required
to make sense of the path integral destroys the Lorentz invarian
e, like in string theory.
Examples of these anomalies will be dis
ussed later for the breaking of s
ale invarian
e and
gauge invarian
e). It is now simple to add intera
tions to the Klein-Gordon equation, by
generalising the dependen
e of the \potential" V (') to in
lude higher order terms, like
1
V (') = 12 m2 '2 + '4 ;
4!
(3.6)
whi
h is known as a s
alar '4 eld theory. Later we will see that one
an not add arbitrary
powers of the eld to this potential, ex
ept in two dimensions.
As in
lassi
al eld theory, we
an derive from a Lagrangian with '(x) and '_ (x)
'(x)=t as its independent variables, the Hamiltonian through a Legendre transformation
to the
anoni
al pair of variables (x) (the \momentum") and '(x) (the \
oordinate")
(x) =
Z
S
; H=
'_ (x)
H(x)d3~x =
( (x)'_ (x)
L(x)) d3~x :
(3.7)
'_ (x) =
H
H
H
; _ (x) =
+ i
:
(x)
'(x)
i '(x)
(3.8)
(3.9)
and in problem 5 one will see that this Hamiltonian
oin
ides with eq. (2.6), if we substitute
for '(x) eq. (2.8). For an intera
ting s
alar eld one nds
(3.10)
H = 1 (x)2 + 1 (i '(x))2 + V ('(x)) ;
2
dH Z
H
H
=0 :
(3.11)
= d3~x _ (x)
+ '_ (x)
dt
(x)
'(x)
Conservation of energy is one of the most important laws of nature and it is instru
tive to
derive it more dire
tly from the fa
t that L does not depend expli
itly on time.
We dene
R
the Lagrangian L as an integral of the Lagrange density L over spa
e, L d3~x L, su
h
that
!
!
Z
S
S
S
dL Z
= d3~x t '(x)
:
= d3~x t '(x)
+ ( '(x))
dt
'(x) t
'(x)
'(x)
(3.12)
The last term
ontains a total derivative, whi
h vanishes if we assume that the eld is time
independent (or vanishes) at the boundary of the spatial integration domain. The above
equation be
omes now
dL d Z
S
dZ
d ~x '_ (x)
d ~x '_ (x) (x) ;
(3.13)
=
=
dt dt 3
'_ (x) dt 3
whi
h
an also be expressed as
dH
dZ
d3~x ('_ (x) (x) L)
=0 :
(3.14)
dt
dt
In the same fashion one proves
onservation of momentum in
ase the Lagrangian does
not expli
itly depend on spa
e ( L=xi = 0)
!
dL Z
dZ
S
0=
=
d ~x (x)i '(x) :
(3.15)
= d3~x i '(x)
dxi
'(x)
dt 3
The
onserved momentum is hen
e given by
Pi =
(3.16)
Both
onservation of momentum and energy are examples of
onservation laws that are
onsequen
e of symmetries (translation and time invarian
e). They
an be derived as the
spa
e integral of the time
omponent of a
onserved
urrent or tensor
J (x) = 0 ; T (x) = 0 :
(3.17)
In problem 3 these quantities will be dened for a
harged s
alar eld, where J (x)
an be
identied with the
urrent, whose time
omponent is the
harge density. Indeed the total
harge is
onserved. Assuming the
urrent to vanish at spatial innity one easily nds
Z
dZ
d ~x J (x) = d3~x i Ji (x) = 0
(3.18)
dt 3 o
The underlying prin
iple is des
ribed by the Noether theorem, whi
h implies that if the
Lagrangian L is invariant under ' ! ' , where is a parameter (su
h as a shift of the
oordinates or a phase rotation of a
omplex eld), then the following
urrent is
onserved
S ' (x)
J ( x) =
:
(3.19)
( '(x))
10
The proof is simple and uses the Euler-Lagrange equations to substitute fS= ( '(x))g
for S='(x)
dL(')
S ' (x)
S ( ' (x))
0 =
=
+
d
'(x)
( '(x))
!
' (x)
S ( ' (x))
S
+
= J (x)
(3.20)
=
( '(x))
( '(x))
We here
onsidered the invarian
e under a global symmetry, but important in nature are
also the lo
al symmetries, like the gauge invarian
e related to lo
al
hanges of phase and the
general
oordinate invarian
e in general relativity. Parti
ularly with the latter in mind we
demand therefore that the a
tion S (and not just L) is invariant under '(x) ! '(x) (x), with
an arbitrary fun
tion of spa
e-time. This a
tually leads to the same
onserved
urrents
in
ase L is also invariant. The same
omputation as above, still using the Euler-Lagrange
equations, shows that
S
0=
= J (x) :
(3.21)
(x)
As an important example we will dis
uss how this
onstru
tion leads to
onservation of the
energy-momentum tensor, using general
oordinate invarian
e, whi
h is the lo
al version
of translation invarian
e. For this we have to make the a
tion invariant under su
h lo
al
oordinate redenitions. As long as indi
es are
ontra
ted with the metri
tensor g , L will
be invariant under general
oordinate transformations, due to the transformation property
x x
(3.22)
x = x + " (x) ; g (x) = g (x) :
x x
For global translation invarian
e, " is
onstant and eqs. (3.14) and (3.15)
an be easily
generalised to show that the energy-momentum tensor, T = ' ' g L, is
onserved
(eq. (3.17)). For " not
onstant, we note that the integration measure d4 x is not a s
alar
under
oordinate transformations, but the asso
iated Ja
obian
an be easily absorbed
p general
by
det g, where the determinant is applied to the 4 4 matrix g . For a s
alar eld this
leads to the following invariant a
tion
S=
d4 x
(3.23)
S=
d4 x (1 " (x)) [ 21 g '(x) '(x) V ('(x)) + " (x) '(x) '(x) : (3.24)
Now observe that g (x) is
onstant, su
h that the term independent of " is a fun
tion of
x, integrated over x, whi
h is simply the a
tion itself, as x now plays the role of a dummy
integration variable. The term linear in " therefore has to vanish, but note that it only
involved the variation of the metri
under the general
oordinate transformation. Hen
e,
0=
(3.25)
In taking the derivative with respe
t to the metri
, it is important that any Lorentz ve
tor
(like the derivative ') or tensor appears in the Lagrangian with its indi
es down. Furthermore, the result is to be evaluated for Minkowski spa
e. Eq. (3.26) always gives a symmetri
energy-momentum tensor and from the derivation it is
lear that the result holds not only
for a simple s
alar eld, but for any other bosoni
eld theory (fermions form an ex
eption,
see problem 23) like the one for the ele
tromagneti
eld, whi
h we dis
uss now.
The eld is given by the tensor F (x), with Ei (x) = F0i (x) its ele
tri
and Bi (x) =
1"
2 ijk Fjk (x) its magneti
omponents. In terms of the ve
tor potential A (x) one has
(3.27)
This already implies one of the Maxwell equations (through the so-
alled Ja
obi or integrability
onditions)
F + F + F = 0 :
(3.28)
Written as " F = 0 they are easily seen (resp. for = 0 and = i) to give
divB~ = 0 ; 0 B~ + rotE~ = ~0 :
(3.29)
The dynami
al equations determining the elds in terms of the
urrents, or the sour
es,
J = (
; J~) are given by
1
F = J or divE~ = ; rotB~ 0 E~ = J~ :
(3.30)
We have
hosen Heaviside-Lorentz units and in the future we will also often
hoose units
su
h that h =
= 1.
These Maxwell equations follow from the following a
tion
Sem (J ) =
d4 x (
1
4
(3.31)
We note, as is well known, that the equations of motion imply that the
urrent is
onserved.
With Noether's theorem this makes us suspe
t that this is
aused by a symmetry and indeed
it is known that under the gauge transformation
(3.32)
the theory does not
hange. Our a
tion is invariant under this symmetry if and only if the
urrent is
onserved. This gauge symmetry will play a
ru
ial role in the quantisation of the
ele
tromagneti
eld.
An example of a
onserved
urrent
an be dened for a
omplex s
alar eld. Its a
tion
for a free parti
le is given by
Z
S0 = d4 x ' (x) '(x) m2 ' (x)'(x) :
(3.33)
It is invariant under a phase rotation '(x) ! exp(ie)'(x) and from Noether's theorem we
dedu
e that
J (x) ie('(x) ' (x) ' (x) '(x))
(3.34)
is
onserved, see problem 3. We
an extend this global phase symmetry to a lo
al symmetry
if we
ouple the s
alar eld minimally to the ve
tor potential
Z
S = d4 x 1 F (x)F (x) + (D ') (x)D '(x) m2 ' (x)'(x) ;
4
(3.35)
(3.36)
whi
h makes the
ovariant derivative D '(x) of the s
alar eld transform as the s
alar eld
itself, even for lo
al phase rotations. Note that we
an write this a
tion also as
Z
(3.37)
with J as given in eq. (3.34). We leave it as an exer
ise to show how the a
tion of the ele
tromagneti
eld
an be generalised to be invariant under general
oordinate transformations
and to derive from this the energy-momentum tensor. The result is given by
Sem (J = 0) =
1
4
d4 x g g F F
det g ; T = 14 g F F
F F : (3.38)
4 Tree-level diagrams
In general, in the presen
e of intera
tions, the equations of motions
an not be solved exa
tly
and one has to resort to a perturbative expansion in a small parameter. We dis
uss the s
alar
ase rst, as it is as always the simplest. We add to the Lagrangian density L a so-
alled
sour
e term, whi
h
ouples linearly to the eld ' (
ompare the driving for
e term for a
harmoni
os
illator)
(4.1)
L = 12 ( ')2 V (') J (x)'(x) :
For sake of expli
itness, we will take the following expression for the potential
g
(4.2)
V (') = 21 m2 '2 (x) + '3 (x) :
3!
The Euler-Lagrange equations are now given by
'(x) + m2 '(x) + 1 g'2(x) + J (x) = 0 :
(4.3)
2
If g = 0 it is easy to solve the equation (des
ribing a free parti
le intera
ting with a given
sour
e) in Fourier spa
e. Introdu
ing the Fourier
oe
ients
J~(k) =
1 Z
1 Z
ikx
d x e J (x) ; '~(k) =
d x eikx '(x)
(2 )2 4
(2 )2 4
(4.4)
it follows that
( k2 + m2 )'~(k) + J~(k) = 0 or '(x) =
d4 y G(x y )J (y ) ;
where G is
alled the Green's fun
tion, as it is the solution of the equation
( + m2 )G(x y ) = 4 (x y )
(4.5)
(4.6)
G(x y ) =
d4 k e ik(x y)
:
(2 )4 k2 m2 + i"
13
(4.7)
Please note our short-hand notation of k2 for k k and k(x y ) for k (x y ). A Green's
fun
tion is not uniquely spe
ied by its 2nd order equations, but also requires boundary
onditions. These boundary
onditions are, as we will see, spe
ied by the term i". Be
ause of
the interpretation of the negative energy states as antiparti
les, whi
h travel \ba
kwards" in
time, the quantum theory will require that the positive energy part vanishes for past innity,
whereas the negative energy part will be required to vanish for future innity. Classi
ally
this would not make sense, and we would require the solution to vanish outside the future
light
one. The ee
t of the i" pres
ription
is, to shift the poles on the real axes to the
1
2
2
~
2
omplex k0 plane at k0 = ((k + m ) i"). In se
tion 5 we will see that this will imply
the appropriate behaviour required by the quantum theory.
Now we have found the solution for the free eld
oupled to a sour
e, we
an do perturbation in the strength of the
oupling
onstant g .
'(x) + m2 '(x) + J (x) = 1 g'2 (x)
(4.8)
2
(4.9)
(4.10)
(4.11)
We
an therefore interpret the right-hand side as a sour
e (up to a minus sign) and this
allows us to solve '1 (x) using the Green's fun
tion
'1 (x) =
1
2
y )'20 (y ) =
d4 y G(x
1
2
Z
1
dp
m2 + i" 4 (p2
z )G(y
J~(p)J~(k p)
:
m2 + i")((k p)2 m2 + i")
'n (x) =
1
2
(4.13)
(4.14)
(4.15)
Here we have written out the terms in the sum expli
itly to indi
ate that all terms o
ur
twi
e and are the produ
t of two dierent terms, ex
ept for the term ' 21 (n 1) (y )2 at n odd,
whi
h o
urs on
e. In Fourier spa
e one nds
Z
1
1
d p (2'~0 (p)'~n 1 (k p) + 2'~1 (p)'~n 2 (k p) + ) : (4.16)
'~n (k) =
2(2 )2 k2 m2 + i" 4
14
'(x) =
diagrams
+
1
2
HHHH +
HHHHHH +
HH +
+ 12
1
2
1
8
HHH
H
Y
Y
g #verti
es Z Y
=
dxiv
G(xi xj ) J (xks ) :
(4.17)
N
(diagram)
<i;j>
f
i
g
f
k
g
v
s
diagrams
Here the index iv runs over all verti
es, sour
es and the point x, (so it does not label the
four spa
e-time
omponents of a single point, frequently it will be assumed that it is
lear
from the
ontext what is meant), whereas ks runs only over positions of the sour
es. The
expression < i; j > stands for the pairs of points in a diagram
onne
ted by a line (
alled
propagator).
The Feynman rules to
onvert a diagram to the solution are apparently that ea
h line
(propagator) between points x and y
ontributes G(x y ) and ea
h
ross (sour
e)
at a
R
point x
ontributes J (x). Furthermore, for ea
h vertex at a point x we insert d4 x and
a power of the
oupling
onstant g . Finally ea
h diagram
omes with an overall fa
tor
1=N (diagram), being the inverse of the order of the permutation group (inter
hange of
lines and verti
es) that leaves the diagram invariant (whi
h is also the number of ways the
diagram
an be
onstru
ted out of its building blo
ks). We have derived these rules for
the
ase that = 0, su
h that only three point verti
es appear. All that is required to
generalise this to the arbitrary
ase with n-point verti
es, is that ea
h of these
ome with
their own
oupling
onstant (i.e. for a four-point vertex). This is the reason why these
verti
es are weighed by a fa
tor 1=n! in the potential and hen
e by a fa
tor 1=(n 1)! in
the equations of motion (to be pre
ise, if V (') = gn'n =n!, the equation of motion gives
2 '(x) + J (x) = gn '(n 1) (x)=(n 1)!, and the fa
tor (n 1)! is part of the
ombinatori
s
involved in inter
hanging ea
h of the n 1 fa
tors ' in the intera
tion term.
X
oordinate spa e
xHH
g d4x
R
y G(x y )
x
d4 xJ (x)
momentum spa e
k1
HjH6
k2
k3
k
k
(2)2 4 (
R
table 1
i ki )
vertex
d4 k k2 m1 2 +i" propagator
J~(k)
sour e
on that position (this being the only dependen
e), we see that a vertex at the point x gives
rise to
Z
Z
Z
Y
Y
d4 k e ik (x x )
d4 x G(x x ) ! d4 x
(2 )4 (k2 m2 + i")
Z
Y
X
d4 k eik x
= (2 )4
4 ( k ) :
(4.18)
4
2
2
(2 ) (k m + i")
Conventions in the literature
an dier on how the fa
tors of i (whi
h will appear in the
quantum theory) and 2 are distributed over the verti
es and propagators. Needless to say
that the nal answers have to be independent of the
hosen
onventions.
As a last example in this se
tion we will look again at the ele
tromagneti
eld (whose
parti
les are
alled photons). In Fourier spa
e the equations of motion are given by
( k2 + k k )A~ (k) = J~ (k) :
(4.19)
Unfortunately the matrix k2 + k k has no inverse as k is an eigenve
tor with zero
eigenvalue. This is a dire
t
onsequen
e of the gauge invarian
e as the gauge transformation
of eq. (3.32) in Fourier language reads
~ k) :
A~ (k) ! A~ (k) + ik (
(4.20)
The
omponent of A in the dire
tion of k is for obvious reasons
alled the longitudinal
omponent, whi
h
an be xed to a parti
ular value by a gauge transformation. Fixing the
longitudinal
omponent of the ele
tromagneti
eld (also
alled photon eld) is
alled gauge
xing, and the gauge
hoi
e is pres
ribed by the gauge
ondition. An important example is
the so-
alled Lorentz gauge
A (x) = 0 or k A~ (k) = 0 :
(4.21)
Be
ause of the gauge invarian
e, the
hoi
e of gauge has no ee
t on the equations of motion,
be
ause the
urrent is
onserved, or k J~ (k) = 0. The
urrent (i.e. the sour
e) does not
ouple to the unphysi
al longitudinal
omponent of the photon eld. It stresses again the
importan
e of gauge invarian
e and its asso
iated
onservation of
urrents.
To impose the gauge xing, we
an add a term to the Lagrangian whi
h enfor
es the gauge
ondition. Without su
h a term the a
tion is stationary under any longitudinal variation
A (x) = (x) of the ve
tor eld, and the added term should be su
h that stationarity in
that dire
tion imposes the gauge
ondition. For any
hoi
e of the parameter 6= 0 this is
a
hieved by the a
tion
S=
d4 x
1
4
1
2
( A (x))2
A (x)J (x)
(4.22)
Indeed, the variation A (x) = (x) in the longitudinal dire
tion leads to the equation
Z
d4 x (x) A (x) = 0 ;
(4.23)
whi
h implies the Lorentz-gauge (assuming vanishing boundary
onditions for the ve
tor
potential at innity).
The equations of motion for this a
tion now yields
(4.24)
or in Fourier spa e
k2 +i"
A~ (k) =
J~ (k) :
(4.26)
k2 + i"
This is
onsequently the propagator of the ele
tromagneti
eld (in the Lorentz gauge), also
simply
alled the photon propagator. Like in the s
alar
ase it
an be used to perform a
perturbative expansion for the
lassi
al equations of motion.
Note that the photon propagator simplies dramati
ally if we
hoose = 1, but all nal
results should be independent of the
hoi
e of and even of the
hoi
e of gauge xing all
together. This is the hard part in gauge theories. One needs to x the gauge to perform
perturbation theory and than one has to prove that the result does not depend on the
hoi
e
of gauge xing. In the quantum theory this is not entirely trivial, as the regularisation
an
break the gauge invarian
e expli
itly. Fortunately, there are regularisations that preserve the
gauge invarian
e, like dimensional regularisation whi
h we already en
ountered in se
tion 2
(in dis
ussing the Casimir ee
t). In the presen
e of fermions the situation
an, however, be
onsiderably more tri
ky. Some dierent
hoi
es of gauge xing will be explored in problems
8 and 9.
(~x; t = 0) =
v
u
Xu
t
~k
ko (~k) ~ i~k~x
a(k )e
2V
ay (~k)e i~k~x :
(5.3)
The Hamiltonian is now given by H (t) = H0 + "H1 (t), and we work out the perturbation
theory in the S
hrodinger representation. We have
X
k0 (~k)(ay (~k)a(~k) + 21 ) ;
H0 =
~k
H1 (t) =
X
q
~k
17
1
J~(~k; t) a( ~k) + ay (~k) ;
2k0(~k)
(5.4)
~k
J~(~k; t)ei~k~x :
(5.5)
Let us start at t = 0 with the va
uum state j0 >, whi
h has the property that a(~k)j0 >= 0
voor all momenta, than it follows that
d
j (t) >= iH (t)j (t) > ;
dt
whi
h
an be evaluated by perturbing in ".
j (t) > e
d ^
j (t) > =
dt n
iH0 t
^ t) > ; j (
^ t) >=
j (
ieiH0 t H1 (t)e
iH0 t
n=0
(5.6)
^ n ( t) > ;
"n j
j ^ n 1(t) > :
(5.7)
j ^ 1(t) >
j ^ 2(t) >
0
Z
0
Z
iH0 t1
j0 > ;
iH0 t1
j ^ 1(t1 ) >
t1
j ^ n(t) >
(5.8)
Please note the time ordering, whi
h is essential as H1 (t) does not
ommute with H1 (t0 ) for
dierent t and t0 . We
an for example
ompute the probability that at time t j (t) > is still
in the ground state (whose energy we denote by E0 , whi
h will often be assumed to vanish)
iE0 t
^ t) >= e
< 0j (
iE0 t
t1
dt1 dt2 < 0jH1 (t1 )ei(H0 E0 )(t2 t1 ) H1 (t2 )j0 > +O("3 )g : (5.9)
0
0
It is simple to see that the term linear in " will vanish, as the va
uum expe
tation values of
the
reation and annihilation operators vanish, i.e. < 0jaj0 >=< 0jayj0 >= 0. To evaluate
the remaining expe
tation value in the above equation we substitute H1 in terms of the
reation and annihilation operators (see eq. (5.4))
< 0jH1 (t1 )ei(H0 E0 )(t2 t1 ) H1 (t2 )j0 >=
~(p~; t1 )J~(~k; t2 )
X J
q
< 0j a( p~) + ay (p~) ei(H0 E0 )(t2 t1 ) a( ~k ) + ay (~k) j0 >
~k;~p
4k0 (p~)k0 (~k)
~( ~k; t1 )J~(~k; t2 ) ik0 (~k)(t1 t2 )
X J
e
:
(5.10)
=
2k0 (~k)
~k
"2
18
X
< 0j (t) > eiE0 t = 1 "2
= 1
t1
dt
dt
0 1 0 2
ik0 (~k)(t1 t2 ) +
O("3)
ik0 (~k)jt1 t2 j +
O("3): (5.11)
Espe
ially the last identity is useful to relate this to the Green's fun
tion we introdu
ed
in the previous se
tion. Using
ontour deformation in the
omplex ! plane we nd
1
d! 2
1
!
eiE0 t
=1
i 2 XZ 1
d!
"
2 ~k 1
(5.13)
where
1 Z
1 Z
i!t
~
~
~
~
J (!; k) = p
d3~xdt J (x)eikx :
(5.14)
dt J (k; t)e = p
2
2V IRV
R
The last expression should be repla
ed by (2 ) 2 IR4 d4 x J (x)eikx in
ase the volume is innite. It is important to note that we have
hosen J (x) = 0 for t < 0. Equivalently we
an
start at t = 1 and integrate the quantum equation of motion up to t = 1. We have to
require that J (x) vanishes su
iently rapidly at innity.
In an innite volume we therefore nd for what is known as the va
uum to va
uum
amplitude of the s
attering matrix
J~( k)J~(k)
i 2Z
" d4 k 2
+ O("3 )
2 Z
k m2 + i"
i 2
" d4 xd4 y J (x)G(x y )J (y ) + O("3 ) : (5.15)
= 1
2
where G(x y ) is exa
tly the Green's fun
tion we introdu
ed in the previous se
tion. The
so-
alled i" pres
ription, whi
h is equivalent with spe
ifying the boundary
onditions, has
lim < 0j (t) > eiE0 t = 1
t!1
19
therefore been derived from the time-ordering in the Hamiltonian evolution of the system
and is thus pres
ribed by the requirement of
ausality. Note that we
an use the diagrams
introdu
ed in the previous se
tion to express this result (taking E0 = 0 from now on) as
i
+ O("3) ;
(5.16)
2 "J
"J
where the fa
tor of a half is a
onsequen
e of the symmetry under inter
hanging the two
sour
es.
For a
omplex s
alar eld, ' and ' are independent and we need to introdu
e two
sour
es by adding to the Lagrangian 'J ' J (see problem 17). It is not too di
ult to
show that in this
ase
< 0j (t) >= 1
+ O("3) ;
>
(5.17)
"J
"J
without a fa
tor of one half be
ause the sour
es J and J are independent and
annot be
inter
hanged. This is why in this
ase the propagator has a dire
tion.
h
< xjp >= p < xjp > :
(6.4)
i x
An important ingredient in deriving the path integral expression will be the
ompleteness
relations
Z
Z
^1 = dx jx >< xj and ^1 = dp jp >< pj :
(6.5)
For arbitrary N we
an use this to write
< x0 je
iHT=h
jx >
iHT=N h N
= < x0 j e
20
(6.6)
iB=N (1 +
O (N
2 ))
(6.7)
for two operators A and B . This
an be seen by expanding the exponents, and the error
term is a
tually of the form [A; B =N 2 . (One
an also use the Campbell-Baker-Hausdor
formula, whi
h will be introdu
ed later). With the Hamiltonian of eq. (6.1) this
an be used
to write for N ! 1
2
e iHT=N h = e ip^ T=2mN h e iV (^x)T=N h :
(6.8)
By inserting the
ompleteness relation for the momentum we
an eliminate the operators
Z
iHT=N
h
< xi+1 je
jxi > = dpi < xi+1 jpi >< pije iHT=N h jxi >
=
2
dpi < xi+1 jpi >< pi je ip^ T=2mN h e
2
dpi < xi+1 jpi >< pi je ipi T=2mN h e
iV (^x)T=N h
jxi >
iV (xi )T=N h jx >
i
dpi
21
sin
e the dis
retised version of the a
tion with xj x(t = j t) is pre
isely
NX1
(xi+1 xi )2
1m
Sdis
rete = t
2
t2
i=0
V (xi )
(6.15)
It is important to note that the
ontinuous expression is just a notation for the dis
rete
version of the path integral, but formal manipulations will be mu
h easier to perform in
this
ontinuous formulation. Furthermore, the integral is only dened through the analyti
ontinuation in time.
However, if we integrate over xN = x0 this analyti
ally
ontinued path integral, with
T = iT , has an important physi
al interpretation
Z
H )
=T =h
(6.16)
It is the quantum thermal partition fun
tion (the Boltzmann distribution) with a temperature of h =kT . In the
ontinuous formulation we therefore have
Tr(e T H=h ) =
x(T )=x(0)
Dx( )
exp[ SE =h
(6.17)
SE =
d
1
2
o
m(dx( )=d )2 + V (x( )) :
(6.18)
It is only in this Eu
lidean
ase that one
an dene the path integral in a mathemati
ally
rigorous fashion on the
lass of pie
ewise
ontinuous fun
tions in terms of the so-
alled
Wiener measure
Z x(T )=x0
Z
Z T
1 mx
_ ( )2 d=h ) ;
(6.19)
dWx;x0 (T )
D
x( ) exp(
x(0)=x
0 2
meaning that this measure is independent of the way the path is dis
retised.
B
AAA D
BB
B
D
D
- D
t
DD
D
E
E
EE
BB
EE BB
E
EE
t
g. 5
For more details on this see \Quantum Physi
s: A fun
tional integral point of view", by J.
Glimm and A. Jae (2nd ed., Springer, New York, 1987).
We will now do an exa
t
omputation to give us some
onden
e in the formalism. To be
spe
i
, what we will
ompute is the quantum partition fun
tion for the harmoni
os
illator,
where V (x) = 12 m! 2 x2 .
ZN
#
"
1
NX1 1 xi+1 xi 2 1 2 2
mN 2 N Z 1 Z NY1
m
dxi exp
+ 2 m! xi : (6.20)
2 T h
h i=0 2
1
i=0
22
Note that we have now N integrations, be
ause we also integrate over x0 = x(0) = x(T ) = xN
to implement the tra
e. The path involved is thus periodi
in time, a general feature of the
expression for the quantum partition fun
tion in terms of a path integral. We now res
ale
yi = xi
m 12
; !~ = ! ;
h
(6.21)
yi)2 + 12 !~ 2 yi2
(6.22)
1
lim
ds sa 1 (e
a&0 0
Z
s
s )
(6.26)
1
log[ZN (~! )=ZN (~!0 ) = 21 alim
ds s 1+a (Q(s; !~ ) Q(s; !~ 0 )) :
(6.27)
&0 0
We read o, from the denition of ZN , that Q is a sum of exponentials
NX1
i
h
2
(6.28)
Q(s; !~ )
exp s 4 sin2 (`=N ) + !~ 2 Ne s(~! +2) fs(0) ;
`=0
where
1 NX1 2s
os(2(`+x)=N )
fs (x) =
e
:
(6.29)
N `=0
This is a periodi
fun
tion with period 1 (fs(x + 1) = fs (x)) and its dis
rete Fourier
oe
ients
an be
omputed exa
tly
Z 1
1ZN
dx e2ikx e2s
os(2x=N )
dx e2ikx fs (x) =
f~s (k) =
N 0
0 Z
1 2
=
d eiNk e2s
os() INk (2s) :
(6.30)
2 0
Z
23
Please note that we have ex
hanged the sum over ` with extending the integration of x to
the interval [0; N . The last identity is one of the denitions of the modied Besselfun
tion,
see e.g. \Handbook of mathemati
al fun
tions", by M. Abramowitz and I. Stegun (Dover,
New York, 1978). The advantage of these manipulations is that the Lapla
e transform of
this Besselfun
tion is know (see the same referen
e)
Z
ds e
s I
p
[ + 2 1 j j
p2
;
(s) =
1
(6.31)
(6.32)
this allows us to evaluate eq. (6.27). For te
hni
al reasons it is easier to
ompute the variation
of the free energy with the frequen
y, where the free energy F is dened as
(6.33)
N jk j
(6.34)
The geometri
series is of
ourse easily summed, but to make the result more transparent
we introdu
e the s
aled ee
tive frequen
y
! T =N = ! = !~ 2 sinh( 21
)
(6.35)
1
2
k2ZZ
N
jkj
1
=
1 e N
1
2
!
e
N=2
1
:
log
=
N
1 e N
(6.36)
The last identity an be seen as the free energy of the harmoni os illator with the frequen y
N=T =
= , as it
an also be written as
!
1
X
1 )
N
1
(
n
+
2
:
(6.37)
e
F (
) =
log
h
N
n=0
Amazingly, even at nite N the eu
lidean path integral agrees with the quantum partition
fun
tion of a harmoni
os
illator, but with a frequen
y that is modied by the dis
retisation,
see eqs. (6.21) and (6.35). It is trivial to
he
k now that the limit N ! 1 is well dened
and gives the required result, sin
e
lim
N=T = ! :
N !1
(6.38)
In general the exa
t nite N path integral is no longer of a simple form. Nevertheless,
one
an evaluate this exa
t expression in relatively simple terms (whi
h will verify the above
24
result along a dierent route, see also problem 10). So from now on we will take the potential
arbitrary and in a sense we follow the derivation of the path integral in the reverse order.
"
!#
Z
dp0 NY1 Z dxi dpi
NX1 ipi (xi+1 xi ) p2i
0
ZN (x ; x; T ) =
exp
V (xi )
2h i=1
2h
h i=0
2m
!
!
Z
NY1
NY1 Z
V (^x)
p^2
exp
jxj >
< xj +1 jpj >< pj j exp
dxi dpi
= dp0
2mh
h
j =0
i=1
(
!
!)
p^2
V (^x) N
0
= < x j exp
exp
jx > :
(6.39)
2mh
h
This means that we
an dene an ee
tive Hamiltonian by
!
!)
(
V (^x) N
p^2
H
(
N
)
T
=
h
e
exp 2mh exp
h
(6.40)
But this Hamiltonian is not hermitian as one easily
he
ks from the above expression, sin
e
under
onjugation the order of the exponents
ontaining the kineti
and potential terms is
reversed. This
an be
orre
ted in two ways
!
2!
2!
V
(^
x
)
p
^
p
^
H
(
N
)
=
h
exp
;
e 1
exp 4mh exp
h
4mh
!
!
!
V (^x)
p^2
V (^x)
H
2 (N ) =h
e
exp
exp
exp
;
(6.41)
2h
2mh
2h
leading to two equivalent expressions for the nite N path integral
!
!
p^2
p^2
0
0
exp ( H1 (N )T =h ) exp
jx >
ZN (x ; x; T ) = < x j exp
4mh
4mh
!
!
V (^x)
V (^x)
0
0
ZN (x ; x; T ) = < x j exp
exp ( H2 (N )T =h ) exp
jx > (6.42)
:
2h
2h
In parti
ular the partition fun
tion is given by
ZN =
dx ZN (x; x; T ) = Tr(e
H1 (N )T =h )
= Tr(e
H2 (N )T =h )
(6.43)
It is a
tually not too di
ult to show that there exists a unitary transformation U , su
h
that UH1 U y = H2 , whi
h shows that both
hoi
es are indeed physi
ally equivalent.
In prin
iple we
an now
ompute Hi (N ) for nite N as an expansion in 1=N , by using
the so-
alled Campbell-Baker-Hausdor formula
1
1
eA eB = eF (A;B) ; F (A; B ) = A + B + 12 [A; B + [A; [A; B + [B; [B; A+ ; (6.44)
12
12
whi
h is a series in multiple
ommutators of the, in general non-
ommuting, operators A and
B . It
an be derived by expanding the exponentials, but in the mathemati
s literature more
elegant
onstru
tions are known, based on properties of Lie groups and Lie algebras. These
obje
ts will be dis
ussed in se
t. 18. For the harmoni
os
illator, working out the produ
ts
of the exponential
an be done to all orders and one nds (see problem 10 for details)
p^2 1
+ M
2 x^2 ;
(6.45)
Hi (N ) =
2Mi 2 i
25
with
dened as in eq. (6.35) and the ee
tive masses Mi dened by
2m tanh( 12
)
m sinh(
)
M1 =
; M2 =
:
(6.46)
"
Z T
D~x(t) exp hi 0 dt L(~x(t); ~x_ (t))
"
!#
Z
(~xi+1 ~xi )
t NX1
dn p0 Z NY1 dn xi dn pi
p~
exp i
H (p~i; ~xi )
= Nlim
!1 (2h
)n i=1 (2h )n
h i=0 i
t
"
#
1
mN 2 nN Z NY1
t NX1
= Nlim
dn xi exp i
L(~xi ; (~xi+1 ~xi )=t) : (6.48)
!1 2iT h
h i=0
i=1
We have purposely also given the expression that involves the path integral as an integral
over phase spa
e, as it shows that the Gaussian integration over the momenta ee
tuates
the Legendre transform
(p~ m~x_ )2 m~x_ 2
~p2
iV (~x) = i
+i
iV (~x) ;
(6.49)
i~p ~x_ i
2m
2m
2
whi
h is equivalent to the stationary phase approximation for the momentum integration
H _ p~
(p~ ~x_ H (p~; ~x)) = ~x_
= ~x
=0 :
(6.50)
~p
~p
m
An interesting other example of the path integral is the
ase of the intera
tion of a
harged
parti
le with a magneti
eld. In that
ase one has for the Hamiltonian
(p^~ eA~ (~x^))2
+ V (~x^) :
(6.51)
H (p^~; ~x^) =
2m
Now, however, the matrix element < ~pi j exp( iH t=h )j~xi > will depend on the spe
i
ordering for the position and momentum operators in H . Dierent orderings dier by terms
linear in h , or
A~ (~x^ ) ^~p = ^~p A~ (~x^) + ih i Ai (~x^) :
(6.52)
So, by
hosing the so-
alled Coulomb gauge i Ai (~x) = 0, the problem of the operator ordering
disappears. We leave it as an exer
ise to verify that the a
tion, obtained from the Legendre
transform, is given by
S=
dt
1
2
m~x_ 2
(6.53)
Under a gauge transformation Ai (~x) ! Ai (~x) + i (~x), one nds that the a
tion
hanges to
S = S + ef(~x(T )) (~x(0))g. Using the path integral this means that
< ~x 0 j exp( iH T=h )j~x >= exp(ie(~x 0 )=h ) < ~x 0 j exp( iHT=h )j~x > exp( ie(~x)=h ) :
(6.54)
26
Sin
e it is easily shown that H = exp(ie(~x^)=h ) H exp( ie(~x^ )=h ), this proves that the
path integral derived from eq. (6.53) has the
orre
t properties under gauge transformations,
despite the fa
t that the derivation was performed by rst going to the Coulomb gauge.
As long as the Hamiltonian is quadrati
in the momenta, the stationary phase approximation for the momentum integral is exa
t. However, also for the
oordinate integrals we
an use the stationary phase approximation (exa
t for a harmoni
os
illator), whi
h is related
to the WKB approximation in quantum me
hani
s. It gives a way of dening an expansion
in h , where in a
ordan
e to the
orresponden
e prin
iple, the lowest order term reprodu
es
the
lassi
al time evolution. Indeed the stationary phase
ondition
S
S
= i
i
x (t) x (t)
d S
=0
dt x_ i (t)
(6.55)
is pre
isely solved by the
lassi
al solutions, ~x
l (t), with ~x
l (0) = ~x and ~x
l (T ) = ~x0 . We
expand around these solutions by writing
~x(t) = ~x
l (t) + ~q(t) ; ~q(0) = ~q(T ) = ~0 ;
(6.56)
su
h that
2 S (~x
l ) j 0
q (t ) + O (q 3 ) :
(6.57)
i
j
0
q (t) q (t )
There is no term linear in q i (t), as this term is proportional to the equations of motion, or
equivalently to the stationary phase
ondition. For the simple Lagrangian L = 21 m~x_ 2 V (~x)
one has
!
2 S (~x
l )
d2
2 V (~x)
0
=
(
t
t
)
m
+
M
(
t
)
;
M
(
t
)
j
:
(6.58)
ij
ij
ij
q i (t) q j (t0 )
dt2
xi xj ~x=~x
l(t)
For the harmoni
potential, V = 21 m! 2~x2 , where the stationary phase approximation is
exa
t, i.e. there are no O(q 3 )
orre
tions. Introdu
ing ~q(t), however, splits the a
tion in a
lassi
al pie
e, that depends on the boundary
onditions, and a quantum pie
e des
ribed by a
harmoni
os
illator a
tion for the
u
tuations around the
lassi
al path, that is independent
of the boundary
onditions and the
lassi
al path
S (~x) = S (~x
l ) + 21
dt0 dt q i (t)
S (~x) = S (~x l ) +
dt ( 21 m~q_ 2
m! 2~q 2 ) :
(6.59)
0
In pra
ti
al situations one splits from the a
tion the part quadrati
in the
oordinates and
velo
ities, and
onsiders the rest as a perturbation. In that
ase x
l is the
lassi
al solution
of the quadrati
part only. As this
an always be solved exa
tly, and as non-quadrati
path
integrals
an rarely be
omputed expli
itly, this will be the way in whi
h we will derive the
Feynman rules for the quantum theory, in terms of whi
h one
an e
iently perform the
perturbative
omputations.
1
2
As '(x) is real we have '~ (~k) = '~( ~k). It is
ustomary to write the term quadrati
in the
elds (the mass term) expli
itly, su
h that the potential V (') only
ontains the intera
tion
terms. If we like we
ould split the Fourier modes in their real and imaginary
omponents
(the
os(~x ~k) and sin(~x ~k) modes). Or even simpler is to use Diri
hlet boundary
onditions,
i.e. '(x) = 0 at the boundaries of the volume, su
h that the Fourier modes are given by
Q
j sin(nj xj =L) (with nj > 0), with real
oe
ients. In either
ase, for V (') = 0 the
Hamiltonian simply des
ribes an innite set of de
oupled harmoni
os
illators, whi
h
an
be trun
ated to a nite set by introdu
ing a so-
alled momentum
uto j~kj . In this
ase we know how to write the path integral, even in the presen
e of intera
tions. The
introdu
tion of a
uto is
alled a regularisation. The eld theory is
alled renormalisable
if the limit ! 1
an be dened in a suitable way, often by varying the parameters in a
suitable way with the
uto. The
lass of renormalisable eld theory is relatively small. For
a nite momentum
uto the path integral is nothing but a simple generalisation of the one
we dened for quantum me
hani
s in n dimensions, or in the absen
e of intera
tions
"
Z N 1
NX1 X j'
Y
Y Y
~j +1(~k) '~j (~k)j2
N=
2
~
(2
i
t
)
d
'
~
Z = Nlim
(7.2)
j (k ) exp it
2
!1 ~
2
t
j
=0
j
=1
~
~
k
k
k
2
2 ~j (~k)j2
1 (~
2 k + m )j'
D'~(~k; t)
exp i
Xn
~k
1
2
1
2
1
o
One of
ourse identies '~j (~k) = '~(~k; t = j t) and performing the Fourier transformation
on
e more, we
an write
T
dt
Xn
~k
1
2
1
2
o
(i '(~x; t))2 21 m2 '2 (~x; t) '(~x; t)J (~x; t)
0
V
Z
n
o
=
d4 x 12 '(x) '(x) 21 m2 '2 (x) '(x)J (x) :
(7.3)
V [0;T
The last expression is manifestly Lorentz invariant apart from the dependen
e on the boundary
onditions on the elds (whi
h should disappear on
e we take L and T to innity). This
will allow us to perform perturbation theory in a Lorentz
ovariant way (things are somewhat subtle as any nite
hoi
e of the momentum
uto does break the Lorentz invarian
e,
and there are some theories where this is not restored when removing the
uto, i.e. taking
the limit ! 1). This a
hieves a substantial simpli
ation over Hamiltonian perturbation
theory. It is now also trivial to reintrodu
e the intera
tions, by adding the potential term
to the Lagrange density, and we nd in yet another shorthand notation for the measure
the following expression for the path integral (impli
itly assuming that the boundary values
'(~x; 0) and '(~x; T ) are xed, pres
ribed fun
tions)
Z=
dt
D'(x)
n
d3~x 21 (t '(~x; t))2
exp i
d4 x 12
1
2
'(x) '(x)
1 m2 '2 (x)
:
(7.4)
In prin
iple a path integral should be independent of the dis
retisation used in order
to dene it. For the eu
lidean path integral, one parti
ular way that is used quite often is
V [0;T
28
the latti
e dis
retisation, where instead of a momentum
uto one makes not only time but
also spa
e dis
rete. This means that the eld now lives on a latti
e and its argument takes
the values ja where j 2 ZZ4 and a is the so-
alled latti
e spa
ing, whi
h in the end should
be taken to zero. By suitably restri
ting the
omponents of j , with appropriate boundary
onditions on the elds, one keeps spa
e and time nite, V = a3 M 3 and T = aN . This leads
to an integral of the form
0
(
)1
Z
2
X ('
X
Y
'
)
3
j
j +e
1
d'j exp a4
(2a) NM =2
+ 21 m2 '2j + V ('j ) + Jj 'j A :
2
2
a
j
j
(7.5)
where e is a unit ve
tor in the dire
tion, and 'j is identied with '(aj ). In a sense,
the momentum
uto is similar to the spa
e-time
uto 1=a. The latti
e formulation is
very suitable for numeri
ally evaluating the path integral, whereas the momentum
uto
is suitable for performing perturbation theory around the quadrati
approximation of the
a
tion. For the latter we will
ompute, using the path integral, the same quantity as was
al
ulated in se
tion 5, using Hamiltonian perturbation theory.
In the presen
e of a sour
e, the Hamiltonian depends on time and the evolution operator
has to be written in a way that takes the time ordering into a
ount. As the time evolution
operator U (t) satises the S
hrodinger equation
d
i U (t) = H (t)U (t) ; U (0) = 1 ;
(7.6)
dt
its solution
an be written as (note the absen
e of 1=n!)
U (t) = Texp
H (t)dt
( i)n
0
0
n=0
For
onvenien
e we introdu
e the notation
U (t2 ; t1 ) Texp
dt1
t2
t1
t1
tn
H (t)dt ; t2 > t1 ;
(7.8)
p~
d'~(p~)d'~0 (p~) < 0jf'~0(p~)g >< f'~0 (p~)gjU (T )jf'~(p~)g >< f'~(p~)gj0 > ;
(7.10)
where f'~(p~)g plays the role of x and f'~0 (p~)g the role of x0 . The path integral expression for
D'(x)
exp i
D'~(k)
exp B
i
~k;k0
1
2
(k 2
29
L('(x))d4x
m2 )j'~(k)j2
1
o
'~(k)J~( k)
C
A
(7.11)
We have here also performed the Fourier transformation with respe
t to time, thereby
onverting the path integral measure D'~(~k; t) to the multiple integral over the (dis
rete temporal) Fourier
omponents D'~(k), exa
tly as was done in one dimension, see eq.(6.23), hen
e
we also nd a unit Ja
obian for this
hange of variables. Obviously our notations are su
h
that k (k0 ; ~k) and k2 = k02 ~k 2 . If we take the limit of spa
e and time to innity (L ! 1
and T ! 1), the sums over k
an be
onverted into integrals. Finally we note that the
os
illatory integrals o
urring in the pathR integral
an be dampened
by repla
ing
m2 by
R
R
m2 i" as this leads to repla
ement exp(i L(')d4x) ! exp(i L(')d4x " '2 d4 x). This
pres
ription also allows us to make the analyti
ontinuation to imaginary time, and
oin
ides with the pres
ription derived for the propagator in the Hamiltonian formulation, so
that
ausality is also properly implemented in the path integral approa
h. To re
over the
result obtained in the Hamiltonian approa
h, we simply split o a square
1
0
2
Z
~
X
J (k ) C
2 m2 + i") '~(k)
1
A
< f'~0 (p~)gjU (T )jf'~(p~)g >= D'~(k) exp B
i
2 (k
2
k m2 + i"
~k;k0
exp
!
i X jJ~(k)j2
:
2 k k2 m2 + i"
(7.12)
We
an now shift the integration of '~(k) over J~(k)=(k2 m2 + i") and introdu
e the Green's
fun
tion in
oordinate spa
e (eq. (4.7)) to get
i
2
0
Z
D'~(k)
d4 x d4 y J (x)G(x y )J (y )
exp B
i
~k;k0
1
2
(k 2
m2 + i")j'~(k)j2 C
A
i
d4 x d4 y J (x)G(x y )J (y ) < f'~0 (p~)gje iH (J =0)T jf'~(p~)g > : (7.13)
2
In the last step it is
ru
ial to note that the sour
e is taken to vanish for t 0 and for t T ,
as otherwise the shift we performed in the eld would have
hanged the boundary values.
Using eq. (7.10) we now obtain the remarkable result that
iZ
< 0jU (T )j0 >=< 0je iH (J =0)T j0 > exp
d4 x d4 y J (x)G(x y )J (y )
(7.14)
2
to all orders in the sour
e J . Even at the level of a non-intera
ting s
alar eld theory,
this demonstrates the dramati
simpli
ations that
an arise from using the path integral
method for
al
ulating quantum amplitudes. One parti
ularly feature that is noteworthy
in the path integral
al
ulation, is that the part of the Lagrangian that is quadrati
in the
elds represents the inverse propagator. This is no a
ident and is in general the way the
(lowest order) propagator is dire
tly read o from the Lagangian, sin
e the quadrati
part of
the a
tion is the starting point of the perturbative expansion. But before we will derive the
Feynman rules from the perturbative expansion, it will be useful to emphasise that the time
ordering, playing su
h an important role in the Hamiltonian formulation, is automati
ally
implemented by the path integral. Furthermore, it will be helpful to understand in more
detail how the sour
e
an be used to
reate and annihilate parti
les, as this will be our tool
to write down the matrix elements of the evolution operator (the so-
alled s
attering matrix,
or for short S -matrix) with respe
t to the basis spe
ied by parti
le number and momentum
(the so-
alled Fo
k spa
e), see eq. (2.9).
= exp
30
iHt
iH (T t2 ) '
^(~x 0 )e iH (t2 t1 ) '^(~x)e iHt1
< 0j e
< 0j e
(7.15)
iHT
j0 >
(7.16)
j0 > ;
(7.17)
where we have made use of the fa
t that the va
uum j0 > is assumed to be an eigenstate of
the Hamiltonian H (without a sour
e term). The normalisation by < 0je iHT j0 > is hen
e a
rather trivial fa
tor. We
an even write a similar expression in the presen
e of the sour
e. In
perturbation theory this would not be needed, but it is useful from a general point of view
to
onsider this situation too.
In the presen
e of a time dependent sour
e one
an write
< 0jU (T )'^(~x 0 ; t2 )'^(~x; t1 )j0 >=< 0jU (T; t2 )'^(~x 0 )U (t2 ; t1 )'^(~x)U (t1 )j0 >
(7.18)
(7.19)
where in general U (t) depends on the sour
e J . It is now trivial, but a bit tedious, to
onvert
this matrix element to a path integral. One rst writes the produ
t of the operators as a
produ
t of matri
es in a suitable representation (e.g. the eld representation jf'~(p~)g >).
Ea
h of the matri
es for the three evolution operators
an be written as a path integral,
ex
luding the integral over the initial and nal eld
omponents. The matrix produ
t involves
an integral over the nal eld
omponent of the matrix to the right, whi
h is also the initial
eld
omponent for the matrix to the left. Without the insertion of the eld operators
'^(x), this would des
ribe the fa
t that U (t3 ; t2 )U (t2 ; t1 ) = U (t3 ; t1 ) in the path integral
formulation simply means that one glues the paths in U (t3 ; t2 ) and U (t2 ; t1 ) together by
integrating over '~(~k; t2 ). With the eld operator sandwi
hed between the two U matri
es
one simply in
ludes its eigenvalue in the integrand over the paths, sin
e the eld operator
(or its Fourier
omponents) is diagonal on the states jf'~(p~)g >. The nal result
an be
written as
Z
p~
D'(x) exp(i
Z
t2
t1
Z t
2
0
L d4 x)'(~x ; t2 ) exp(i L d4x)
t1
31
Sin
e we assumed that j0 > is an eigenstate of H (i.e. at J = 0), < 0jUJ =0 (T ) =< 0je iE0 T
(with E0 the va
uum energy) and we
an bring the trivial phase fa
tor e iE0 T to the other
side by normalising with < 0jUJ =0 (T )j0 >, as in eq. (7.17).
"
2 < 0j U ( T ) j 0 > #
:
(7.22)
< 0j'^(~x 0 ; t2 )'^(~x; t1 )j0 >J =0 = < 0jU (T )j0 > 1
J (~x 0 ; t2 )J (~x; t1 ) J =0
where in the path integral formulation one has
p~
D'(x) exp(i
(7.24)
Hen
e jp~ > is the one-parti
le state with momentum ~p. Using the result of eqs. (5.7) and
(5.8), whi
h is equivalent to the result j (t) >= U (t)j0 >, we nd for this matrix element
in lowest non-trivial order
itH0
j0 >
To write down the path integral result, we rst express the annihilation operator in terms
of the eld. From eq. (5.3) we nd
s
a(p~) + ay ( p~) =
su
h that (using < 0jay ( p~) = 0)
2p0 (p~) Z
d3~x '^(~x)e i~p~x ;
V
(7.26)
2p0 (p~) Z
d3~x e i~p~x < 0j'^(~x)U (T )j0 > :
(7.27)
V
We now use eqs. (7.14), (7.19) and an obvious generalisation of eq. (7.21), su
h that
< 0j U ( T ) j 0 >
J (~x; T )
iZ
iE
0T
= ie
d xd y J (x)G(x y )J (y ) :(7.28)
exp
J (~x; T )
2 4 4
We evaluate this to linear order in the sour
e J , using that in a nite volume the Green's
fun
tion is given by
1 X Z dk0 e ik(x y)
;
(7.29)
G(x y ) =
V ~k 2 k2 m2 + i"
< 0j'^(~x)U (T )j0 > = < 0jU (T )'^(~x; T )j0 >= i
32
su
h that
s
Z
2p0 (p~) Z
d3~x e i~p~x d4 y G(x y )J (y ) + O(J 3 )
V
s
p0 (p~) Z
J~(p)e ip0 T
iE
0T
= e
dp0 2
+ O (J 3 ) :
(7.30)
p m2 + i"
iE0 T
Note that in the last step we integrate over p0 as a dummy variable, whi
h in the expression
for the Green's fun
tion above is
alled k0 - this renaming is just for ease of notation. Also,
x0 = T is assumed. For the p0 integration we need the analyti
behaviour of J~(p) for
imaginary p0 in order to see if we are allowed to deform the integration
ontourpsu
h that
R
only one of the poles in the integrand
ontribute. Sin
e J~(p) = 0T dt eip0 t J~(p~; t)= 2, J~(p)
will vanish for Imp0 ! 1, whereas e ip0 T J~(p) will vanish for Imp0 ! 1. In eq. (7.30)
the p0 integration
an therefore be deformed to the lower half-plane
in a
lo
kwise fashion
p
2
giving a minus sign and a residue from the pole at p0 = p0 (p~) p~ + m2 , whi
h yields the
result
pe i(E0 +p0(p~))T
iZ
q
< p~jU (T )j0 >= i
J~(p) exp
d4 xd4 y J (x)G(x y )J (y ) : (7.31)
2
p0 (p~)
To linear order in the sour
e J this
oin
ides with the result of eq.(7.25). Again, the path
integral trivially allows an extension to arbitrary order in the sour
e, as indi
ated.
For later use, we will also
onsider the matrix element
s
2p0 (p~) Z
d3~x ei~p~x < 0jU (T )'^(~x; 0)j0 >
V
s
2p0 (p~) Z
< 0jU (T )j0 >
= i
d3~x ei~p~x
:
V
J (~x; 0)
(7.32)
Z
2p0 (p~) Z
d3~x ei~p~x d4 y G(x y )J (y ) + O(J 3 )
V
s
p0 (p~) Z
J~( p~; p0 )
iE
0T
= e
+ O (J 3 ) ;
(7.33)
dp0 2
p m2 + i"
iE0 T
in whi
h
ase x0 = 0 is assumed. Now we must deform the
ontour for the p0 integration
to the upper half-plane in a
ounter-
lo
kwise fashion su
h that the residue at the pole
p0 = p0 (p~)
ontibutes. This gives, analogously to eq. (7.31),
pe
q
iE0 T
p0 (p~)
J~( p) exp
iZ
d xd y J (x)G(x y )J (y ) :
2 4 4
(7.34)
Apart from the trivial dieren
e of the fa
tor exp( ip0 T ), we see that the amplitude for
the annihilation of a one-parti
le state is proportional to J~(p) whereas it is proportional
(exa
tly with the same fa
tor) to J~( p) for the
reation of a one-parti
le state (in both
ases p0 = p0 (p~)).
33
D'(x)
exp(i d4 x L('))
(8.1)
will play the role of a generating fun
tional for
al
ulating expe
tation values of produ
ts of
eld operators, whi
h will now be studied in more detail. In general the Lagrange density
for a s
alar eld theory is given by
(8.2)
Z (J; gn) =
D'(x)
Z
exp i d4 x
i d4 x V ('^) j0 >
exp
i d 4 x V ( ')
(8.4)
Z
j
j
Z
Z
i
D'(x) exp i d4x (L2(') '(x)J (x))
J (x(j ) )
!
iZ
i
exp
d xd y J (x)G(x y )J (y ) ;
J (x(j ) )
2 4 4
(8.5)
Z (J; gn ) = exp
exp
i
iZ
i d4 x V (
d4 xd4 y J (x)G(x y )J (y )
) exp
J (x)
2
!
Z
i
) Z2 (J ) ;
(8.6)
i d4 x V (
J (x)
Z
We have assumed the va
uum energy to be normalised to zero, in absen
e of intera
tions, su
h
that Z (J = gn = 0) = 1. Equivalently, Z (J; gn) is synonymous with Z (J; gn )=Z (J = gn = 0).
We now dene GJ as
GJ log Z (J; gn) ;
(8.7)
where the dependen
e on the
oupling
onstants in GJ is impli
it. We will show that
GJ
an be seen as the sum of all
onne
ted diagrams. A diagram is
onne
ted if it
an
not be de
omposed in the produ
t of two diagrams that are not
onne
ted. Note that at
34
J = 0, iGJ =T equals the energy of the ground state as a fun
tion of the
oupling
onstants,
normalised so as to vanish at zero
ouplings.
The dierent diagrams arise from the expansion of
0
Z
X g
i
i
`
i d4 x V (
) = exp i d4 x
J (x)
`=3 `! J (x)
Z
exp
! 1
(8.8)
in powers of g`. Ea
h fa
tor g``! (i=J (x))` will represent an `-point vertex, with
oordinate
x, whi
h is to be integrated over. As we saw in the derivation of the
lassi
al equations
of motion, the integral over x in the Fourier representation gives rise to
onservation of
momentum at the vertex. Using
' ( x) =
1 Z
dke
(2 )2 4
ikx '
~( k )
; J (x) =
1 Z
dke
(2 )2 4
ikx J~(k )
(8.9)
ig`
i
d4 x
J (x)
X
= ig` (2 )4 4 ( k(j ) )
j =1
d4 k(j ) i
2 ~
j =1 (2 ) J (k(j ) )
Y
(8.10)
!
iZ
iZ
J~(k)J~( k)
d xd y J (x)G(x y )J (y ) = exp
dk
;
2 4 4
2 4 k2 m2 + i"
Z
Z
d4 x '(x)J (x) = d4 k '~(k)J~( k) :
(8.11)
In the quantum theory we have to keep tra
k of the fa
tors i. Compared to the Feynman
rules of se
tion 4, the propagator will
ome with an extra fa
tor
will now
p i. A2 vertex
`
2
2
`
arry a fa
tor ig` ((2 ) =i) (in a nite volume this be
omes ig` ( 2V =i) ), see the table
below. To
ompute the va
uum energy there is an overall fa
tor i, sin
e E0 T = iGJ =0 =
i log Z (J = 0; gn). The same fa
tor of i applies for using the tree-level diagrams to solve
the
lassi
al equations of motion. It is easy to see that these Feynman rules give identi
al
results for these tree-level diagrams, as
ompared to the Feynman rules introdu
ed in se
tion
4. The fa
tors of i exa
tly
an
el ea
h other.
oordinate spa
e
xHH
i`
y
x
1 g` R d4 x
iG(x y )
R
d4 xJ (x)
momentum spa e
k1
HHj6
k2
k3
k
k
table 2
P
i` 1 (2 )4 2` g`4 ( i ki ) vertex
R
d4 k k2
J~(k)
i
m2 +i"
propagator
sour
e
We note that the propagator
onne
ted to a sour
e
omes down whenever a derivative
in the sour
e a
ts on Z2 (J ), see eq. (8.7). When this derivative a
ts on terms that have
already
ome down from previous derivatives, one of the sour
es
onne
ted to a propagator
35
is removed and this
onne
ts that propagator to the vertex asso
iated to =J (x). As any
derivative is
onne
ted to a vertex, the propagator either runs between a vertex and a sour
e
H q , between two verti
es H
q qH , or it
onne
ts two legs of the same vertex q j. The
possibility of
losed loops did not o
ur in solving the
lassi
al equations of motion, and is
spe
i
to the quantum theory.
To prove that GJ only
ontains
onne
ted diagrams we write
(8.12)
with
Z
iZ
X (i=J (x)) i d4 x V (=J (x)) ; Y (J )
d xd yJ (x)G(x y )J (y ) : (8.13)
2 4 4
As J (x) and =J (x) form an algebra (similar to the algebra of x^ and p^ in quantum me
hani
s,
however, generalised to innite dimensions), also X and Y are elements from the algebra, and
we
an express GJ in a sum of multiple
ommutators using the Campbell-Baker-Hausdor
formula (see eq. (6.44)).
1
1
1
GJ = X + Y + 2 [X; Y + [X; [X; Y + [Y; [Y; X + 1 :
(8.14)
12
12
Due to the multiple
ommutators, all
omponents that do not
ommute are
onne
ted.
However, if the
omponents would
ommute they would not
ontribute to the
ommutators.
This is even true if we do not put the derivatives with respe
t to the sour
e to zero, on
e
they have been moved to the right (this is why we
onsider the a
tion on the identity).
The only thing that remains to be dis
ussed is with whi
h
ombinatorial fa
tor ea
h
diagram should
ontribute. This is, as in se
tion 4, with the inverse of the order of the
permutation group that leaves the topology of the diagram un
hanged. These
ombinatorial
fa
tors are
learly independent of the spa
e-time integrations and possible
ontra
tions of
ve
tor or other indi
es. We
an
he
k them by redu
ing the path integral to zero dimensions,
or '(x) ! ' and D'(x) ! d'. In other words, we repla
e the path integral by an ordinary
integral. As an example
onsider
Z
g 3
1
Z (J; g ) = C d' exp if 2 'M'
' 'J g
3!
1
0
!3
i
i
g
A exp
JM 1 J :
(8.15)
= exp i
3! J
2
from inter
hanging the three propagators, for the se
ond diagram the latter fa
tor is repla
ed
by 4 as we
an only inter
hange for ea
h vertex the two legs that do not inter
onne
t the
two verti
es). The Feynman rules for this simple
ase are that ea
h vertex gets a fa
tor g
(in zero dimensions there are no fa
tors 2 ) and ea
h propagator gets a fa
tor i=M . In
problem 13 the exponentiation is
he
ked for Z (J ) to O(g 2 ) and O(J 5 ) (giving the simplest
non-trivial
he
k).
We will now show how the number of loops in a diagram is related to the expansion in
h . We
an expe
t su
h a relation, as we have shown at the end of se
tion 6 that the h ! 0
limit is related to the
lassi
al equations of motion, whereas we have shown in se
tion 4 that
these
lassi
al equations are solved by tree diagrams. If we
all L the number of loops of a
diagram, we will show that
1
X
iZ
Z (J; gn ) = D' exp
(L(') 'J ) exp(GJ =h ) ; GJ = h L GL;J ; (8.17)
h
L=0
where GL;J is the sum of all
onne
ted diagrams with exa
tly L loops. This means that a
loop expansion is equivalent with an expansion in h . To prove this we rst note that due to
reinstating h the sour
e term will get an extra fa
tor 1=h , the propagator a fa
tor h and the
oupling
onstants gn are repla
ed by gn =h . A diagram with Vn n-point verti
es, E external
lines (
onne
ted to a sour
e) and P propagators has therefore an extra overall fa
tor of
Z
h E h P
n=3
h
Vn
(8.18)
We
an relate this to the number of loops by noting that the number of momentum integrations (i.e. the number of independent momenta) in a diagram equals the number of
loops plus the number of external lines, minus one for the overall
onservation of energy and
momentum, i.e. L + E 1. On the other hand, the number of momentum integrations is also
the number
of propagators minus the number of delta fun
tions
oming from the verti
es,
P
i.e. P
n=3 Vn . Hen
e
X
Vn ;
(8.19)
L=1+P E
n=3
whi
h implies that the total number of h fa
tors in a diagram is given by L 1. In the next
se
tions we will often
onsider so-
alled amputated diagrams, where the external propagators
onne
ted to a sour
e are taken o from the expressions for the diagram. IfPwe do not
ount
these external propagators, eq. (8.19) has to be repla
ed by L = 1 + P
n=3 Vn , as there
are exa
tly E su
h external propagators.
From eqs. (7.26), (7.28) and (7.32) we know how to implement these
reation and annihilation
operators on the generating fun
tional Z (J; gn )
s
= i 2p0 (p~) ~
;
J (~x; t = Tin )
J (p~; t = Tin )
q
= i 2p0 (p~) ~
: (9.3)
d3~x e i~p~x
J (~x; t = Tout )
J ( p~; t = Tout )
2p0 (p~) Z
y
a^ (p~) = i
d3~x ei~p~x
V
2p0 (p~) Z
a^(p~) = i
V
s
i=1
a^(p~i )
j =1
(9.4)
In prin
iple, this allows us to
al
ulate the s
attering, taking Tin ! 1 and Tout ! 1.
There is, however, a problem to asso
iate the parti
le states in the presen
e of intera
tions
with the ones we have derived from the non-intera
ting theory. The problem is that parti
les
an have self-intera
tions long before and after the dierent parti
les have s
attered o ea
h
other. We have to re
onsider our notion of parti
le states, as in experiments we are unable
to swit
h o these self-intera
tions. For simpli
ity we assume that the one-parti
le states
are stable, as in the simple s
alar theory we have been
onsidering. This implies from
onservation of probability that
Z
(9.5)
iZ
GJ = G(2)
(
J
)
=
2
This implies that (T
dtds
p~
dp0
e
2
~
p2
~ p~; s)
:
m2 + i"
~; t)J (
ip0 (t s) J (p
(9.6)
Tout Tin)
~)~k;~p
out< ~pj~k >in = a^(p~)^ay (~k) exp(G(2)
(J ))jJ =0 = 2ip0 (p
dp0
eip0 T
=e
2 p2 m2 + i"
ip0 (p~)T
~k;~p
;
(9.7)
where the p0 integration is performed by deforming the
ontour to the upper half-plane,
giving a
ontribution from the pole at p0 = p0 (p~) only. It is trivial to see that this is the
same as what
an be obtained within the Hamiltonian formulation.
In the presen
e of intera
tions, this result is no longer true, sin
e the
onne
ted two-point
fun
tion will deviate from the one in the free theory. In this
ase we
an write (from now on
38
the symmetry fa tors will be absorbed in the expression asso iated to a diagram)
G(2)
(J ) =
+
;
+
(9.8)
where we have written the
onne
ted two-point fun
tion in terms of the one-parti
le irredu
ible (1P I ) two-point fun
tion i(p) ( is the so-
alled self-energy)
i(p)
(9.9)
In general, a 1P I -graph is a
onne
ted graph that remains
onne
ted when one arbitrary
propagator is being
ut (ex
ept when
utting away a tadpole of the form q j, whi
h we
will not allow. However, these tadpoles des
ribe single parti
les popping in or out of the
va
uum, usually required to be absent. They
an be removed by shifts in the elds.) The
external lines of these diagrams will
arry no propagator. The diagrams of eq. (9.8)
an be
onverted to the result
9
8
!2
!3
Z
<
i
i
i
2 + =
2
1
~
+
i
(
p
)
+
(
i
(
p
))
d
p
j
J
(
p
)
j
4
2
;
: p2
m2 + i"
p2 m2 + i"
p2 m2 + i"
!n )
(
Z
1
X
(p)
i
= 21 d4 p jJ~(p)j2 2
p m2 + i" n=0 p2 m2 + i"
jJ~(p)j2
iZ
d4 p 2
G(2)
(9.10)
=
(J ) :
2
p m2 (p) + i"
Normally the self-energy will not vanish at p2 = m2 , su
h that the self-intera
tions shift the
pole in the two-point fun
tion to another value, m
~ 2 , i.e.
p2 m2 (p) = 0 for p20 = ~p 2 + m
~2 :
(9.11)
Consequently, the mass of the one-parti
le states is shifted (or renormalised). As we
annot
swit
h o the intera
tions in nature, the true or observable mass is m
~ and not m, the latter is
also
alled the bare mass. The residue at the poles (i.e. p2 = m
~ 2 ,
alled the mass-shell) will
in general also
hange from i=p0 (p~) to iZ=p0 (p~). On the mass-shell (i.e. J~(p) vanishes
rapidly as a fun
tion of jp2 m
~ 2 j) one therefore has
iZ
Z jJ~(p)j2
G(2)
(
J
)
=
d
p
:
(9.12)
2 4 p2 m
~ 2 + i"
As long as the one-parti
le states are stable, eq. (9.5) needs to remain valid,
p whi
h
an only
be a
hieved (see eq. (9.7)) by res
aling the wave fun
tionals with a fa
tor Z (this is
alled
wavefun
tion renormalisation). It implies that eq. (9.4) needs to be modied to
out< ~p1 ; ~p2 ; ; ~p`j~k1 ; ~k2 ; ; ~kn >in=
where
2 p~ 2 + m
~2
a^+ (p~) i
Z
!1
i=1
a^ (p~i )
j =1
(9.13)
!1
p
~2 2
2 p~ 2 + m
; a^ (p~) i
:
~
~
Z
J (p~; t = Tin )
J ( p~; t = Tout )
(9.14)
39
As for the free theory, ea
h of these operators a^ (p~) will repla
e one external line (propagator
plus sour
e) by an appropriate wavefun
tion fa
tor and puts these external lines on the
mass-shell. We will
all the
onne
ted n-point fun
tion with amputated external lines the
amputated
onne
ted n-point fun
tion G(
amp) (p1 ; p2 ; ; pn) (in general not one-parti
le
irredu
ible), i.e.
)
n (Z
Y
iJ~(pi )
(
n
)
G(
amp) (p1 ; p2 ; ; pn ) :
(9.15)
d4 pi 2
G
(J )
2
pi m (pi ) + i"
i=1
Diagrammati
ally this looks as follows
H
H...H
..
.
...
.
HH..
H
'$
(9.16)
&%
1 n (qr ) or A
a^ (p~i ) a^+ (~kj ) eGJ A = eGJ =0 a^ (p~i ) a^+ (~kj )
:
G
(J )
r
!
r
j
=1
i
=1
j =1
i=1
rq
=
`
+
n
r
J =0
(9.17)
The sum is over all possible partitions of ` + n. Let us rst
onsider the most important
term,
orresponding to
onne
ted graphs, where q1 = ` + n
Y
`
n
Y
(i)
(
j) Y
(
`
+
n
)
~
i Z=p(0i) G(
amp) (f pi g; fkj g)e ip0 T
a^ (p~i ) a^+ (kj ) G
(J )=
i Z=k0
i=1
i=1
j =1
j =1
P`
Pn
2iV 4 ( qi=1Qp` i (ij)=1 Qkjn) M`+(jn) (f pi g; fkj g) e ip0(i)T :
(9.18)
2
p
V
2
k
V
i=1 0
j =1 0
Here M` (a Lorentz s
alar as we will see later) is the so-
alled redu
ed matrix element with
` external lines, all
on the mass-shell.
Note
that we have extra
ted
the trivial energy fa
tors
P
P (j )
P
P
(remember that p(0i) Tout
k0 Tin = p(0i) (Tout Tin ) p(0i) T ), su
h that the limits
Tin ! 1 and Tout ! 1
an be taken. Ea
h a^(p~) will a
t on one of the fa
tors between
urly bra
kets in eq. (9.15). Con
entrating on one su
h a fa
tor we have
Z
iJ~(p)G(
amp) (p; p2 ; ; pn) Z d4 p Z
iJ~(p~; t)eip0 t G(
amp) (p; p2 ; ; pn)
d4 p
dt
= p
:
p2 m2 (p) + i"
p2 m2 (p) + i"
2
(9.19)
su
h that, using eq. (9.14)
s
Z
eip0 Tout G(
amp) ((p0 ; p~); ; pn )
p0 (p~) Z
iJ~(p)G(
amp) (p; p2 ; ; pn)
dp0
=
a^ (p~) d4 p
p2 m2 (p) + i"
Z
p2 m2 (p) + i"
) ( p; p ; ; p )
p
G(
ampq
2
n
e ip0 (p~)Tout :
(9.20)
= i 2V Z
2p0 (p~)V
`
Sin
e Tout ! 1, we
an extend the p0
ontour integration to the upper half-plane, under
mild regularity
onditions for G(
amp) (p; p2 ; ; pn ) as Imp0 ! 1 (that
an easily be shown
40
Here we used eq. (9.12) and the fa
t that exp(GJ =0 ) = exp( iE0 T ), whi
h is often also
normalised to 1, but till now we had only required this to be the
ase at zero
ouplings.
The reason this
ase is spe
ial is be
ause eq. (9.15) requires us to dene for the amputated
two-point fun
tion
G(
amp) (p1 ; p2 ) i4 (p1 + p2 )(p21 m2 (p1 ) + i") ;
(9.23)
whi
h vanishes on the mass-shell. In using eq. (9.20) and eq. (9.21) it was impli
itly assumed
that the amputated Green's fun
tion has no zero that will
an
el the pole.
The Feynman rules in momentum spa
e for
omputing the redu
ed
p matrix elements will
obviously have to be modied for the external lines to a fa
tor i 2V Z and an overall
fa
tor i=(2V ) (as always, in an innite volume one repla
es V by (2 )3 ). If we asso
iate a
momentum delta fun
tion to a vertex and a momentum integration to a propagator (as was
done up to now), the delta fun
tion for overall energy and momentum
onservation should
not be written expli
itly in eq. (9.18), sin
e it is
ontained in the redu
ed matrix element.
Instead, if we
hoose to integrate over the independent loop momenta, implementing energy
and momentum
onservation at ea
h vertex (as will be done from now on, see the table
below), the denition of eq. (9.18) is the appropriate one. The overall fa
tors of i, 2 and
V
an be determined with the help of the two identities
L=P +1
V n ; E + 2P =
nVn :
(9.24)
The proof for the rst identity was dis
ussed below eq. (8.19). For the se
ond identity we
put a dot on ea
h end of a propagator ( ` ` ) and one dot on ea
h external line ( ` ` ),
giving` a total of P
2P + E dots. The same dots
an also be asso
iated to ea
h line of a vertex
( `H` ), giving nVn dots, thus proving the se
ond identity (see also problem 15). To keep
the derivation general, we evaluate the overall fa
tor in a nite volume
P i E +1 i(n
41
i L
:
2V
(9.25)
This implies that we
an shift all numeri
al fa
tors from the propagators, verti
es and external lines to a fa
tor i=(2V ) (or i=(2 )4 in an innite volume) for ea
h loop, giving the
Feynman rules listed in the table for an innite volume. Note that the extra
tion of the fa
tor
2iV in the denition of M is merely a
onvention (su
h that in lowest order Mn = gn ).
momentum spa
e
k1
HHj6
k2
k3
g` and
1
k2 m2 +i"
ki = 0
k1
HHj6
k2
k3
i (2d4 k)4
R
1
table 3
i(2 )4 g`4 (
d4 k
(2)4 k2
i
m2 +i"
i ki )
vertex
propagator
external line
loop fa
tor
In the literature many dierent
onventions are being used. As an example, the table
ompares our Feynman rules with those of Itzykson and Zuber. Their
onvention for Mn is
likewise to make it
oin
ide to lowest order with the n-point vertex. However, as the latter
does already
ontain a fa
tor i(2 )4 (in a nite volume 2iV ), that fa
tor should be
absent in relating the redu
ed matrix element to the amputated n-point fun
tion. Combining the extra fa
tors of i and 2 in the Feynman rules of Itzykson and Zuber gives
i(2 ) 4 iP Vn (2 )4(Vn P ) = [i=(2 )4 L , guaranteeing equivalen
e of the two sets of Feynman rules.
Con
erning the symmetry fa
tor asso
iated to a parti
ular diagram we note the following.
As we have generally xed the external momenta, inter
hanging external lines is no longer
allowed. But from eq. (9.15) we see that the symmetry fa
tor n!, to be taken into a
ount
for G(
n) (J ), will be
ompensated by the n derivatives on n sour
es. Hen
e, in
omputing
the redu
ed matrix elements the symmetry fa
tors are determined without allowing for
permutations on the external lines.
To
on
lude this se
tion we return to eq. (9.16), and dis
uss the
ontributions that will
be asso
iated to the diagrams
that are
not
onne
ted. Ea
h fa
tor of r! is
ompensated
n
or
(
q
)
r
for by the dierentiations on G
(J ) . For the
orresponding
onne
ted
omponents the
rules are identi
al to the ones spe
ied
above. In parti
ular ea
h
onne
ted
omponent will
P
arry its own fa
tor i(2 )4 4 ( pi ) for the
onservation of energy and momentum (pi is
now assumed to run over a subset of both the in
oming and the negative of the outgoing
four-momenta). In a physi
al pi
ture the dis
onne
ted parts
orrespond to situations where
only a subset of the in
oming parti
les will intera
t with ea
h other (the ones
onne
ted
by a parti
ular diagram). Quite often, the experimental situation is su
h that the energymomentum
onservation will only be
ompatible with the fully
onne
ted part. We just
have to avoid the in
oming momenta to
oin
ide with any of the out
oming momenta. In a
ollider, this means one ex
ludes parti
les that es
ape in the dire
tion of the beams, where
indeed it is not possible to put a dete
tor. As an illustration we will give the situation for
n = ` = 2 and all momenta non-zero (to avoid tadpole diagrams, q j) to se
ond order in
42
(9.26)
XXXX
PPPP + O(g33)
!
!#
The rst two diagrams, whi
h have to be treated with spe
ial
are (see eqs. (9.22) and
(9.23)), represent the situation without s
attering. By denition they have no higher order
orre
tions.
10 Cross se
tions
In many experimental situations we are interested in the s
attering of two parti
les with
momenta
k1 and k2 to a Rstate with n parti
les with momenta p1 ; p2 ; ; pn. We denote
R
~
~
~ 2 (~k2 )j~k2 > the wave fun
tionals of the in
oming parti
les.
by d3 k1 1 (~k1 )j~k1 > and d3~k2
This is to des
ribe the more realisti
ase of a wave pa
ket. The amplitude for s
attering to
take pla
e is hen
e given by
P
Z
q4 ( ni=1 pi k1 k2 )M2+n(f pi g; fkj g) ~ ~ ~ ~ i[E0 +p(0i) T
4
~
~
A = i(2) d3k1d3k2 Qn (i)
:
Q2
(j ) (~k )(2 )3 1 (k1 ) 2 (k2 )e
3
2
p
(
p
~
)(2
)
2
k
i
j
i=1 0
j =1 0
(10.1)
If we dene the wave fun
tion in
oordinate spa
e as usual
Z
d ~k
~ j (~k) ;
j (x) = q 3
e ikx
(10.2)
3
~
2k0 (k)(2 )
we
an
ompute the overlap of the two wave fun
tions
Z
Z
d ~k
d3~k2
q
d4 x 1 (x) 2 (x)eipx = (2 )4 q 3 1
4 (k1 + k2 p) ~ 1 (~k1 ) ~ 2 (~k2 ) :
2k0 (~k1 )(2 )3 2k0 (~k2 )(2 )3
(10.3)
We assume that over the range of momenta in the wave pa
kets, the redu
ed matrix elements
are
onstant (whi
h
an be a
hieved with arbitrary pre
ision for arbitrarily narrow wave
pa
kets in momentum spa
e). This allows us to write for the s
attering probability of two
parti
les into n parti
les, with momenta in between pi and pi + dpi ,
n
Y
d3 p~i
2
;
dW = jM(f pi g; fkj g)j f (p)
2p0 (p~i )(2 )3
i
=1
Z
f (p) d4 xd4 y 1 (x) 2 (x) 1 (y ) 2(y )eip(x y) ;
(10.4)
P
where p = ni=1 pi = k1 + k2 . The momenta ki in the redu
ed matrix element are the
entral
values of the wave pa
ket in momentum spa
e for the two in
oming parti
le beams. Under
the same assumption that the momentum spread in the beams is very small, the fun
tion
f (p) will be highly peaked around p = k1 + k2 , su
h that
Z
Z
f (p) 4 (p k1 k2 ) d4 p f (p) = (2 )4 4 (p k1 k2 ) d4 xj 1 (x)j2 j 2 (x)j2 : (10.5)
43
The quantities j j (x)j2 are of
ourse related to the probability densities of the two parti
les
in their respe
tive beams,
j (x) i( j (x)t j (x) j (x)t j (x)) 2k0(j ) j j (x)j2 ;
(10.6)
again using the fa
t that the wave pa
ket is highly peaked in momentum spa
e. Putting
these results together we nd
Z
n
X
Y
(x) (x)
d3 ~pi
4
2
d4 x 1 (1) 2(2) : (10.7)
dW = (2 ) 4 ( pi k1 k2 )jM(f pi g; fkj g)j
3
~i )(2 )
4k0 k0
i=1 2p0 (p
Sin
e j (x) will depend on the experimental situation, we should normalise with respe
t to
the total number of possible intera
tions in the experimental setup, also
alled the integrated
luminosity L.
Z
Z
dt L(t) d4 x 1 (x)2 (x)j~v1 ~v2 j :
(10.8)
R
Here d3~x 1 (x)2 (x) is the number of possible intera
tions per unit volume at a given
time and j~v1 ~v2 j is the relative velo
ity of the two beams. We have assumed that either,
one of the velo
ities is zero
(xed target), or that the two velo
ities are parallel (
olliding
R
beams). Hen
e, L(t) = d3~x 1 (~x; t)2 (~x; t)j~v1 ~v2 j is a
ux, typi
ally of the order of
1028 1033
m 2 s 1 . To
onsider the general
ase we note that we
an also write
Z
Z
q
(x) (x)
2
2
2
dt L(t) = (k1 k2 ) m1 m2 d4 x 1(1) 2(2)
:
(10.9)
k0 k0
After all, for a xed target situation k2 = (m2 ; ~0), su
h that
q
q
(k1 k2 )2 m21 m22
(k0(1) )2 m21
=
= j~v1 j ;
(10.10)
k0(1) k0(2)
k0(1)
whereas for
olliding beams of parti
les and antiparti
les with mass m, where k1 = (E; ~k) =
E (1; ~v) and k2 = (E; ~k) = E (1; ~v ), one nds
q
q
(k1 k2 )2 m21 m22
(E 2 + ~k 2 )2 m4
= 2j~kj=E = 2j~v j ;
(10.11)
=
E2
k0(1) k0(2)
su
h that both expressions redu
e to j~v1 ~v2 j. We leave it as an exer
ise to prove the result
for the general
ase of parallel beams.
We
an therefore dene a ma
hine independent dierential
ross se
tion d by normalising
the s
attering probability by the total luminosity,
n
X
jM(f pig; fkj g)j2 S Yn
d3 ~pi
d = (2 )4 4 ( pi k1 k2 ) q
:
(10.12)
4 (k1 k2 )2 m21 m22 i=1 2p0 (p~i )(2 )3
i=1
The parameter S is the inverse of the permutation fa
tor for identi
al parti
les in the nal
state, as a dete
tor will not be able to distinguish them. This will avoid double
ounting
when performingQthe phase spa
e integrals. If there are nr identi
al parti
les of sort r in the
nal state, S = r 1=nr ! (in the present
ase S = 1=n!).
Typi
al ele
tromagneti
ross se
tions, as we will
ompute later, are of the order of
nanobarns (1 nb= 10 33
m2 ). With a luminosity of 1033
m 2 s 1 , approximately one
ollision
event per se
ond will take pla
e. In the weak intera
tion the
ross se
tions are typi
ally 5
to 6 orders of magnitude smaller, su
h that not more than one event per day will take pla
e
in that
ase.
44
11 De
ay rates
The denition of the de
ay rate (also
alled de
ay width) of an unstable parti
le is best
dened by
onsidering its self-energy,
1
(p) =
Z
(11.1)
where the diagram for the 1P I two-point fun
tion is now to be evaluated using the Feynman
rules in table 3 (pg. 42). The relation with the self-energy follows from the fa
t that, apart
form thepoverall fa
tor i=(2 )4 , one has for ea
h of the two external lines an extra fa
tor
i(2 )2 Z as
ompared to the amputated 1P I 2-point fun
tion, in total one therefore has
iZ times the amputated 2-point fun
tion. The latter indeed equals i(p), see eq. (9.9).
We will now
onsider a simple example of a s
alar eld theory with two types of elds, a
eld '(x) asso
iated with a light parti
le (mass m) and a eld (x) asso
iated with a heavy
parti
le (mass M > 2m), whi
h
an de
ay in the lighter parti
les if we allow for a
oupling
between one and two ' elds,
' g ;
V (; ') = 12 g'2 ;
(11.2)
H
H'
For the two-point fun
tion in lowest order we nd
p k
(11.3)
p + p
p + :
p
p = p
k
If is a stable parti
le (i.e. M < 2m), the loop in the rst diagram
orresponds to virtual
' parti
les moving between the verti
es, sin
e always k2 6= m2 and (k p)2 6= m2 . However,
as soon as M > 2m, the loop integral will
ontain
ontributions where the ' parti
les
an
be on the mass-shell and behave as a real parti
les, e.g. k2 = m2 and (k p)2 = m2 in the
rst diagram. The real ' parti
les
an es
ape to innity, thereby des
ribing the de
ay of the
parti
le. Its number will redu
e as a fun
tion of time.
Indeed we will see that only if M > 2m, the self-energy will be able to develop a non-zero
imaginary part,
Im( Z (p))jp2 =M 2 6= 0. On the mass-shell the propagator is in that
ase modied for t > 0 to
pp~ 2+M 2 i
i Z d3 p~ p Z ei~p~x
Z e ipx
it
=
:
(11.4)
e
M 2 + i
+ i"
2 (2 )3 p~ 2 + M 2 i
p
The poles p0 = i~p 2 + M 2 i
are now
omplex and for
M 2 one has in a good
approximation
p
p
p
1
e it p~ 2 +M 2 i
= e it p~ 2+M 2 e 2
t= p~ 2 +M 2 :
(11.5)
The amplitude
of the wave fun
tion for the parti
le
onsequently de
ays with a de
ay rate
p
of (p) =
= p~ 2 + M 2 , the life-time of this parti
le is hen
e (p) = 1= (p).
We will evaluate the imaginary part of self-energy for the 2-point fun
tion in eq. (11.3)
rst to lowest order in g
!
ig 2 Z d4 k
1
Im( (p)) = Im
2 (2 )4 (k2 m2 + i")((k p)2 m2 + i")
!
ig 2 Z
2
ipx
;
(11.6)
d4 x G (x)e
= Im
2
Z
d4 p
(2 )4 p2
45
where we used the denition of the Green's fun
tion, eq. (4.7). With the help of eq. (5.12)
we
an write
Z
d3~k ei~k~xe ik0 (~k)jtj
G(x) = i
;
(11.7)
(2 )3 2k0 (~k)
whi
h yields (after
hanging x to x at the right pla
e)
Z
(
k
+
k
p
~
)
(
k
3
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
2k0(1) (2 )3 2k0(2) (2 )3
q
where we have impli
itly dened k0(j ) ~kj2 + m2 . As pwe wish to study the 2-point
fun
tion at t > 0 near the mass-shell, we
an put p0 p~ 2 + m2 as well. In parti
ular,
restri
ting ourselves to p0 > 0, gives
Im( Z (p)) g 2 (2 )4 Z
d3~k2
d3~k1
(p)
4 (k1 + k2 p) ;
(11.9)
=
p0
4p0
2k0(1) (2 )3 2k0(2) (2 )3
Im( (p)) =
1
4
g2
whi
h is the result to lowest non-trivial order in g (to this order we
an take Z = 1).
To any order we
an, however, de
ompose the part of the self-energy, with two '
parti
les as an intermediate state, in its 1P I
omponents as follows
PP
PP
p =
(11.10)
where the full ' 2-point fun
tion is given by 1=(p2 m2 ' (p)+ i"), whi
h on the mass-shell
redu
es to Z' =(p2 m
~ 2 + i"), the only part that a
tually
ontributes to Im( Z (pp)). The
1P I '' 3-point fun
tion
an easily be seen to be equal to M'' (f ki g; p)=(Z' Z ) (or
its
omplex
onjugate if in- and outgoing lines are inter
hanged), sin
e in lowest order it
should
oin
ide with the '' 3-point vertex. In this way we easily nd the partial de
ay
rate d (p) to be
p)
d3~ki
;
2k0(i) (2 )3
(11.11)
whi
h, as it should be, is always positive. The symmetry fa
tor S is the same as for the
ross
se
tion in eq. (10.12). The total
de
ay rate is found by integrating over the phase spa
e of
R
the outgoing parti
les (p) d (p). The large resemblan
e with the formula for the
ross
se
tion is no
oin
iden
e, as in both
ases we have to
al
ulate the probability for something
to happen (respe
tively a de
ay or a s
attering). In its present form the formula for (p) is
also valid for the de
ay of a parti
le in n other parti
les. The derivation is almost identi
al,
e.g. in eq. (11.8) one now en
ounters Gn (x) instead of G2 (x) and g now stands of
ourse
for the
oupling
onstant of n ' elds to the eld. It is not ne
essary for this
oupling to
o
ur in the Lagrangian; at higher orders one
an generate it from the lower
ouplings that
do o
ur in the Lagrangian.
46
Histori
ally, Dira
rst
onsidered m 6= 0, but the massless
ase (m = 0) is somewhat
simpler, as it allows one to use = 0 and k = k for a solution of eq. (12.3). Here k are
the Pauli-matri
es, familiar from des
ribing spin one-half parti
les.
0
1
0
i
1
0
1 = 1 0
; 2 = i 0
; 3 = 0 1
:
(12.4)
It is
lear that two will be the smallest matrix dimension for whi
h one
an solve the equation
1 ( + ) 1 f ; g = 1 . It is not hard to prove that in a two dimensional
j k
k j
j k
jk
2
2
representation all solutions to this equation are given by
j = Uj U 1 ;
(12.5)
where U is an arbitrary non-singular
omplex 2 2 matrix. We should, however, require
that H (and hen
e j ) is hermitian. This narrows U down to a unitary matrix, sin
e
j y Uj U 1 U y 1 y U y = U ([U y Uj 1 j U y U )U 1 = 1 ;
(12.6)
j
su
h that U y Uj = j U y U for ea
h j . The only 2 2 matrix that
ommutes with all Paulimatri
es is a multiple of the identity, whi
h proves that U is unitary (up to an irrelevant
overall
omplex fa
tor, whi
h does not ae
t j ).
Sin
e the Hamiltonian is now a 2 2 matrix, the wave fun
tion (x) be
omes a
omplex
two dimensional ve
tor, also
alled a spinor, whi
h des
ribes parti
les with spin h =2
(12.7)
We have to demonstrate that the Dira
equation is
ovariant under Lorentz transformations.
We rst put the boosts to zero, be
ause we already know from quantum me
hani
s how a
spinor transforms under rotations
i
(12.8)
~p ! ~p 0 = exp(~! L~ )p~ ; (x) ! 0 (x0 ) = exp( ~! ~ ) (x) :
2
47
Lijk = "ijk ;
(12.9)
(12.10)
we work out the Dira equation in the rotated frame. Using eq. (12.8) we get
i
i
~! ~ )~ exp( ~! ~ ) (x) ;
(12.11)
2
2
whi
h should redu
e to eq. (12.7). To prove this, we use the following general result for
matri
es X and Y
p0 (x) = p~ 0 exp(
eX Y e
(12.12)
whi
h is derived from the fa
t that f1 (t) = etX Y e tX and f2 (t) = exp(ad(tX ))Y satisfy the
same dierential equation, dfi (t)=dt = [X; fi (t). Sin
e also f1 (0) = f2 (0) it follows that
f1 (1) = f2 (1), being the above equation. Applying this result to Y = k and X = i~! ~=2,
using the fa
t that
i
i
~ )kj j ;
ad( ~! ~ )k = [ ~! ~ ; k = (~! L
(12.13)
2
2
~ )~ .
the r.h.s. of eq.(12.11) be
omes p~ 0 ~ 0 (x) = p~ ~ (x), where ~ 0 = exp(~! L
The interpretation of this S
hrodinger equation
aused Dira
quite some trouble, as its
eigenvalues are jp~ j, and it is not bounded from below. In the s
alar theory we
ould avoid
this by just
onsidering the positive root of the Klein-Gordon equation. Only when we
required lo
alisation of the wave fun
tion inside the light-
one, we were for
ed to
onsider
negative energy states. In the present
ase, restri
ting to one of the eigenstates would break
the rotational invarian
e of the theory. For the massive
ase Dira
rst in
orre
tly thought
that the positive energy states des
ribe the ele
tron and the negative energy states the
proton. At that time antiparti
les were unknown. Antiparti
les were predi
ted by Dira
be
ause the only way he
ould make the theory
onsistent was to invoke the Pauli prin
iple
and to ll all the negative energy states. A hole in this sea of negative energy states, the
so-
alled Dira
sea, then
orresponds to a state of positive energy. These holes des
ribe
the antiparti
le with the same mass as the parti
le. Obviously parti
le number will no
longer be
onserved and also the Dira
equation will require \se
ond quantisation" and the
introdu
tion of a eld, whi
h will be dis
ussed later.
For the massive Dira
equation we need to nd a matrix that anti
ommutes with all
i . For 2 2 matri
es this is impossible, sin
e the Pauli matri
es form a
omplete set of
anti
ommuting matri
es. The smallest size turns out to be a 4 4 matrix. The following
representation is usually
hosen
i =
i
i
; = 12
48
12
(12.14)
for whi
h the non-relativisti
limit has a simple form. For the massless
ase it is often more
onvenient to use the so-
alled Weyl representation
~i = i
; ~ =
i
12
12 :
(12.15)
We leave it as an exer
ise for the student to show that these two representations are related
by a 4 4 unitary transformation U , i.e.
~ = U
U 1 .
To study the
ovarian
e of the Dira
equation
p0 (x) = (i pi + m) (x)
(12.16)
under Lorentz transformations (note that now (x) has four
omplex
omponents), it will
be protable to introdu
e a \four-ve
tor"
of 4 4 matri
es
(
0 ;
i ) = (; i) ;
(12.17)
su
h that the Dira
equation be
omes
( i
+ m) (x) = (
p + m) (x) (=p + m) (x) = 0 :
(12.18)
f ; g + = 2g :
(12.19)
As for the
ovarian
e under rotations, this equation is
ovariant under Lorentz boosts if there
exists a non-singular
omplex 4 4 matrix S , su
h that (x) ! 0 (x0 ) = S (x) and
S 1
S = K
;
(12.20)
where K is the Lorentz transformation a
ting on the momenta as p0 = K p and on the
oordinates as x 0 = K x . Like for the rotations, K
an be written as an exponent
K = exp(! ) :
(12.21)
Here ! is a 4 4 matrix, whi
h is antisymmetri
when one of its indi
es is raised or lowered
by the metri
, ! = g ! = ! .
We will now prove that
i
i
! ) ; [
;
4
2
satises eq. (12.20). Using the antisymmetry of ! and eq. (12.19) we nd
S = S (! ) = exp(
i
[ ! ;
=
4
=
=
=
1
4
(12.22)
! [ ;
! (
)
2
g )
1
4 ! (
+
1 ! (g
g ) = !
:
2
1
4
(12.23)
Applying eq. (12.12) gives the proof for eq. (12.20). One says that S (! ) is a representation
of K (! ). Note that in general S (! ) is not a unitary transformation. This is be
ause the
49
boosts form a non-
ompa
t part of the Lorentz group. There is, however, a relation between
S y and S 1 ,
0S y
0 = S 1 ;
(12.24)
whi
h is most easily proven in the Weyl representation, sin
e
~ 0 = ~
ommutes with ~ij
but anti-
ommutes with ~k0 (as always roman indi
es run from 1 to 3 and greek indi
es run
form 0 to 3), whereas ~ij is hermitian and ~k0 is anti-hermitian, as follows from the expli
it
expressions obtained from eqs. (12.15), (12.17) and (12.22)
~ij =
~ ij
i i j
i k 0
k
k
0
= [~
;
~ = "ijk
; ~0k = ~ = [~
;
~ = i k
2
2
k
:
(12.25)
Note that eqs. (12.20) and (12.22) are independent of the representation in whi
h we give
the gamma matri
es, as any two su
h representations have to be related by a unitary transformation. In the Weyl representation S~(! ) is blo
k diagonal, like the Dira
equation for
m = 0 (as ~i is blo
k diagonal). The upper blo
k
orresponds to eq. (12.7) with the plus
sign and the lower blo
k
orresponds to the minus sign. We
an verify eq. (12.8) by using
the fa
t that the Lorentz transformations
ontain the rotations through the identi
ation
!k = 12 "ijk !ij . With !0k = 0, one nds S~(! ) = 12
exp(i~! ~ =2), i.e. it a
ts on ea
h 2 2
blo
k by the same unitary transformation.
The boost parameters are des
ribed by !0i . For a boost in the x dire
tion we have that
= !01 is related to the boost velo
ity by v1 = tanh(). For K we nd in this
ase
0
osh() sinh()
B
sinh()
osh()
K=B
B
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
k
0
0C
C
:
A
0C
1
(12.26)
In the Weyl representation, S~ splits again in two blo
ks, but one is the inverse of the other
(and neither is unitary). To be pre
ise, S~ restri
ted to the upper-left 2 2 blo
k equals
exp( 21 !0k k ), whereas for the lower-right 2 2 blo
k we nd exp( 12 !0k k ).
As S is not unitary y (x) (x) is no longer invariant under Lorentz transformations.
But we
laim it is nevertheless a probability density, namely the time
omponent j 0 (x) of a
onserved
urrent
j (x) = y (x)
0
(x) :
(12.27)
We leave it as an exer
ise to show that the Dira
equation implies that the
urrent is
onserved, j (x) = 0. The
ombination y(x)
0 will o
ur so often, that it has a
quired
its own symbol
(x) y(x)
0 :
(12.28)
It transforms under a Lorentz transformation as
(x) ! S (x) and (x) ! (x)S 1 :
(12.29)
We
an use this to build the required Lorentz s
alars, ve
tors and tensors
0 (x0 ) 0 (x0 ) = (x)S 1 S (x) = (x) (x)
s
alar:
ve
tor: 0 (x0 )
0 (x0 ) = (x)S 1
S (x) = K (x)
(x)
tensor: 0 (x0 ) 0 (x0 ) = (x)S 1 S (x) = K K (x) (x)
50
The Lagrangian is a Lorentz s
alar, whi
h we
hose su
h that its equations of motion reprodu
e the Dira
equation. As (x) is
omplex, it
an be
onsidered independent of (x) and
the following Lagrangian
SDira =
d4 x LDira =
d4 x (x)(i
m) (x) :
(12.30)
S
= (i
(x)
S
= (x)( i
m) = 0 :
(x)
m) (x) = 0 ;
(12.31)
The se
ond equation is the
omplex
onjugate of the rst, y(x)(i(
)y +m) = 0, be
ause
the gamma matri
es satisfy
(
)y =
0
0 ;
(12.32)
whi
h follows from the fa
t that (
0 )y = y = =
0 and (
i )y = (i )y = i =
i , or
from the expli
it representation of the gamma matri
es
0 = 12
12
; i =
i
i
(12.33)
Hen
e
0 = y(x)(i(
)y +m)
0 = (i
0 (
)y
0 +m) = (i
+m) :
(12.34)
5 i 0 1 2 3 =
12
12 ;
(12.35)
5 = 5 and ( 5 )2 = 14 :
(12.36)
P 21 (1 5 ) ;
(12.37)
whi
h satisfy (P )2 = P and P P = 0. Their role is best des
ribed in the Weyl representation, where
1
2
~5 = i
~0
~1
~2
~3 = i~1 ~2 ~3 = 1
;
(12.38)
2
su
h that P~+ = 21 (1 +
~5 ) proje
ts on the two upper and P~ = 21 (1
~5 ) on the two lower
omponents of the four-spinors. In the massless
ase these two
omponents are de
oupled,
p0 (x) = (p~ ~~ + m~) (x) = p~m1~
2
m12 :
p~ ~
(12.39)
(12.40)
51
whi
h is identi
al to eq. (12.7). The eigenstates of the proje
tion operators P are
alled
heli
ity eigenstates. As long as m 6= 0, heli
ity is not
onserved. But as we saw, for m = 0
the two heli
ity eigenstates de
ouple. One
an dene in that
ase
onsistently a parti
le
with a xed heli
ity, whose opposite heli
ity state does not o
ur (although its antiparti
le
has opposite heli
ity). A very important example of su
h a parti
le is the neutrino, although
experiment has not yet been able to rule out a (tiny) mass for this parti
le (me < 10eV ).
See problem 22 for more details.
Apart from the invarian
e of the Dira
equation under Lorentz transformations and
translations (whi
h are obvious symmetries of LDira
) we also often want invarian
e under
parity (~x ! ~x) and time-reversal (t ! t). One easily
he
ks that
P (x) 0 (t; ~x) =
0 (t; ~x) and T (x) 0 ( t; ~x) =
5
0
2 (t; ~x)
(12.41)
satisfy the Dira
equation, where P stands for parity and T for time-reversal. This implies
that the Lorentz
ovariant
ombinations (x)
5 (x) and (x)
5
(x) are not invariant
under parity and time-reversal. They are
alled pseudos
alars and pseudove
tors. These
ombinations play an important role in the weak intera
tions, where parity is not a symmetry.
A third dis
rete symmetry,
harge
onjugation C , will be dis
ussed in se
tion 17.
d3~k
~ ~k)e
(
3
2k0 (~k)(2 )
Z
q
ikx
(13.1)
~ ~k) = 0 ; k02 = ~k 2 + m2 :
m) (
(13.2)
(13.3)
As any ~k
an be obtained from a boost to ~k = ~0, all solutions of the Dira
equation
an be
obtained from the ones at rest with ~k = ~0 (see problem 19)
(
0 k0
~
~
m) (0) = (k0
m)12
~~
(k0 + m)12 (0) :
(13.4)
We see that for k0 > 0 (k0 = m), there are two independent solutions both of the form
A
~
~
+ (0) = 0
;
(13.5)
where A is a spin one-half two-spinor of whi
h 1 is the spin-up and 0 is the spin0
1
down state. The identi
ation of the spin degrees of freedom follows from the behaviour of
52
~ under rotations (whi
h leave ~k = ~0). We leave it as an exer
ise to verify that also in the
Dira
representation of the gamma matri
es, like in the Weyl representation (see eq. (12.25)),
ij = "ijk k
;
k
(13.6)
su
h that A is easily seen to transform under a rotation as in eq. (12.8) (
mp. the dis
ussion
below eq. (12.25)). There are also two solutions for k0 < 0 (k0 = m) of the form
0
~
~
(0) =
;
B
(13.7)
1
where likewise B is a spin one-half two-spinor of whi
h
is the spin-up and 0 is the
0
1
spin-down state, whi
h transform under rotations as A.
For any frame, i.e. for any value of ~k, we will dene the four independent solutions of
the Dira
equation as
0
1
q
B C
B C
k
=
+
m
1C
(2) = B
B0C
k0 = ~k 2 + m2 : u() (~k) = q
B C ;
C ; u0
u(0) ; u(1)
0 =B
0A
0A
m + jk0 j
0
0
0 1
0 1
0
0
q
B C
B C
k
=
+
m
0C
0
(2) = B
C
B C : (13.8)
k0 = ~k 2 + m2 : v () ( ~k ) = q
v0() ; v0(1) = B
B C ; v0
0A
1A
m + jk0 j
1
0
These solutions naturally split in positive energy (u() (~k) with = 1; 2) and negative energy
(v () ( ~k ) with = 1; 2) solutions; for ~k = ~0 and mp6= 0 easily seen to be proportional
~ (~0), to be pre
ise u() (~0) = u(0) = 2m and v () (~0) = v0() =p2m. The
to the solutions
normalisation we have
hosen allows us to treat massless fermions at the same footing. In
that
ase we
an, however, not transform to the restframe. This normalisation also implies
that
u() (~k)u() (~k) = v () ( ~k)v () ( ~k ) = 2m :
(13.9)
For example
(13.10)
where we used k2 = m2 and u(0)
u(0) = 0 (see eq. (12.33)). The
omputation for
v () (~k) is left as an exer
ise. The fa
t that we nd a result that is independent of ~k is
onsistent with our
laim that these spinors
an also be obtained by applying the appropriate
~ ~k) (
~ ~k) is a Lorentz s
alar.
boost to ~k = ~0, sin
e (
That these spinors indeed satisfy eq. (13.2) follows from the fa
t that
(k= m)(k= + m) = k2 m2 = 0 :
(13.11)
53
Note that v () (~k)
an also be viewed as a positive energy solution for the
omplex
onjugate
of the Dira
equation
q
k0 = ~k 2 + m2 : (k= + m)v () (~k) = 0 :
(13.12)
It will play the role of the wave fun
tion for the antiparti
les (the holes) in the Dira
eld
theory. To see that our plane waves have the
orre
t amplitude, we use the fa
t that the
probability density
an be dened in terms of the zero-
omponent (x) of the
onserved
four-ve
tor j (x) = (x)
(x) (see eq. (12.27)), or
(x) = y (x) (x) :
(13.13)
~ y (~k) (
~ ~k) transforms as a density, i.e. as the energy k0 , and we nd
Indeed,
u() (~k)yu() (~k) = v () (~k)yv () (~k) = 2k0 ; u() (~k)yv () (~k) = 0 :
(13.14)
This
an be veried by a dire
t
omputation, e.g. (k0 > 0)
() y(m k=)y(m k=)v () v () y(k2 + ~k 2 + m2 2mk
0 )v ()
v
0
0 =
0
0 = 0
0
(
)
y
(
)
v (~k) v (~k) =
m + k0
m + k0
y
v0() (k02 + ~k 2 + m2 + 2mk0 )v0()
= 2k0 ;
(13.15)
=
m + k0
y
using v0()
v0() = 0 (see eq. (12.33)). We leave the other identities as an exer
ise.
1
This implies that the plane wave solutions (k0 = (~k 2 + m2 ) 2 )
v () (~k) ikx
e
; = 1; 2 ;
(13.16)
2k0 (2 )3
R
P
are normalised to one (of
ourse, in a nite volume we repla
e (2 )3 by V and d3~k by ~k ).
As for the s
alar eld we
an introdu
e a Dira
eld
Z
2
X
d3~k
(x) = q
(13.17)
b (~k)u() (~k)e ikx + dy (~k)v () (~k)eikx :
2k0 (~k)(2 )3 =1
Sin
e (x) is
omplex, there is no relation between d and b . In the quantum eld theory
these will play the role of the annihilation operators for the (anti-)parti
les.
Finally we note that, for m 6= 0, we
an dene proje
tion operators (whi
h are 4 4
matri
es)
2 v () (~k)
v () (~k)
2 u() (~k)
u() (~k) k= + m
X
X
k= + m
=
; (~k) =
=
;
+ (~k) =
2m
2m
2m
2m
=1
=1
(13.18)
whi
h
an be veried from the expli
it form of u and v , or by rst
omputing them in the
restframe where (~0) = 12 (1
0 ). In that
ase we nd
(k= + m)(1
0 )(k= + m) k= + m
=
;
(13.19)
(~k) =
4m(m + k0 )
2m
whose proof requires some gamma matrix gymnasti
s. Independent of the frame satisfy
2 (~k) = (~k) ; (~k) (~k) = 0 :
(13.20)
Note that Tr((~k)) = 2, a result that
an also be derived from eq. (13.9).
u() (~k)
e
2k0 (2 )3
ikx
54
S=
d4 x L =
d4 x (x)(i
m) (x) :
(14.1)
S
= ( (x)i
0 )a = i a (x) :
a (x) = _
a (x)
(14.2)
su h that
H =
=
=
X
(14.3)
Note the resemblan
e with eq. (12.1) for the middle term. We used eq. (13.17) for the
expansion of the Dira
eld in plane waves. From this result it is
lear that the Hamiltonian
is not bounded from below, and this would make the va
uum unstable, as the negative
energy states, des
ribed by the d (~k),
an lower the energy by an arbitrary amount. It is
well-known how Dira
repaired this problem. He postulated that all negative energy states
are o
upied, and that the states satisfy the Pauli prin
iple, i.e. two parti
les
an not o
upy
the same quantum state (it is only in that
ase that we
an make sense of what is meant with
lling all negative energy states). This implies that one should use anti
ommuting relations
for the
reation and annihilation operators
(14.4)
Indeed, if we dene a two parti
le state as j~k; p~ > by (~k)by (p~)j0 > (suppressing the spinor
indi
es), the anti
ommutation relations imply that j~k; ~p >= jp~; ~k >.
A hole in the Dira
sea is by denition the state that is obtained by annihilating a
negative energy state in the Dira
sea. As annihilation lowers the total energy by the energy
of the annihilated state, whi
h in this
ase is negative, the net p
energy is raised. The wave
fun
tion for the negative energy state is given by exp(ikx)v () (~k)= k0 and has momentum ~k
1
(k0 (~k 2 + m2 ) 2 ), see eq. (13.8). The reason to asso
iate its Fourier
oe
ient in eq. (13.17)
with a
reation operator dy (~k), is that
onservation of energy and momentum implies that it
reates an antiparti
le as a hole in the Dira
sea, with momentum ~k and heli
ity 12 for = 2,
whereas for = 1 the heli
ity is 21 (hen
e the heli
ity and momentum are opposite to the
55
negative energy state it annihilates). The wave fun
tion of an antiparti
le with momentum
~k is hen
e given by exp( ikx)v () (~k)y=pk0 . If we now use the anti
ommutation relations of
reation and annihilation operators (as a
onsequen
e of the Pauli ex
lusion prin
iple), we
see that with the present interpretation the Dira
Hamiltonian is bounded from below
H=
d3~k k0 (~k)
X
(14.5)
As in the
ase for s
alar eld theory we
an normalise the energy of the va
uum state to zero
by adding a (innite)
onstant. Note that this
onstant has its sign opposite to the s
alar
ase (and is in magnitude four times as large). In so-
alled supersymmetri
eld theories this
is no longer an a
ident as the Dira
elds will be related to the s
alar elds by a symmetry,
whi
h is however outside the s
ope of these le
tures.
Important is also to note that the anti
ommuting relations are
ru
ial to guarantee
lo
ality of the Dira
eld. In this
ase Dira
elds spe
ied in dierent regions of spa
e-time
that are spa
e-like separated should anti
ommute. And indeed, in problem 24 you are asked
to prove that
f a (x); yb (x0 )g = 0 for (x x0 )2 < 0 :
(14.6)
Also, as in the s
alar theory, we
an
ouple a sour
e to the free Dira
eld (we again
introdu
e " as the expansion parameter for taking the intera
tions due to the sour
e into
a
ount in Hamiltonian perturbation theory)
L(x)
H(x)
(14.7)
whereR as before the Hamiltonian H is the spatial integral over the Hamiltonian density H(x),
H = d3~x H(x). Note that the sour
es J (x) and J(x) are independent, as for a
omplex
s
alar eld, see problem 17. In problem 24 you are asked to prove that in Hamiltonian
perturbation theory one obtains
< 0jTexp( i
H (t)dt) j0 >
eiE0 T
i"2
= 1
= 1 i
where
"J
+ O("3) :
"J
(14.8)
Z
d4 p (=p + m)e ip(x y)
d4 p e ip(x y)
=
:
(14.9)
(2 )4 =p m + i"
(2 )4 p2 m2 + i"
Hen
e, the Green's fun
tion for fermions is in Fourier spa
e given by GF (p) = (=p m + i") 1 ,
whi
h is the inverse of the quadrati
part of the Lagrangian, as for the s
alar elds. In
problem 24 it will be evident that, nevertheless, the anti
ommuting properties of the Dira
eld play a
ru
ial role (
mp. se
tion 5). It be
omes, however, plausible there is also for the
fermions a path integral formulation, as splitting of a square (
mp. eqs. (7.11) and (7.12)) is
independent of the details of the path integrals. This will be the subje
t of the next se
tion.
To
on
lude, we note that the
oupling to an ele
tromagneti
eld A (x) should be
a
hieved through the
urrent j (x), dened in eq. (12.27)
G F (x y ) =
d4 x
j (x)A (x)
(14.10)
Sin
e this
urrent is
onserved, whi
h
an also be seen as a
onsequen
e of the Noether
theorem applied to the invarian
e of eq. (14.1) (the free Dira
Lagrangian) under global
phase transformations, the
oupling is gauge invariant. Using the minimal
oupling dened
as in eq. (3.35),
D (x) ( ieA (x)) (x) ;
(14.11)
one
an x the normalisation of the ele
tromagneti
urrent to be J (x) = ej (x), sin
e
(
mp. eq. (3.31))
(x)(i
D
m) (x) = (x)(i
m) (x) + ej A (x) :
(14.12)
The
urrent j (x) is the
harge density
urrent, whose time
omponent (x) at the quantum
level is no longer positive denite. Using the anti
ommuting properties of eq. (14.4) one
nds
Z
d3~x ^(~x) =
=
=
X
= Q0 =e +
d3~k
X
(14.13)
The va
uum value of this operator is indi
ated by the (generally innite)
onstant Q0 =e,
whi
h
an be normalised to zero. After all we want the state with all negative energy
states o
upied to have zero
harge. With the above normalisation of the ele
tri
urrent,
J (x) = ej (x), we see that the b modes
an be identied with the ele
trons with
harge
e and the d modes with their antiparti
les, the positrons, with opposite ele
tri
harge
+e. To summarise, by (~k)
orresponds with the
reation operator of a spin-up ( = 1) or a
spin-down ( = 2) ele
tron of momentum ~k, whereas dy (~k)
orresponds with the
reation
operator of a spin-up ( = 2) or a spin-down ( = 1) positron of momentum ~k.
fi ; j g i j + j i = 0 :
In parti
ular, a Grassmann variable squares to zero
2 = 0
(15.1)
(15.2)
f () = a0 + a1 ;
57
(15.3)
and spans a two dimensional (real or)
omplex ve
tor spa
e. This is exa
tly what we need
to des
ribe a spin one-half parti
le. Let us introdu
e the following notation
1
j0 >= 0 ;
0
j1 >= 1 :
(15.4)
H0 =
W 0
0 W
1
2
(15.5)
(15.6)
where b is the fermioni
annihilation operator, whi
h in the spinor representation is given
by a 2 2 matrix
b = 00 10
; by = 01 00
:
(15.7)
We note that b2 = (by )2 = 0, a property it has in
ommon with a Grassmann variable. We
will now look for properties of su
h that
() < j >= a0 + a1
(15.8)
is a representation of the state j >, similar to (x) =< xj > for the
ase of a single
bosoni
(i.e.
ommuting, as opposed to anti
ommuting) degree of freedom. In the latter
ase, the normalisation
Z
dx (x) (x) = 1
(15.9)
is an important property we would like to impose here too (keeping in mind that for path
integrals we need to insert
ompleteness relations). As < 0j = (1; 0) and < 1j = (0; 1), we
have
< j =< 0ja0 + < 1ja1 =< 1jbya0 + < 1ja1 :
(15.10)
As in eq. (15.8) (i.e. by ! ), we anti
ipate
() < j >= a0 + a1 :
(15.11)
d = 1 ;
58
d 1 = 0
(15.13)
is easily seen to give the desired result. Note that d is
onsidered as an independent
Grassmann variable (whi
h is important to realise when multiple Grassmann integrations
are involved).
We
an now study the a
tion of an operator (like a Hamiltonian H ) on a state, whi
h in
the spinor representation is given by 2 2 matri
es.
0
M
M
a
a0
11
12
0
or
=
:
M21 M22 a1
a01
Translated to Grassmann variables, this gives
M j >= j 0 >
(15.14)
provided we dene
M21 0
M22 :
(15.16)
Indeed,
Z
M21 0
M22 )(a0 + a1 0 )
(15.17)
;
(15.18)
(15.19)
(15.20)
The last identity is exa
t, and a
onsequen
e of the fa
t that the Taylor series of any fun
tion
of a Grassmann variable trun
ates
~ ) = 1 + x
~ ;
exp(x
~ )=x :
d~ exp(x
(15.21)
This is valid both for x a Grassmann variable (in whi
h
ase the ordering of x with respe
t
to ~ is important, with the opposite ordering the result is x), or for x a
omplex number.
Another useful property of Grassmann integration is that (y is a number)
Z
d exp(x + y ) = x exp(y ) :
59
(15.22)
1 1
n=0 n!
(x + y )n =
1 1
1
X
y n + x
n=0 n!
n=1 (n
1)!
In general it is not true that the exponential fun
tion retains the property exp(x + y ) =
exp(x) exp(y ), for x and y arbitrary elements of the Grassmann algebra. It behaves as if x
and y are matri
es, as it should sin
e the Grassmann representation originates from a 2 2
matrix representation. More pre
isely
exp(x) exp(0 y ) = (1 + x)(1 + 0 y ) = 1 + (x + 0 y ) + 1 (x + 0 y )2 + 1 [x; 0 y
= exp (x + 0 y + 21 [x; 0 y ) :
(15.24)
This means that the Campbell-Baker-Hausdor formula (eq. (6.44))
an be extended to this
ase. It trun
ates after the single
ommutator term as neither x nor y
an appear more
than on
e.
Let us apply this to the evolution operator, whi
h in the Grassmann representation is
given by (see eqs. (15.19) and (15.20))
Z
< i+1 jU (ti+1 ; ti )ji > Ui (i+1 ; i ) = d~i exp ~i [i
su
h that
Z
i+1
i+1
iH (ti ; i+1 ; i )t (i ) + O(t2 ) : (15.26)
di+1 d~i+1 exp ~i+1 [i+1 i+2 iH (ti+1 ; i+2 ; i+1 )t
Z
di d~i exp ~i [i i+1 iH (ti ; i+1 ; i )t (i ) + O(t2 ) :
(15.27)
Note that we have to be
areful where we put the dierentials, as they are Grassmann
variables themselves.
If H is diagonal, as will often be the
ase for the appli
ation we have
in mind, exp ~[12 (; 0 ) iH (; 0 )t will be a
ommuting obje
t (so-
alled Grassmann
even) and it does not matter if we put one of the dierentials on one or the other side of
the exponential. The
ombination di d~i is likewise Grassmann even, and the pair
an be
shifted to any pla
e in the expression for the path integral. Hen
e, provided of
ourse H is
diagonal, any
hange in the ordering
an at most given an additional minus sign. We now
apply eq. (15.24) to the above produ
t of exponentials,
exp(~i+1 [i+1 i+2 iH (ti+1 ; i+2 ; i+1 )t) exp ~i [i i+1 iH (ti ; i+1 ; i )t (15.28)
0
1
i+1
X
=exp ~j fj j +1 iH (tj ; j +1 ; j )tg 21 t2 [~i+1 H (ti+1 ; i+2 ; i+1 ); ~i H (ti ; i+1 ; i )A
j =i
60
and evaluate the
ommutator that appears in the exponent. With the expli
it expression for
H (see eq. (15.20)) we nd
Z
(15.29)
For H diagonal the
ommutator term vanishes as was to be expe
ted. In that
ase, the
Campbell-Baker-Hausdor formula trun
ates to the trivial term both in the matrix and in
the Grassmann representations. This does not mean that there are no dis
retisation errors
in the fermioni
path integral when H is diagonal, as
an be seen from eq. (15.19). To be
pre
ise, assuming for simpli
ity that H = 12 W 3 , one has
n
o
2 sin( 21 W t)
exp( iH t) = 12 i H 2i W tan( 14 W t)12
;
(15.30)
W
whi
h shows that t is ee
tively modied to 2 sin( 12 W t)=W (it is interesting to
ontrast
this with the result we found for the harmoni
os
illator in se
tion 6 and problem 10),
whereas H is shifted by a multiple of the identity that vanishes linearly in t.
The generalisation of eqs. (15.27) and (15.28) to N steps is now obvious and for H
diagonal one easily proves that the limit N ! 1
an be taken:
Z
NY1 Z
j =0
NX1
j =0
~j [j
j +1
where as usual one has t = T=N . In
omplete analogy with eq. (6.10), reinstating the
dependen
e on Plan
k's
onstant, we
an write
< 0 jTexp( i
D (t)D (t)
"
exp i
(15.32)
Here we have identied ~ with y (whi
h in this
ase agrees with , sin
e in one time and
no spa
e dimensions
0 1) and with . We have indi
ated the general
ase where W
an
depend on time, but in absen
e of this time dependen
e, W is the energy of the one-parti
le
state,
reated from the va
uum. Sin
e we identied also with by , the
reation operator for
the one-parti
le state, we see that W y = W bby = H + 21 W , what is to be expe
ted from
a relation between the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian (the term 12 W is of
ourse irrelevant) .
As for s
alar eld theories, we will be mainly interested in va
uum expe
tation values
of the evolution operator. In the presen
e of a sour
e term this will allow us to derive all
required matrix elements. For the present
ase we easily nd the va
uum wave fun
tion to
be
< j0 >= 1 ; < 0j >= ;
(15.33)
61
su h that
!
(x) !
(x)
(x) + d4 x0 GF (x x0 )J (x0 ) ;
Z
(x) + d4 x0 J(x0 )GF (x0 x) ;
62
(15.38)
where GF (x) is the Green's fun
tion dened in eq. (14.9). The integration measure, as for
ommuting variables, is invariant under a shift by a
onstant Grassmann variable, su
h that
we obtain (as for the s
alar
ase we normalise the path integral to 1 for vanishing sour
es)
< 0jUJ J (T )j0 > = < 0jUJ =J=0 (T )j0 > exp i d4 xd4 y J(x)GF (x y )J (y )
< 0jUJ =J=0(T )j0 > Z2(J ; J) :
(15.39)
Again, this result holds to arbitrary order in the sour
es, and agrees with what
an be derived
to se
ond order within Hamiltonian perturbation theory (see problem 24).
Intera
tions are taken into a
ount by adding higher order terms to the Lagrangian, where
the order of the fermion elds is important. For example, the Lagrangian for a fermioni
and a s
alar eld is given by
L
L2
1
2
(x)J (x) ;
M 2 2 (x) :
(15.40)
We nd as in eq. (8.6)
!
i
i
i
; ;
) Z2 (J ; J; J ) ;
Z (J ; J; J; gn) = exp i d4 x V (
J (x) J (x) J (x)
Z
Z2 (J ; J; J ) = exp i d4 xd4 y 12 J (x)G(x y )J (y ) + J(x)GF (x y )J (y ) : (15.41)
Z
Note the minus sign for the derivative with respe
t to J (x), whi
h is be
ause the sour
e
stands behind the eld
omponent (x). Derivatives of Grassmann variables are simply
dened as one would intuitively expe
t
d
d 0
d
1=0 ;
=1 ;
=0 ;
(15.42)
d
d
d
together with a generalised Leibnitz rule for fun
tions f and g that are either even or odd
Grassmann variables, a property denoted by the sign or grading s(= 1),
!
d
d
d
(fg ) = sf f g +
f g :
d
d
d
(15.43)
(15.45)
We
an also
onsider the intera
tion of the fermions with the ele
tromagneti
eld, whose
quantisation will be undertaken in the next se
tion. For this we
an take the minimal
oupling in eq. (14.12) (see also eq. (14.10)), su
h that
(15.46)
whi
h will play a dominating role in des
ribing Quantum Ele
trodynami
s (QED).
As before, log Z (J; J ; J ) is the sum over
onne
ted diagrams. Diagrams that involve
fermions ne
essarily have as many lines ending in a sour
e J as in a sour
e J. This is
be
ause the Lagrangian is Grassmann even, a requirement that
an be related to the Lorentz
invarian
e. It does not in general require the Lagrangian to be bilinear in and . In se
tion
19 and problem 30 we will dis
uss the four-Fermi intera
tion, (x)
(x) (x)
(x), whi
h
is
learly Lorentz invariant and Grassmann even. However, for many of the theories we
dis
uss, the Lagrangian is bilinear in the fermioni
elds, be
ause higher order terms will
generally not be renormalisable (ex
ept in one spa
e and one time dimension). If no higher
order fermioni
intera
tions o
ur, a fermioni
line either forms a loop or it goes from a
sour
e J to a sour
e J. As
hanging the order of fermioni
elds and sour
es gives a sign
hange, this has
onsequen
es for the Feynman diagrams too. However, it is
umbersome
to determine the overall sign of a diagram. Fortunately, all we need is the relative sign of
the various diagrams that
ontribute to the Green's fun
tion with a xed number of sour
es,
sin
e the overall sign drops out in our
omputations of
ross se
tions and de
ay rates. If one
diagram
an be obtained from the other by
rossing two fermion lines, this gives a relative
minus sign, as for
-
XzXX XX
:
g. 6
It also implies that ea
h loop formed by a fermion line
arries a minus sign. Intuitively this
follows, as is indi
ated in the following gure by the dashed box, from the identity above
XzXX XX
:
' $
-
g. 7
More a
urately a fermion loop that
onne
ts verti
es xk for k = 1 to n is asso
iated to
n
i
i
(xk ) (xk ) !
!
k=1 J (xk ) J (xk )
k=1
h
X
Tr iGF (xk(1) xk(2) )iGF (xk(2)
Y
fkg
xk(1) ) ; (15.47)
where fkg stands for the various orders in whi
h the verti
es are
onne
ted. For ea
h vertex
we have only indi
ated the fermioni
part (xk ) (xk ). For the examples of eqs. (15.45) and
(15.46), the s
alar or ve
tor eld
ontributions are not indi
ated, as they are not relevant
for the fermion loop. The tra
e is with respe
t to the spinor indi
es whi
h are not displayed
expli
itly to keep the notation simple. We used that
i
i
(xk(j ) ) (xk(j +1) ) !
J (xk(j ) ) J (xk(j +1) )
64
(15.48)
where an extra minus sign arises sin
e in log Z2 (J ; J) (see eq. (15.39)) J
omes rst, and
has to be anti
ommuted with = J , before this derivative
an be taken. The overall minus
sign
omes from the term that
loses the loop
xk(1) )A (xk(n) ) = A (xk(n) ) (
xk(1) ) ;
(
(15.49)
where A is Grassmann even. We
ontrast this, as an example, with a s
alar loop for the eld
' that arises in the theory dis
ussed in se
tion 11, whi
h is des
ribed by the Lagrangian
L = 21 ( ')2 12 m2 '2 + 21 ( )2 12 M 2 2 21 '2 J j'. One nds (k(n + 1) k(1))
n
i
i
'(xk )'(xk ) !
k=1
k=1 J (xk ) J (xk )
Y
X Y
fkg j =1
iG(xk(j )
xk(j +1) ) ;
(15.50)
whi
h
ompletes the demonstration of the extra minus sign for fermion loops. Note that the
fa
tors of i, asso
iated to the derivatives with respe
t to the sour
es, are absorbed in the
verti
es for the Feynman rules in the table on page 35, whi
h is why the propagator in that
table equals i times the Green's fun
tion. This is also the Feynman rule for the fermion
propagator. But the extra minus sign in the derivative with respe
t to the fermioni
sour
e
J (see eq. (15.41)) is not absorbed in the vertex in order to guarantee that vertex fa
tors are
assigned as in the s
alar theory. That minus sign is, however, absorbed in eq. (15.48) due to
the anti
ommuting nature of the fermioni
variables, whi
h was in the rst pla
e the reason
for the extra minus sign in eq. (15.41) to appear. Only the overall minus sign required in
losing a fermion loop remains as an extra fa
tor.
Before we
onvert these Feynman rules to the ones involved in
omputing the s
attering
matrix,
ross se
tions and de
ay rates (see pg. 42 and eq. (9.25)), we need to determine
the wavefun
tion fa
tors to be inserted for the external lines that
orrespond to the in- and
outgoing fermion lines. For this we express the
reation and annihilation operators in terms
of the fermioni
elds (at t = 0), su
h that their insertion in the operator formulation
an
be
onverted in the path integral, as in the s
alar
ase, to derivatives with respe
t to the
sour
es. Using eq. (13.17) and the orthogonality relations of eq. (13.14) one nds (
mp.
eq. (7.26))
u() (~k)y Z
b (~k) = q
2k0 (~k)
v () (~k)y Z
d3~x
^ ~x) ; dy (~k) = q
e i~k~x (
(2 )3
2k0 (~k)
d3~x i~k~x ^
e (~x) (15.51)
(2 )3
v () (~k)
d3~x
e i~k~x ^ y(~x) q
:
(2 )3
2k0 (~k)
(15.52)
In the Hamiltonian formulation the s
attering matrix is given by
by (~k) =
Z
() (~k)
u
d
~
x
~k~x ^ y
3
i
~
q
e (~x) q
; d (k) =
(2 )3
2k0 (~k)
where in a short-hand notation we separate parti les form antipari les by the heli ity index
(15.54)
Like in eq. (9.3), the insertion of a eld operator at the appropriate time is in the path
integral represented by a derivative with respe
t to the sour
e
h
i
h
i
0 u() (~k) Z
0 u() (~k)
i
i
a
a
^by (~k) = q
;
d3~x ei~k~x
= q
~
~
Ja (~x; t = Tin )
2k0 (~k)(2 )3
2k0(~k ) Ja (k; t = Tin )
() (~k) Z
v () (~k)
i
i
v
a
y
^
~
= qa
d3~x ei~k~x
d (k) = q
;
~
Ja (~x; t = Tin )
2k0 (~k)(2 )3
2k0 (~k) Ja (~k; t = Tin )
() ~ Z
u() (~k)
i
i
^b (~k) = q ua (k)
;
= qa
d3~x e i~k~x
Ja (~x; t = Tout )
2k0 (~k)(2 )3
2k0 (~k) J~a ( ~k; t = Tout )
h
i
h
i
0 v () (~k)
0 v () (~k) a Z
i
i
a
d^ (~k) = q
= q
;
d3~x e i~k~x
Ja (~x; t = Tout )
2k0 (~k)(2 )3
2k0 (~k) J~a ( ~k; t = Tout )
(15.55)
su
h that
out< (p~1 ; 1 ); (p~2 ; 2 ); ; (p~` ; `)j(~k1 ; 1 ); (~k2 ; 2 ); ; (~kn; n ) >in
=
i=1
^i (p~i )
j =1
(15.56)
The
^ (~k) are of
ourse dened in terms of ^b (~k) and d^ (~k) as in eq. (15.54). We
ontinue
as in se
tion 9 by rst xing the wavefun
tion and mass renormalisations in terms of the
onne
ted two-point fun
tion (we leave it as an exer
ise to show that in the absen
e of
intera
tions out< (p~; )j(~k; ) >in = e ip0 (p~)T ~k;~p; ).
G(2)
(J ; J ) =
-
-
- + -
- +
- ;
-
where the self-energy is now a 4 4 matrix given by ( i) the amputated 1P I
fun tion
iab (p) b
-a
(15.57)
2-point
(15.58)
(The 1P I diagram equals ab (p), when evaluated with the Feynman rules for the redu
ed
matrix elements of table 4 (pg. 69) by dropping the wavefun
tion fa
tors.) The
onvention
for these sort of diagrams is that momentum
ows in the dire
tion of the arrow, whi
h points
to the rst spinor index (here a). With these denitions the two-point fun
tion be
omes
#
"
Z
1
(2)
~
J~ (p) ;
(15.59)
G
(J ; J) = i d4 p Ja ( p)
=p m (p) + i" ab b
with between square bra
kets the inverse of the 4 4 matrix (p
m (p)+ i")ab , whi
h is
the full propagator in the momentum representation for the
onventions on pg. 42. As long
as we don't break the Lorentz invarian
e, the full propagator near the poles is of the form of
the free propagator with a wavefun
tion renormalisation fa
tor ZF and a renormalised mass
m
~ , su
h that on the mass-shell one has (
mp. eq. (9.12))
"
#
Z
1
(2)
~
G
(J ; J) = iZF d4 p J( p)
J~(p) :
(15.60)
=p m
~ + i"
66
Performing the wavefun
tion renormalisation, we have to modify eqs. (15.55) and (15.56)
a
ordingly (
mp. eqs. (913) and (9.14)).
h
i
0 u() (~k)
() ~
i
i
a
^b (~k) = r uaq(k)
^b+ (~k) = r q
;
;
~
~a (~k; t = Tin )
a ( ~k; t = Tout )
J
2
2
2
2
~
~
2ZF k + m
2ZF k + m
~
~
h
i
() (~k)
0 v () (~k) a
i
i
v
a
^
~
^
~
r
;
d
(
k
)
=
d+ (k) = r q
;
q
~a (~k; t = Tin )
~
~
J
(
k;
t
=
T
)
J
a
out
~2
~2
2Z ~k 2 + m
2Z ~k 2 + m
F
(15.61)
i=1
^i (p~i )
j =1
(15.62)
To
ompute the wavefun
tion fa
tors for the external lines we express the n-point fun
tion
in terms of amputated n-point fun
tions, as in eq. (9.15), with the dieren
e that there has
to be an even number of external lines, sin
e the number of J and J sour
es has to be equal
(we ignore for the moment any other bosoni
elds that might be present, in
luding those
in the external lines will be obvious). The amputated n-point fun
tion will now
arry the
spinor index of ea
h of the external lines and one has
Z
n
Y
(p1 ; p2 ; ; pn ; k1 ; k2; ; kn)ab11;b;a22;;;b;ann
(15.63)
d4 pj d4 kj G(amp)
G(2
n) (J ; J)
j =1
8
9
"
#
"
#
n <
=
Y
i
i
~
(pj )
~
J
:
J
(
k
)
j
:
=pj m ( pj ) + i"
j bj k=j m (kj ) + i" aj dj dj j ;
j =1
Note that we have assumed one parti
ular ordering for the sour
es. Relative signs of the
diagrams are determined by the rules that were des
ribed above (it is not di
ult to
onvin
e
oneself that with respe
t to the fermion lines, any diagram
an be generated from a given
one by permuting fermion lines). As in eqs. (9.20) and (9.21) we
an
ompute the a
tion of
^ (~k), from whi
h the wavefun
tion fa
tors will be obtained. Like in eq. (9.19),
omputing
the a
tion of ^b (p~) and d^+(p~) we
an restri
t our attention to
"
#
Z
i
~
A( ) d4 p Ja (p)
(p; )b =
G(amp)
=p m ( p) + i" ab
#
"
Z
Z
ip0 t
d4 p
ie
~
p
(p; )b : (15.64)
G(amp)
dt J a (p~; t)
=
p
m
(
p
)
+
i"
2
ab
p
If we dene as usual p0 (p~) = p~ 2 + m
~ 2 and for
onvenien
e of notation
hange p to p in
eq. (15.64), we nd
"
#
() Z
e ip0 Tout
^b (p~)A( ) = q ua (p~)
( p; )b =
dp0
G(amp)
=
p
m
(
p
)
+
i"
4p0 (p~)ZF
ab
q
(=p + m
~ )ab G(amp)
( p; )b ip0 (p~)Tout
(
)
4
q
e
;
(15.65)
i (2 ) ZF ua (p~)
2p0 (p~)
2p0 (p~)(2 )3
67
whi
h is obtained by deforming the p0 integration
ontour to the lower half-plane (sin
e
Tout ! 1), and
omputing the
ontribution from the pole at p0 = p0 (p~), taking into a
ount
eq. (15.60). Its residue is proportional to the matrix ZF (=p + m
~ )=2p0 (p~), whi
h is most easily
2
2
found using 1=(=p m
~ + i") = (=p + m
~ ) =( p m
~ + i"). We
an now use the fa
t that the
spinor u() (p~) satises the equations of motion (see eq. (13.2)), su
h that
!
!
(=p + m
~ )ab
(
0=p
0 + m
~ ) ()
(=p + m
~ )y ()
(
)
ua (p~)
=
u (p~) =
u (p~) = u() (p~)b : (15.66)
2p0 (p~)
2p0 (p~)
2
p
(
p
~
)
0
b
b
Consequently, eq.(15.65) be
omes
(amp)
q
b
^b (p~)A( ) = iu() (p~)b (2 )4 ZF G
q ( p; ) e ip0 (p~)Tout :
(15.67)
2p0 (p~)(2 )3
p
The wavefun
tion fa
tor for an outgoing ele
tron is therefore given by u() (p~)b ZF . The
onvention is that the momentum
ows out of the diagram, along the arrow (see the table
below), this is why the amputated n-point fun
tion has p as its argument, like for the
s
alar
ase, where we dened for the amputated n-point fun
tion all momenta to
ow into
the diagram. This means that in the redu
ed matrix element M the outgoing ele
tron
momenta o
ur pre
isely as indi
ated in eq. (9.18).
By similar arguments we obtain from eq. (15.64)
"
#
() (p~) Z
ip0 Tin
v
e
a
d^+ (p~)A( ) = q
(p; )b =
dp0
G(amp)
=
p
m
(
p
)
+
i"
4p0 (p~)ZF
ab
q
(p; )b ip0 (p~)Tin
( =p + m
~ )ab G(amp)
(
)
4
q
e
=
i (2 ) ZF va (p~)
2p0 (p~)
2p0 (p~)(2 )3
(amp)(p; )b
q
Gq
eip0 (p~)Tin ;
(
)
4
iv (p~)b (2 ) ZF
(15.68)
3
2p0 (p~)(2 )
p
su
h that the wavefun
tion fa
tor for an in
oming antiparti
le (positron) is v () (p~)b ZF .
In this
ase the momentum
ows against the arrow of the fermion line, but does
ow into
the diagram as is required in the
onvention of the redu
ed matrix element.
To
ompute the a
tion of ^b+ (p~) and d^ (p~), we restri
t our attention to
#
"
Z
i
(amp)
J~ (p) =
(p; )b
B ( ) d4 p G
=p m (p) + i" ba a
"
#
Z
ip0 t
ie
d4 p Z
(amp)
p
(p; )b
dt G
J~ (p~; t) : (15.69)
=p m (p) + i" ba a
2
One nds
h
i
"
# )
(
0 u() (p~)
Z
ip
T
0
in
e
a =
^b+ (p~)B ( ) =
q
(p; )b
dp0 G(amp)
=p m (p) + i" ba 4p0 (p~)ZF
q
~ )ba h 0 () i ip0 (p~)Tin
(p; )b (=p + m
G(amp)
4
u (p~) a e
=
i (2 ) ZF
q
2p0 (p~)
2p0 (p~)(2 )3
q
(p; )b () ip0 (p~)Tin
G(amp)
4
ub (p~)e
;
(15.70)
i (2 ) ZF
q
2p0 (p~)(2 )3
68
d^ (p~)B ( ) =
(
Z
( p; )b
dp0 G(amp)
"
ip0 Tout
e
=p m ( p) + i"
ba
i
0 v () (p~) a
q
=
4p0 (p~)ZF
( p; )b ( =p + m
G(amp)
~ )ba h 0 () i ip0 (p~)Tin
4
i (2 ) ZF
q
v (p~) a e
=
2p0 (p~)
2p0 (p~)(2 )3
q
G(amp) ( p; )b ()
vb (p~)e ip0 (p~)Tout :
(15.71)
i (2 )4 ZF
q
3
2p0 (p~)(2 )
In both
ases there is an extra minus sign from pulling = Jpthrough J in eq. (15.63). The
wavefun
tion fa
tor for an in
oming ele
tron is hen
e u(b) (p~) ZF with the momentum
owing along the fermioni
arrow, whereas
the wavefun
tion fa
tor of an out
oming antiparti
le
(
) p
(or positron) is given by vb (p~) ZF , where the momentum
ows opposite to the fermioni
arrow. The minus signs in front of some of the wavefun
tion fa
tors are irrelevant (they
an
be absorbed in the overall sign ambiguity).
In the table below we summarise the Feynman rules that
orrespond to the fermioni
pie
es in
omputing the redu
ed matrix elements. We have
hosen the
onvention that
the in
oming momenta
ow in, and the outgoing momenta
ow out of the diagram. This
guarantees that eqs. (9.18), (10.12) and (11.11) (resp. the s
attering matrix,
ross se
tion and
de
ay rate), remain valid in the presen
e of fermions. Consequently, all fermion momenta
in the table
ow from left to right. For
onventions where momenta always
ow in the
dire
tion of the fermion arrow the four momentum for wavefun
tion fa
tors asso
iated to
in- and outgoing antiparti
les (positrons) should be reversed. Signs from fermion loops and
ex
hanges of external lines will not be impli
it in diagrams, as only relative signs are known.
q
table 4
k3
6
b*
HjH a
k2
k1
k3
b*
HjH6a
k1
k2
gab and k1 = k2 + k3
Yukawa vertex
e ab and k1 = k2 + k3
k= m1+i" ab
a
b k
a- pZF u() (~k) ; k0 =
a
; k a pZF v () (~k) ; k0 =
a
; k a
- pZ u() (~k) ; k =
photon vertex
F
a
; ka- pZF va() (~k) ;
; k
fermion propagator
q
~k 2 + m
~ 2 in
oming ele
tron
~k 2 + m
~ 2 in
oming positron
~k 2 + m
~ 2 out
oing ele
tron
~ 2 outgoing positron
k0 = ~k 2 + m
1 i (2d4 k)4
1
R
A (x) =
X
d3~k
a (~k)"() (~k)e
2k0 (~k)(2 )3
Z
q
(16.1)
where "() (~k)e ikx are independent plane wave solutions of the equations of motion. The
index enumerates the various solutions for xed momentum. They will be identied with
the spin
omponents or heli
ity eigenstates of the ve
tor.
We will rst dis
uss the simpler
ase of a massive ve
tor eld, expe
ted to des
ribe a
massive spin one parti
le. In problem 12 we already saw that its Lagrangian is given by
(16.2)
LA = 1 F F + 1 m2 AA A (x)J (x) ;
4
(16.3)
(16.4)
It removes one of the four degrees of freedom of a four-ve
tor. Three independent
omponents
remain, exa
tly what would be required for a parti
le with spin one. We may for example
hoose
"() (~0) = ( = 1; 2; 3) :
(16.5)
in the restframe of the parti
le, whi
h is extended to an arbitrary frame by applying a
Lorentz boost. They satisfy the Lorentz invariant normalisation
0
0
g "() (~k) "( ) (~k) = :
(16.6)
The minus sign is just a
onsequen
e of the fa
t that in our
onventions gij = ij . The
spin wave fun
tions also satisfy a
ompleteness relation whi
h is given by
(~k)
g
k k
m2
(16.7)
most easily proven in the restframe. Sin
e the spin wave fun
tions are by
onstru
tion
Lorentz ve
tors, the above expression forms a Lorentz tensor and its on-shell extension to
an arbitrary frame is therefore unique. It is easily seen to proje
t arbitrary ve
tors w on
to ve
tors that satisfy k w = 0. The propagator for the massive spin one eld was already
omputed in problem 12
(16.8)
Espe
ially for the massless spin one eld (i.e. the photon eld) to be dis
ussed below, it
is advantageous to de
ompose the spin with respe
t to the dire
tion of the parti
le's motion,
70
whi
h are
alled heli
ity eigenstates. We have heli
ities 0 and 1, des
ribed by the spin
wave fun
tions
1
1
2
(2) ;
2 "(1)
(k ) i" (k )
(16.9)
(1)
(2)
where k , "(0)
(k ), " (k ) and " (k ) form a
omplete set of real orthogonal four-ve
tors.
These new spin wave fun
tions satisfy the same properties as in eqs. (16.6) and (16.7) and
are also dened o-shell, where they satisfy
(k)
g
k k
k2
(16.10)
Sums over will of
ourse run over the set f0; +; g in this
ase. We leave it as an exer
ise
to verify that rotations over an angle around the axis pointing in the dire
tion of ~k leaves
()
i ()
"(0)
(k ) invariant and transforms " (k ) to e " (k ).
The Hamiltonian for the massive spin one parti
les is given by
H=
X
ay (~k)a (~k) + a (~k)ay (~k) :
d3~k 21 k0 (~k)
(16.11)
H=
d3~k
1
2
d3~x 12 2 (~x) + 21 (i ' (~x))2 + 12 m2 '2 (~x) :
(16.12)
q
iq
'~ (~k) = a (~k) + ay ( ~k ) = 2k0 (~k) ; ~ (~k) = 2k0 (~k) ay (~k) a ( ~k) : (16.13)
2
(16.14)
where we have added a sour
e for ea
h s
alar eld. We introdu
e also a eld for the
omponent of the ve
tor eld along k . Writing
X
X
1
1
A~ (k) ~ (k)k + '~ (k)"() (k) ; J~ (k) ~j (k)k + J~() (k)"() (k) ; (16.15)
m
m
a simple
al
ulation shows that LA L' 21 ( (x))2 (x)j (x). We see that de
ouples
from the other
omponents and behaves like a s
alar parti
le with the wrong sign for the
kineti
term. This would lead to serious in
onsisten
ies, whi
h are
ir
umvented if we take
J (x) = 0, su
h that we
an put 0.
It is important to realise that it is the Lorentz invarian
e that requires us to des
ribe a
spin one parti
le by a four-ve
tor. From the point of view of the s
alar degrees of freedom,
' , this invarian
e seems to be lost when we introdu
e intera
tions in the Lagrangian of
eq. (16.14). Nevertheless, if we treat as a three-ve
tor index (in some internal spa
e) and
demand the intera
tions to be O(3) invariant with respe
t to this index (i.e. invarian
e
under rigid rotations and re
e
tions in the internal spa
e), then we
laim that the resulting
71
intera
tions do respe
t the Lorentz invarian
e. The reason is simple, be
ause the O(3)
invarian
e requires that the index is always pairwise
ontra
ted. Eqs. (16.10) and (16.15)
guarantee that su
h a pair, written in terms of the ve
tor eld A (x), is a Lorentz s
alar as far
as it
on
erns the dependen
e on A, whi
h is su
ient if the Lagrangian is Lorentz invariant
when treating as a dummy label. To eliminate the eld we have to enfor
e A (x) = 0,
not only on-shell, but also o-shell. This
an be a
hieved by adding to eq. (16.2) a term
(x) A (x) (
mp. problem 8). Using
Z
DA(x)D(x)
exp
i d4 x (x)
A (x)
DA~(k)
(16.16)
we see that the so-
alled Lagrange multiplier eld (x) plays the role of removing the unwanted degree of freedom. Sin
e we modied the theory o-shell, the propagator in eq. (16.8)
has to be
hanged also, by repla
ing (~k) by its o-shell value (k) (eq. (16.10)). If none of
the verti
es or sour
es
ouple to the eld, we might just as well repla
e it by g . There
are a number of other ways to eliminate the degree of freedom, see e.g. se
tion 3-2-3 in
Itzykson and Zuber. We will
ome ba
k to massive ve
tor parti
les in se
tion 19.
For the
omputation of the s
attering matrix we express the
reation and annihilation
operators in terms of the ve
tor elds at t = 0, using the relations
Z
q
d ~x
2k0 (~k)"() (~k) q 3 A^ (~x)e i~k~x ;
a (~k) =
(2 )3
Z
q
d ~x
(16.17)
2k0 (~k)"() (~k) q 3 A^ (~x)ei~k~x :
ay (~k) =
(2 )3
whi
h in the path integral turn into
q
q
i
i
; a^ (~k) = 2k0 (~k)"() ( ~k) ~ ~
;
a^y (~k) = 2k0 (~k)"() (~k) ~ ~
J (k; t = Tin )
J ( k; t = Tout )
(16.18)
whi
h is identi
al to eq. (9.3), when re-expressed in terms of J () . Like for s
alar and fermion
elds there will be a mass and wavefun
tion (denoted by ZA ) renormalisation, determined
through the self-energy of the ve
tor eld, whi
h is now a Lorentz tensor of rank two. It
is proportional to (k) (to guarantee that the s
alar eld introdu
ed above de
ouples
from the other elds; alternatively it
an be seen as a
onsequen
e of the O(3) invarian
e
with respe
t to the index ). We
an
onsequently dene
(p) (p)A (p) :
(16.19)
The n-point Green's fun
tions
an now be written in terms of amputated Green's fun
tions that
arry four-ve
tor indi
es for ea
h external spin one line,
8
Z <
Y
=
ij j (pj )
G(
n) (J ) : d4 pj J~j (pj ) 2
Gamp
(p1 ; p2 ; ; pn )1 ;2 ;;n :
2
;
m
(
p
)
+
i"
p
A j
j
j =1
(16.20)
(
)
(
)
~
~
~
Using the fa
t that on-shell (k)" (k) = " (k), we nd for the in
oming spin one line
p
p
a wavefun
tion fa
tor ZA"() (~k) and for the outgoing line a fa
tor ZA "() (~k) .
For a massless spin one eld (the photon) we would expe
t the heli
ity zero
omponent
of the ve
tor eld to be absent. First we have to redene, however, what we would mean
72
with the zero heli
ity
omponent, be
ause eq. (16.9) is singular in the limit of zero mass.
We take as our denition
1
0
~
p
k
1
A
"(0)
; "() (k) = (0; ~s (~k)) ;
(16.21)
(k ) = n (k ) 2 2 1; ~
jkj
with ~k ~s(~k) = 0. These still form with k four independent four-ve
tors and "() (~k) are still
~
transverse polarisations. However, it is not longer true that k "(0)
(k ) will vanish on-shell (i.e.
at k2 = 0). This is easily seen to imply that on-shell a(0) (~k) = 0. In other words, on-shell
there is no longitudinal
omponent for the photon. The extra degree of freedom is removed
by the gauge invarian
e of the massless ve
tor eld, as was dis
ussed at the end of se
tion
4 and in problem 9. To perform the quantisation of the theory, one
an go about as in the
massive
ase. Due to the presen
e of the four-ve
tor n(k) it will be mu
h more
umbersome
to demonstrate the Lorentz invarian
e. In se
tion 20 it will be shown how in prin
iple in
any gauge the path integral
an be dened and that the result is independent of the
hosen
gauge. One
ould then
hoose a gauge that allows us to show the equivalen
e between the
path integral and the
anoni
al quantisation. However, it is the great advantage of the path
integral formulation that
al
ulations
an be performed in a gauge in whi
h the Lorentz
invarian
e is manifest. The gauge most suitable for that purpose is of
ourse the Lorentz
gauge A (x) = 0, see eqs. (4.21) and (4.22). The propagator is read o from eq. (4.26)
1 ) k2 k () (k)
(1
k +i"
;
(16.22)
2
2
=
k + i"
k + i"
where is an arbitrary parameter, on whi
h physi
al observables like
ross se
tions and de
ay
rates should not depend. It is in general not true anymore that the self-energy is proportional
to () (k), but the gauge invarian
e does guarantee that (k)~j (k) is independent of for
any
onserved
urrent, i.e. k~j (k) = 0. It
an be shown that this in general implies
0
(k) = ( ) (k)(k) ;
(16.23)
for some, possibly innite, 0 . Apart from a wavefun
tion renormalisation (ZA ), the gauge
xing parameter will in prin
iple have to be renormalised too. One still has for any value of
that () (k) "() (~k) = "() (~k). The wavefun
tion fa
tors for external photon lines are
therefore identi
al to the ones for the massive
ase, ex
ept that now only two heli
ity states
an appear. It is an important
onsequen
e of gauge invarian
e that unphysi
al degrees of
freedom de
ouple in the physi
al amplitudes. It also implies that the self-energy vanishes
on shell (see problem 39), su
h that it will not give rise to a renormalisation of the mass.
The photon remains massless. That the gauge invarian
e must be
ru
ial here is
lear, as a
massive photon would have one extra degree of freedom. We will
ome ba
k to this point in
se
tion 19. In the table below we summarise the Feynman rules.
table 5
g (1 1 ) kk2+ki"
k
photon propagator (Lorentz gauge)
k2 +i"
g
k
; k -
; k
pZA"() (~k)
pZ "() (~k)
A
in
oming photon
outgoing photon
73
Here f is de so-
alled
avour index, whi
h distinguishes the various types of fermions (ele
trons, protons, et
.). The
ovariant derivative D is given as before (see eqs. (3.35) and
(14.11)) by
D f (x) = ( + iqf A (x)) f (x) :
(17.2)
For ele
trons we have qf = e and for protons qf = e. For = 0 the Lagrangian is invariant
under gauge transformations
(17.3)
k3
b*
HjH6a
k2
k1
b k a
g
q
ab
(1 1 ) kk2+ki"
k2 +i"
table 6
fermion propagator
k= m+i" ab
Before
al
ulating
ross se
tions we wish to dis
uss in more detail the heli
ity of the
fermions and its relation to
harge
onjugation C . The latter relates, say ele
trons to
positrons, or in general parti
les to anti-parti
les, whi
h is an important symmetry of the
theory. It, as well as parity (P ) and time reversal (T ) symmetry
an be separately broken,
but the
ombination CPT is to be unbroken to allow for a lo
al, relativisti
invariant eld
theory. The spin
omponents of the solutions in eq. (13.8) were based on a de
omposition
along the z -axis in the restframe. Heli
ity, as for the photon, is dened by de
omposing
the spin in the dire
tion of motion, ~k. It is hen
e dened in terms of the eigenvalues of the
operator
!
1^
^k J~ ki "ijk jk = 2 k ~
(17.4)
12 k^ ~ :
4j~kj
(J~ is the spin part of the angular momentum operator, the equivalent of 21 ~ for a two
omponent spinor.) This holds both in the Dira
and Weyl representations. It is easy to
~ k= = 0, e.g. by making use of the fa
t that in the Dira
representation
verify that [k^ J;
k= =
k 0 12
~k ~
74
~k ~
k 0 12
(17.5)
This implies that we
an
hoose u(0) and v0() to be eigenstates of the heli
ity operator k^ J~
(
onsequently they be
ome fun
tions of k^)
~ ~k) :
~ ~k) = 12 (
k^ J~ (
(17.6)
Instead of the label we
an use to indi
ate the heli
ity and we have
(k= + m) ^
~ 0 (k^) = 12 u0 (k^) ;
u0 (k) ; k^ Ju
m + jk0 j
( k= + m) ^
~ 0(k^) = 12 v0 (k^) :
v (~k) = q
v0 (k) ; k^ Jv
m + jk0 j
u (~k) =
(17.7)
Note the
ip of heli
ity for the positron wave fun
tions. For ~k = (0; 0; k) these eigenstates
oin
ide with the de
omposition in eq. (13.8). It is
lear that we
an dene
1
' (k^)
^ ' (k^) = ' (k^) ;
0 C
u0 (k^) = B
A ; k ~
0
1
0
0
^ (k^) = (k^) ;
0 C
v0 (k^) = B
A ; k ~
(k^)
0
(17.8)
with ' and ea
h an orthonormal set of two-
omponent spinors. They
an be related to
ea
h other by
(k^) i2 ' (k^) :
(17.9)
Indeed, when we use that
2 i 2 = i ; i = 1; 2; 3 ;
(17.10)
k^ ~
: (17.11)
As eq. (17.9) relates the
omponents of the ele
tron wave fun
tion to those of the positron
wave fun
tion, it is the basis of the
harge
onjugation symmetry, whi
h relates the solutions
of the Dira
equation to solutions of the
omplex
onjugate Dira
equation (see eq. (12.31)),
whi
h indeed inter
hanges positive and negative energy solutions, i.e. parti
les and antiparti
les. To formulate this symmetry in the four-
omponent spinor language one introdu
es
the
harge
onjugation matrix (in the Dira
representation)
C i 0 2 =
i2
whi h satises
i2 ;
(17.12)
C 1 = C y = C ; C
C 1 =
t :
(17.13)
This
an be proven from the expli
it form of the Dira
matri
es. The equivalent of eq. (17.10)
is given by
2
2 =
:
(17.14)
75
(17.15)
We just need to prove one of these identities, be
ause
harge
onjugation is an involution,
i.e. applying it twi
e gives the identity
C C t
= C 0t C 0y = :
We nd
(17.16)
1
0
(k^) 1
'
' (k^)
( k= + m) 2 B C
B
0 C
0 A
C ut(~k) = C
0t u(~k) = i
2 u (~k) = i
2 q
A = iq
m + jk0 j
m + jk0 j
0
0
1
1
0
0
^
( k= + m) B 0 C
(q k= + m) i2 B ' (k) C q
0 A = v (~k) : (17.17)
0
=
A =
i
2
m + jk0j
m + jk0 j (k^)
0
(k= + m)
Under
harge
onjugation the
harge that appears in the
ovariant derivative in eq. (17.2)
should
hange sign too. To show this we multiply the
omplex
onjugate of the Dira
equation
with i
2
i
2 [( i
( ieA ) + m) = i
2
2 ( + ieA ) + m ( i
2 )
= (
i
(
+ ieA ) + m) (C t ) :
(17.18)
That
harge
onjugation is really a symmetry of the quantum theory, is most
onvin
ingly
demonstrated by the fa
t that the Dira
Lagrangian is invariant under
harge
onjugation.
Using C t = t
0 C y
0 = t C 1 , the anti-
ommuting properties of the fermi elds and
partial integration, we nd
Z
Z
d4 x C t (i
( + ieA ) m) C t = d4 x t C 1 (i
( + ieA ) m) C t =
Z
d4 x
i t (
+ ieA )
m =
d4 x (i (
ieA ) m) :
(17.19)
In parti
ular we see that the ele
tromagneti
urrent generated by the fermi elds transforms
as required for the inter
hange of parti
les and anti-parti
les, under whi
h the
harge
hanges
sign
C
:
(17.20)
j =
!
An important
onsequen
e of the
harge
onjugation symmetry is Furry's theorem, whi
h
states that a fermioni
loop with an odd number of verti
es will not
ontribute to the
amplitude. Consider a fermion loop as in gure (8a) below
k2
k2
(a)
Y
-p
*j
-p
n
(b)
g. 8
k1
k
k1
k
for whi
h the Feynman rules lead to the expression
(note that spinor index
ontra
tions run
P
against the arrow of the fermion line and i ki = 0)
q n Tr
n
1
1
1
1
2
=p m + i" =p + k=1 m + i" =p + k=1 + k=2
76
m + i"
3
n
(17.21)
Using the fa
t that for any matrix A we have Tr(A) = Tr(At ) = Tr(CAt C 1 ), we
onvert
eq. (17.21) to the expression
q )n Tr
n
3
1
=p k=1 k=2
2
1
1
=p m + i"
;
(17.22)
whi
h is exa
tly ( 1)n times the result of the Feynman diagram that is obtained by inverting
the orientation of the fermion line (i.e. the verti
es are
onne
ted in the reversed order) as
indi
ated in gure (b). As both diagrams will o
ur, their
ontributions will
an
el whenever
n is odd. It
onrms the intuition that parti
les and anti-parti
les
ontribute equally, ex
ept
for their opposite
harge fa
tors (q )n .
We will now
al
ulate the
ross se
tion for ele
tron-ele
tron s
attering (the so-
alled
Mller
ross se
tion). In lowest non-trivial order there are only two diagrams that
ontribute,
as indi
ated in the gure.
k2 ; tj2 p2 ; s2
k2 ; tj2 p2 ; s2
H
H
(
m + i"
H*
=p k=1
m + i"
H
R
*
*HjH
k1 ; t1 p1 ; s1
k1 ; t1
p1 ; s1
g. 9
The labels ti and si indi
ate the heli
ities of the in
oming and outgoing ele
trons. The
s
attering matrix (ignoring the time dependent phase fa
tor) for this pro
ess is given by
out< (p~1 ; s1 ); (p~2 ; s2 )j(~k1 ; t1 ); (~k2 ; t2 ) >in =
(p1 + p2 k1 k2 )M(f( p1 ; s1 ); ( p2 ; s2 )g; f(k1 ; t1 ); (k2 ; t2 )g)
=
i(2 )4 4 q
(2) (p~ )(2 )3 2k(1) (~k )(2 )3 2k(2) (~k )(2 )3
3
2p(1)
(
p
~
)(2
)
2
p
0 1
0 2
0 1
0 2
n
i4 (p1q+ p2 k1 k2 ) us1 (p1 )e
ut1 (k1 )g us2 (p2 )e
ut2 (k2 )
(2) (1) (2)
(k1 p1 )2 + i"
(4 )2 p(1)
0 p0 k0 k0
us1 (p1 )e
ut2 (k2 )g us2 (p2 )e
ut1 (k1 ) o
: (17.23)
(k1 p2 )2 + i"
The relative minus-sign is of
ourse a
onsequen
e of the so-
alled Fermi-Dira
statisti
s,
whi
h implements the Pauli prin
iple. We got rid of the gauge dependent part of the photon
propagator (see table 6) by using the fa
t that the
urrents generated by us (p)
ut (k) are
onserved, su
h that
us(p) ut (k)(p
(17.24)
be
ause on-shell (k= m)u(k) = 0 (and hen
e also u(k)(k= m) = 0). Indire
tly, through
urrent
onservation, this is related to gauge invarian
e. It guarantees that the longitudinal
omponent of the photon does not
ontribute to the s
attering matrix, whi
h is thus seen
not to depend on the gauge xing parameter .
The dierential
ross se
tion for unpolarised ele
tron-ele
tron s
attering is given by (see
eq. (10.12), from now on we will drop the distin
tion between ki and ki)
X
d3 ~p1
d3 ~p2
(2 )4 q4 (p1 + p2 k1 k2 )
d =
~1 )(2 )3 2p0 (p~2 )(2 )3
s1 ;s2 2p0 (p
4 (k1 k2 )2 m4
X
1
jM(f( p1; s1); ( p2 ; s2)g; f(k1; t1); (k2; t2 )g)j2 ; (17.25)
4
t1 ;t2
77
where 14 t1 ;t2 stands for averaging over the polarisations of the in
oming ele
trons. For
the total
ross se
tion we should multiply with a fa
tor 21 to avoid double
ounting the
identi
al outgoing ele
trons, or restri
t the s
attering angle to the interval 2 [0; =2,
when integrating over the outgoing momenta. The latter
onvention will be followed here.
In the
enter of mass system the s
attered parti
les move ba
k to ba
k in a dire
tion whi
h
is only determined modulo , whi
h is why 2 [0; =2, with measured from the in
oming
parti
le dire
tion (also dened modulo ).
To
al
ulate jMj2 we use
X
s;t
Tr
ut (k)
ut (k)
s;t
us (p)
us (p) = Tr
(k= + m)
(=p + m) ; (17.26)
-
:
=
p
p
t
t
s;t
M M
g. 10
Hen
e, we add a Feynman rule for the so-
alled
ut fermion propagator
-k
a = sign(k0)(k= + m)ab :
(17.27)
b
For anti-parti
les k0 < 0 (see eq. (13.18) for the extra minus sign). These results
an be
generalised to other elds too, by noting that our
onventions have been su
h that the
propagators
an be written as
P
~ ~
(k )
(k )
;
(17.28)
k2 m2 + i"
where (~k) are the wave fun
tions for the in
oming lines and (~k) for the outgoing lines,
with labelling the internal degrees of freedom (
mp. eq. (16.8)).
We
an now use this result to
ompute jMj2
k
k
2
2
p
!
2
-
X
R
p1
p2
jMj2 =
+ (p1 ! p2 )
p
s1 ;s2 ;t1 ;t2
1
k
1
1
k
! p2 ) :
(17.29)
To
ompute the tra
es over the gamma matri
es we use the following identities (problem 21)
Tr(
) = 4g ; Tr(
) = 4(g g + g g g g ) ;
X
X
= 4g ;
= 2
;
(17.30)
78
and the fa
t that the tra
e over an odd number of gamma matri
es vanishes. This implies
Tr
(k= + m)
(=p+ m) = Tr
k=
=p +4m2 g = 4(m2 k p)g +4k p +4k p ; (17.31)
and
(17.32)
jMj2 = e4
16
g (m2
k1 p1
(k1
) + k p
1 1
(k1
+ k p
1 1
g (m2
p1 )2 + i" (k2
4mk1
k2 p2 ) + k2 p2 + k2 p2
p2 )2 + i"
)
+ (p1 $ p2 )
The parameter determines the relative sign of the \
rossed" diagrams in eq. (17.29),
whi
h arise from multiplying the dire
t ele
tron-ele
tron s
attering diagram with the
omplex
onjugate of the one where the outgoing fermion lines were
rossed. For Fermi-Dira
statisti
s
1. By keeping tra
k of the dependen
e on one sees how s
attering experiments
an
be used to verify the anti
ommuting nature of the ele
trons.
We nally perform some kinemati
s and express the dierential
ross se
tion in terms of
the s
attering angle . We dene in the
enter of mass frame
k10 = k20 = p01 = p02 E ; p~1 = p~2 ~p ; ~k1 = ~k2 ~k with jp~j = j~kj : (17.34)
Dening to be the angle between ~k and p~, i.e. p~ ~k = ~k 2
os , we have
k1 k2 = E 2 + ~k 2 = 2E 2 m2 ; k1 p1 = E 2 ~k 2
os = E 2 (1
os ) + m2
os ;
(p1 k1 )2 = 4~k 2 sin2 ( 12 ) ; k1 p2 = E 2 + ~k 2
os = E 2 (1 +
os ) m2
os ;
(p2 k1 )2 = 4~k 2
os2 ( 21 ) ; (k2 k1 )2 m4 = 4E 2 (E 2 m2 ) = 4~k 2 E 2 : (17.35)
Finally we use that identity (
is the solid angle, d
= sin dd)
Z
q
p2 dpd
2 p~ 2 + m2
2 ~k 2 + m2 =
d
12 E j~kj :
(17.36)
X
1
(2q
)4 12 E j~kj 1 X
1
d
2=
=
jMj
jMj2 ;
4
2
10
2
2
d
(2E (2 )3 ) 4 4~k 2 E 2 s1 ;s2 ;t1 ;t2
2 E s1 ;s2 ;t1 ;t2
79
(17.37)
with
jMj2 given by
(
(2E 2 m2 )2+[E 2 (1+
os ) m2
os 2+2m2 [E 2 (1+
os ) m2
os + m2 2E 2
4
32e
+
16(~k 2 )2 sin4 ( 12 )
(2E 2 m2 )2+[E 2 (1
os ) + m2
os 2+ 2m2 [E 2 (1
os )+ m2
os + m2 2E 2
16(~k 2)2
os4 ( 21 )
)
2(2E 2 m2 )(2E 2 3m2 )
~2 2 2 1
16(k ) sin ( 2 )
os2 ( 12 )
(
32e4 [(2E 2 m2 )2+ E 4+(E 2 m2 )2
os2 +2m2 (m2 E 2 )(
os4 ( 21 )+sin4 ( 12 ))
= ~2 2
+
sin4
(k )
)
2(2E 2 m2 )(2E 2 3m2 )
os [2E 2 (E 2 m2 )+2m2 (E 2 m2 )(
os4 ( 12 ) sin4 ( 21 ))
sin4
4 sin2
(
)
16e4
4(2E 2 m2 )2
4(E 2 m2 )2 3(2E 2 m2 )2
= 2 2 2 (E 2 m2 )2 +
;
(17.38)
(E m )
sin4
4 sin2
2
2
1 is the ne-stru
ture
onstant)
yielding (e = 4e = 4e h
137
!)
(
3
(E 2 m2 )2
4
4
d e2 (2E 2 m2 )2
+
+
:
(17.39)
=
1
d
4E 2 (E 2 m2 )2 sin4 sin2 (2E 2 m2 )2
sin2
This
ross se
tion is invariant under ! , su
h that we
annot tell the two outgoing
ele
trons apart, as it should be. For ele
tron-ele
tron s
attering we have to put = 1 and
we see that one
an easily distinguish experimentally if ele
trons behave a
ording to the
Fermi-Dira
statisti
s.
In problem 29 ele
tron-positron s
attering is studied with in the nal state an ele
tron
and a positron (Bhabha s
attering) or a muon and an antimuon. Both for e e ! e e and
e e+ ! e e+ one
annot take too
lose to zero (or for e e ). Apart from the fa
t that
the dete
tor would be in the way of the beam, it is fundamentally impossible to distinguish
the s
attered parti
les at = 0 (and = for e e ) from those in the beam. The divergen
e
of the dierential
ross se
tion was therefore to be expe
ted. For e e+ ! + this
divergen
e is absent and one
an dene the total
ross se
tion by integrating over all angles.
For E me and E m one nds (see problem 29) = 31 e2h 2
2 =E 2 = 21:7nb=E 2 (GeV).
We now dis
uss ele
tron-photon s
attering, also known as Compton s
attering. The
resulting
ross se
tion is
alled the Klein-Nishina formula. There are again two diagrams
that
ontribute in lowest non-trivial order to the s
attering matrix.
k; t
-
p; s
The
ross se
tion is now given by
d =
p0 ; s0
k0 ; t0
k; t p; s
- I
p0 ; s0
k0 ; t0
d3 ~p 0
(2 )4 4 (p + p0 k k0 )
d3~k0
0 ~0 )(2 )3 2k0 (~k0 )(2 )3
4
j
p
k
j
s0 ;t0 2p0 (p
0
X
1
jM(f( p0; s0); ( k0; t0)g; f(p; s); (k; t)g)j2 ;
4
g. 11
s;t
80
(17.40)
where, as for ele
tron-ele
tron s
attering, we will dis
uss unpolarised
ross se
tions. This
requires averaging over the polarisations of the in
oming parti
les (at the end we will mention
the dependen
e on the photon polarisations).
Note that the photon has also two heli
ity
P
eigenstates, together with the ele
tron s;t
ontains four terms. The redu
ed matrix element
for the two diagrams is given by
us0 (p0 )e
"(t0 ) (k0 ) (=p + k= + m)e
"(t) (k)us(p)
M=
+ ((k; t) ! ( k0 ; t0 )) : (17.41)
(p + k)2 m2 + i"
We leave it as an exer
ise to verify that the
ut photon propagator, for the
hoi
e of polarisations dis
ussed in eq. (16.21), is given by (k2 0)
!
k
X
k n (k) + k n (k)
(
t
)
(
t
)
g
:
(17.42)
t= " (k)" (k) =
k n(k )
Like for ele
tron-ele
tron
s
attering, we
an
ompute jMj2 graphi
ally by
0
X
jMj2 =
p+k 6 ?+
p
0 0
p k
p
k
p0
0
p
R ?
6
p
+ (k 0
! k)
This means that one of the photon verti
es is removed. There remain two diagrams, ea
h
with one fermion loop and with an odd number of verti
es. Furry's theorem tells us that
these two diagrams add to zero. We may therefore just as well repla
e the
ut photon
propagator by g . Using this we nd
Taking the in
oming ele
tron at rest (p = (m; ~0)), following similar steps as for ele
tronele
tron s
attering, one will arrive at the result
!
!
e2 k00 2 k0 k00
d
2
=
+
sin
;
(17.46)
d
2m2 k0
k00 k0
81
where is the angle of the s
attered photon with the dire
tion of the in
ident photon. From
energy and momentum
onservation one nds that
k0
k00 =
:
1 + (k0 =m)(1
os )
(17.47)
For a detailed derivation we refer to se
tion 5-2-1 of Itzykson and Zuber and to se
tion 86
of Berestetskii, e.a. (see se
tion 1 for the referen
e).
In Itzykson and Zuber, as for most other textbooks, the result is derived by
hoosing the
photon polarisation su
h that "(k) p = 0 (keeping "(k) k = 0). With this
hoi
e it is even
possible to determine the polarised
ross se
tion (the polarisation of the ele
tron is assumed
not to be observed)
!
!
!
d
e2 k00 2 k0 k00
=
+ + 4("0 ")2 2 ;
(17.48)
d
pol 4m2 k0
k00 k0
where " and "0 are the polarisations of resp. the in
ident and s
attered photon. When
k00 m one obtains the well-known Thomson formula
!
e2 0 2
d
= (" ") :
(17.49)
d
pol m2
The unpolarised
ross se
tion in this limit is obtained by summing over the s
attered and
averaging over the in
ident polarisations
2
8e2
d
= e2 (1 +
os2 ) and =
:
(17.50)
d
2m
3m2
(18.1)
It forms a group, whi
h means that for any two elements g; h 2 U(1), the produ
t is also in
U(1). Furthermore, any element has an inverse g 1 , whi
h satises gg 1 = g 1 g = 1. The
unit 1 satises g 1 = 1g = g , for any g 2 U(1). U(1) is
alled an Abelian group be
ause its
produ
t is
ommutative. For every g; h 2 U(1), gh = hg .
It is now tempting to generalise this to other, in general non-
ommutative groups, whi
h
are
alled non-Abelian groups. It was the way how Yang and Mills dis
overed SU(2) gauge
theories in 1954. Like for U(1) gauge theories they made the SU(2) transformation into a
lo
al one, where at every point the eld
an be transformed independently. (It should be
noted that they were originally after des
ribing the isospin symmetry, that relates protons
to neutrons, whi
h form a so-
alled isospin doublet.)
The simplest non-Abelian gauge group, for whi
h no longer gh = hg , is SU(2). This
group is well-know from the des
ription of spin one-half parti
les. It has a two dimensional
(spinor) representation, whi
h
an also be seen as a representation of the rotation group
SO(3). As a lo
al gauge theory it does no longer a
t on the spinor indi
es, but on indi
es
related to some internal spa
e, giving rise to so-
alled internal symmetries. The way the
82
: G ! Map(V ); (g ) : V
!V :
(18.2)
Mostly, V will be either IRn or C= n , in whi
h
ase (g ) is resp. a real or a
omplex n n
matrix. For to be a representation, it has to preserve the group stru
ture of G
(18.3)
We will generally restri
t the gauge symmetries to Lie-groups for whi
h one
an write any
group element as an exponential of a Lie-algebra element
g exp(X ) ; X 2 LG :
(18.4)
This Lie-algebra has an asso
iative, but non-
ommutative, bilinear produ
t
(X; Y ) 2 LG LG ! [X; Y 2 LG :
(18.5)
F (X; Y ) log (exp(X ) exp(Y )) = X + Y + 12 [X; Y + 121 [X; [X; Y + 121 [Y; [Y; X + 2 LG :
(18.6)
This formula will be of great help in nding a simple
riterion for to be a representation,
satisfying eq. (18.3). Apart from the group stru
ture of Map(V ), it also has a Lie-algebra
stru
ture (the
ommutator of two n n matri
es is again a n n matrix). The representations
of the group
an be easily restri
ted to the Lie-algebra.
: LG ! Map(V ) ;
(18.7)
(18.8)
(exp(X )) = exp((X )) ;
(18.9)
where on the left-hand side is the group representation and on the right-hand side it is
the Lie-algebra representation. Without
ausing too mu
h
onfusion we
an use the same
symbol for the two obje
ts. As a Lie-algebra forms a linear ve
tor spa
e we
an dene a
basis on LG .
n
X
(18.10)
Z = za T a 2 LG ; za 2 IR (or C= ) ; T a 2 LG :
a=1
In here n is the dimension of the Lie-algebra (and the Lie-group if, as we will assume
throughout, the exponential is lo
ally an invertible mapping). The
ommutator, also
alled
Lie-produ
t, is
ompletely determined by the stru
ture
onstants fab
[T a ; T b =
83
fab T :
(18.11)
(18.12)
(18.15)
(18.16)
(18.17)
Similarly, the Campbell-Baker-Hausdor formula, when expressed with respe
t to the Liealgebra basis fT a g
exp xa T a exp yb T b = exp fxa + ya + 21 xb y
fab
+ 121 (xd xb y
+ yd yb x
)fb
efdea + gT a :
(18.18)
dire
tly determines the multipli
ation of the representation of group elements by repla
ing T a
by Ta , provided eq. (18.16) is satised. Note that the stru
ture
onstants are antisymmetri
with respe
t to the rst two indi
es. They are also invariant under
y
li
permutations of
the indi
es. This follows from the
y
li
property of the tra
e
(18.19)
and from the fa
t that for
ompa
t groups the generators
an be normalised su
h that
a Tb ) =
Tr(Tfnd
fnd
1
2
ab ;
(18.20)
a are the generators of the so-
alled fundamental or dening representation of the
where Tfnd
group G. This matrix representation is usually identied with the group (or algebra) itself,
whi
h till now was seen more as an abstra
t entity. The simplest example is SU(2), the set
of
omplex unitary 2 2 matri
es with unit determinant. Its fundamental representation
oin
ides with the spinor or spin one-half representation. The stru
ture
onstants and the
generators of the fundamental and adjoint representations were
onsidered in se
t. 12 (see
eq. (12.9))
a = i a ; f = " ; (T a ) = La :
Tfnd
(18.21)
ab
ab
ad
2
84
(18.22)
We also dene for these produ
ts the adjoint map, ad, introdu
ed in eq. (12.12)
adXi1 Xi2 Xis adXi1 adXi2 adXis ;
(18.23)
(18.24)
It is more or less by denition that for any two produ ts u and v of Lie-algebra elements
D(uv) = aduDv :
(18.25)
(18.26)
and this allows us to prove by indu
tion that a monomial Q (a polynomial of whi
h all terms
are of the same order) of degree m in terms of Lie-algebra elements Xi , i = 1; 2; ; s is
an element of the Lie-algebra (i.e.
an be written as multiple
ommutators,
alled a Liemonomial) if and only if DQ = mQ. If this equation is satised it is
lear from the denition
of a derivation that Q is a Lie-monomial. So it is su
ient to prove that the equation is
satised for Q a Lie-monomial. In that
ase Q is a sum of terms, ea
h of whi
h
an be
written as ad(Xi1 )Q(1) with Q(1) a Lie-monomial of degree m 1. Using eq. (18.26) therefore
yields Dad(Xi1 )Q(1) = ad(Xi1 )DQ(1) +ad(Xi1 )Q(1) . Indu
tion in m gives the required result.
Now it is trivial to regroup the terms in the Taylor expansion of eq. (18.6) in multiple
ommutators. From the fa
t that any group element
an be written as the exponent of a
Lie-algebra element, we know that F (X; Y ) 2 LG (at the worst one needs to restri
t X and
Y to su
iently small neighbourhoods of the origin in LG ). Consequently, ea
h term in the
Taylor expansion of F (X; Y ) of order m (denoted by Fm (X; Y ), being a monomial in X and
Y ) has to be an element of the Lie-algebra and satises
X
1
F (X; Y ) Fm (X; Y ) ; Fm (X; Y ) = DFm (X; Y ) :
(18.27)
m
m
It is not di
ult to work out the Taylor expansion for F (X; Y )
k
iY j
X ( 1)k 1
X X iY j
X
A =
A
F (X; Y ) log (exp(X ) exp(Y )) = log 1 +
;
k
i+j>0 i!j !
i+j>0 i!j !
k
(18.28)
from whi
h we easily obtain the expli
it expression for the Campbell-Baker-Hausdor formula
in terms of multiple
ommutators,
X
X
( 1)k 1 D (X p1 Y q1 X p2 Y q2 X pk Y qk )
: (18.29)
F (X; Y ) =
p1 !q1 !p2 !q2 ! pk !qk !
m fk;Pk p +q =m; p +q >0g km
j j
j j
0
j =1
85
After this intermezzo we return to the issue of
onstru
ting non-Abelian gauge theories.
The simplest way is by generalising rst the
ovariant derivative. U(1) gauge transformations
a
t on a
omplex eld as in eq. (18.1), and the
ovariant derivative is designed su
h that
(18.31)
Sin
e the gauge eld transforms as in eq. (17.3), this is easily seen to imply that the
ovariant
derivative is dened as in eq. (17.2) (these formula are of
ourse also valid for
omplex s
alar
elds,
ompare eq. (3.36)). For a non-Abelian gauge theory we
onsider rst a eld that
transforms as an irredu
ible representation (i.e. only the origin is left invariant under the
a
tion of all gauge group elements)
! g (g ) :
(18.32)
In the following, as in the literature, we shall no longer make a distin
tion between g and
(g ). It will always be
lear from the
ontext what is intended. The ve
tor potential should
now be an element of the Lie-algebra LG (more pre
isely a representation thereof)
A = Aa T a :
(18.33)
A ! g A = gA g 1
(18.34)
This is the form that generalises dire
tly to the non-Abelian gauge groups with the
ovariant
derivative dened by
D = ( + qA ) ;
(18.35)
where A Aa Ta is a matrix a
ting on the elds . We leave it as an exer
ise to verify
that under a gauge transformation, eq. (18.31) remains valid for the non-Abelian
ase.
It is now a trivial matter to
onstru
t a Lagrangian that is invariant under lo
al gauge
transformation. For a s
alar eld one has
L = (D )y D m2 y ;
(18.36)
whereas if is a Dira
eld,
arrying both spinor (representation of the Lorentz group) and
group indi
es, one has
(18.37)
L = (i
D m) ; = y
0 ;
86
where y is the hermitian
onjugate both with respe
t to the spinor and the group (representation) indi
es.
The part of the Lagrangian that des
ribes the self intera
tions of the ve
tor eld A
has to be invariant under lo
al gauge transformations too. In that respe
t U(1) or Abelian
gauge theories are spe
ial, sin
e the homogeneous part of the transformation of the ve
tor
potential is trivial, gA g 1 = A . For non-Abelian gauge transformations this is no longer
true. For U(1) one easily veries that
D D D D [D ; D = iqF 1 ;
(18.38)
For U(1), where g is a number, this means that the eld strength is gauge invariant, as was
noted before. For non-Abelian gauge theories the eld strength itself is not gauge invariant.
Nevertheless, it is simple to
onstru
t a gauge invariant a
tion for the gauge eld
LA =
Tr (F F )
a F ;
F
(18.40)
a
a are the
omponents of the eld strength with respe
t to the Lie-algebra basis,
where F
1
2
1
4
a T a = Aa Aa + qf Ab A
T a :
F F
(18.41)
ab
We see from LA and L that q plays the role of an expansion parameter. For q = 0 we
have n = dim(G) non-intera
ting photon elds. They
ouple with strength q to the s
alar
or Dira
elds. For non-Abelian gauge theories, in addition the ve
tor eld
ouples to itself.
These self-intera
tions guarantee that there is invarian
e under the gauge group G, whi
h
is mu
h bigger than U(1)n, whi
h is the symmetry that seems implied by the q = 0 limit.
The non-Abelian gauge invarian
e xes the \
harges" of the elds with respe
t to ea
h of
these U(1) gauge fa
tors. Without the non-Abelian gauge symmetry there would have been
n independent \
harges".
The Lagrangian LA is the one that was dis
overed in 1954 by C.N. Yang and R.L. Mills.
The Euler-Lagrange equations for the Lagrangian LA are
alled the Yang-Mills equations.
One easily shows that
R
R
I
(a)
I
g. 12
(b)
The rst diagram
omes from a four fermion intera
tion term that
an be written in terms
of the produ
t of two
urrents J J , where J =
. Here ea
h fermion line typi
ally
arries its own
avour index, whi
h was suppressed for simpli
ity. Fig. 12b
an be seen to
ee
tively
orrespond to
!
g k k =M 2 ~
~
J (k )
(19.1)
J ( k) 2
k M 2 + i"
At values of the ex
hanged momentum k2 M 2 , one will not see a dieren
e between
these two pro
esses, provided the
oupling
onstant for the four-Fermi intera
tions (g. 12a)
is
hosen suitably (see problem 30). This is be
ause for small k2 , the propagator
an be
repla
ed by g =M 2 , whi
h indeed
onverts eq. (19.1) to J J =M 2 . It shows that the fourFermi
oupling
onstant is proportional to M 2 , su
h that its weakness is explained by the
heavy mass of the ve
tor parti
le that mediates the intera
tions. Examples of four-Fermi
intera
tions o
ur in the theory of -de
ay, for example the de
ay of a neutron into a proton,
an ele
tron and an anti-neutrino. In that
ase the
urrent also
ontains a
5 (problem 40).
It turns out that the four-Fermi theory
annot be renormalised. Its quantum
orre
tions
give rise to an innite number of divergent terms, that
an not be reabsorbed in a redenition
of a Lagrangian with a nite number of intera
tions. With the intera
tion resolved at higher
energies by the ex
hange of a massive ve
tor parti
le, the situation is
onsiderably better.
But it be
omes
ru
ial for the
urrents in question to be
onserved, su
h that the k k
part in the propagator has no ee
t. It would give rise to violations of unitarity in the
s
attering matrix at high energies (the eld dened in eq. (16.15) has the wrong sign for
its kineti
part). To enfor
e
urrent
onservation, we typi
ally use gauge invarian
e. But
gauge invarian
e would prote
t the ve
tor parti
le from having a mass. The big puzzle
therefore was how to des
ribe a massive ve
tor parti
le that is nevertheless asso
iated to the
ve
tor potential of a gauge eld.
The answer
an be found in the theory of super
ondu
tivity, whi
h prevents magneti
eld lines to penetrate in a super
ondu
ting sample. If there is, however, penetration in the
form of a quantised
ux tube, the magneti
eld de
ays exponentially outside the
ux tube.
This would indi
ate a mass term for the ele
tromagneti
eld within the super
ondu
tor.
The Landau-Ginzburg theory that gives an ee
tive des
ription of this phenomenon (the
mi
ros
opi
des
ription being given by the BCS theory of Cooper pairs) pre
isely
oin
ides
with s
alar quantum ele
trodynami
s.
L = 1 F F + (D ') D' '' 1 ('')2 :
(19.2)
4
In the Landau-Ginzburg theory ' des
ribes the Cooper pairs. It is also
alled the order
parameter of the BCS theory. In usual s
alar quantum ele
trodynami
s we would put =
m2 , where m is the mass of the
harged s
alar eld. But in the Landau-Ginzburg theory of
88
super
ondu
tivity, it happens to be the
ase that is negative. In that
ase the potential
V (') for the s
alar eld has the shape of a Mexi
an hat.
V
g. 13
g. 13
Re '
Im '
The minimum of the potential is no longer at ' = 0, but at ' ' = 2=, and is
independent of the phase of '. To nd the physi
al ex
itations of this theory we have to
expand around the minimum. With a global phase rotation we
an
hose the point to expand
around to be real,
q
2= :
(19.3)
'0 =
But this immediately implies that the terms quadrati
in the gauge eld give rise to a mass
term for the photon eld
q
jD'0 j2 = e2 '20A A M 2 A A ; M = 2e
1
2
= :
(19.4)
Furthermore, from the degenera
y of the minimum of the potential it follows that the
u
tuation along that minimum (the phase in ' = '0 exp(i)) has no mass (this is related to
the famous Goldstone theorem, whi
h states that if
hoosing a minimum of the potential
would break the symmetry,
alled spontaneous symmetry breaking, there is always a massless parti
le). However, this phase is pre
isely related to the gauge invarian
e, and
an
be rotated away by a gauge transformation. On the one hand
orresponds to a massless
ex
itation, on the other hand it is the unphysi
al longitudinal
omponent of the gauge eld.
But the photon be
ame massive, and has to develop an additional physi
al polarisation,
whi
h is pre
isely the longitudinal
omponent. In a prosai
way one states that the massless
ex
itation (
alled a would-be Goldstone boson) was \eaten" by the longitudinal
omponent
of the photon, whi
h in the pro
ess got a mass (\got fat").
This means we have four massive degrees of freedom, three for the massive ve
tor parti
le
and one for the absolute value of the
omplex s
alar eld (its mass is determined by the
quadrati
part of the potential in the radial dire
tion at ' = '0 ). This is exa
tly the same
number as for ordinary s
alar ele
trodynami
s where > 0, be
ause in that
ase the massless
photon has only two degrees of freedom, whereas the
omplex s
alar eld represents two
massive real s
alar elds. It looks, however, that there is a dis
ontinuity in the des
ription
of these degrees of freedom, when approa
hing = 0. But the interpretation of the phase
of the
omplex eld as a longitudinal
omponent of the ve
tor eld is simply a matter of
hoosing a parti
ular gauge. To
ount the number of degrees of freedom we impli
itly made
two dierent gauge
hoi
es
>0:
<0:
A = 0;
Im ' = 0;
Lorentz gauge ;
Unitary gauge :
89
(19.5)
There is a gauge, alled the 't Hooft gauge, that interpolates between these two gauges
F A
2ie'0 Im ' = 0;
(19.6)
Rather than adding to the Lagrangian the gauge xing term Lgf = 12 ( A )2 , one adds
Lgf = 12 F 2. At = 0 this
orresponds to the Lorentz gauge, at = 1 to the unitary
gauge. For the
hoi
e 't Hooft made ( = 1=) the terms that mix (' '0 ) and A at
quadrati
order disappear and one easily reads of the masses. Gauge xing will be dis
ussed
in the next se
tion, where it will be shown how extra unphysi
al degrees of freedom appear in
the path integral, so as to
an
el the unphysi
al
omponents of the gauge and s
alar elds.
The s
alar eld, whose intera
tions give the gauge eld a mass, is
alled the Higgs eld.
Problems 34 and 35 dis
uss the Higgs me
hanism in detail for the Georgi-Glashow model,
whi
h is a non-Abelian gauge theory with gauge group SO(3),
oupled to an SO(3)-ve
tor
of s
alar elds 'a .
d3~x f (~x) 6=
dx1 f (x1 )
(20.1)
We know very well that we need a Ja
obian fa
tor for the radial integral
Z
Z 1
d3~x f (~x) = 4
r2 dr f (r) :
(20.2)
0
This Ja
obian, arising in the
hange of variable to the invariant radial
oordinates and
the angular
oordinates,
an be properly in
orporated following the method introdu
ed by
Faddeev
and Popov. The starting point is a straightforward generalisation of the identity
R
dx jf 0 (x)j (f (x)) = 1, assuming the equation f (x) = 0 to have pre
isely one solution (in a
sense the right-hand side of the equation
ounts the number of zeros). It reads
1=
(20.3)
where F (A) 2 LG is the gauge xing fun
tion (with the gauge
ondition F (A) = 0, e.g.
F (A) = A = 0). The gauge transformation g of the gauge eld A is indi
ated by g A, see
eq. (18.34). Furthermore, M (A) : LG ! LG plays the role of the Ja
obian,
F (g A) F (eXg A)
=
X
at X = 0 :
(20.4)
g
Equivalently, with respe
t to the Lie-algebra basis, where F (A) Fa (A)T a , one has
dF (exp(tT b ) A)
at t = 0 :
(20.5)
Mab (A) = a
dt
M (g A)
90
To relate this to the previous equation, one makes use of the fa
t that
h (g A) = (hg) A ;
(20.6)
whi
h states that two su
essive gauge transformations, g and h, give the same result as a
single gauge transformation with hg .
As an example we
onsider the Lorentz gauge, with F (A) = A , for whi
h
F (exp(X ) A) F (A) = q 1 Dad (A)(X ) + O(X 2) ;
(20.7)
where Dad
(A) is the
ovariant derivative in the adjoint representation
Dad
(A)(X ) X + q [A ; X :
(20.8)
With respe
t to the Lie-algebra basis this gives
qMab (A) = ab + qfab
( A
+ A
) :
(20.9)
For an Abelian gauge theory the stru
ture
onstants fab
vanish and M (A) be
omes independent of the gauge eld. This means that det(M (A))
an be absorbed in an overall
normalisation of the path-integral. For non-Abelian gauge theories this is no longer possible.
Before des
ribing how the A dependen
e of det(M (A)) is in
orporated, it is important to
note that we assumed the gauge
ondition F (g A) = 0 to have pre
isely one solution, whi
h
an be arranged with the help of eq. (20.6) to o
ur at g = 1, in whi
h
ase A is said to
satisfy the gauge
ondition. This is in general not
orre
t, as was dis
overed by Gribov.
Even in our simple problem on IR3 , the gauge
ondition x2 = x3 = 0 does not uniquely
spe
ify the gauge, be
ause we
an go from (r; 0; 0) to ( r; 0; 0) through a rotation over 180
degrees. We have to introdu
e a further restri
tion to get the identity
Z
Z
d3~x f (~x) = 4 d3~x x21 (x2 ) (x3 )(x1 )f (~x) ;
(20.10)
where (x) = 0 for x < 0 and (x) = 1 for x 0. In perturbation theory only the gauge
elds near the origin in eld spa
e are relevant, and gauge
onditions are
hosen so as to
avoid this problem in a small neighbourhood of the origin. The Lorentz gauge is su
h a
gauge
ondition, and the gauge xing or Gribov ambiguity is not an issue for
omputing
quantities in perturbation theory in q .
We still
need to dene what we mean with Dg in eq. (20.3). It stands for the integration
Q
measure x dg (x), with dg (x) for every x dened as the so-
alled Haar-measure on the group.
It is best des
ribed in the example of SU(2), whi
h as a spa
e is isomorphi
with S 3 . When
S 3 is embedded in IR4 as a unit sphere, n2 = 1, it is not too di
ult to see that g = n4 + ik nk
gives an element of SU(2), whereas exp(isk k ) =
os() + i sin()sk k , with s2k = 1, shows
that any element of SU(2)
an be written Rin terms of n . The Haar-measure
oin
ides with
the standard integration measure on S 3 , d4 n (n2 1). The Haar-measure is in general
invariant under the
hange of variables g ! hg and g ! gh, for h some xed group element.
We
an insert eq. (20.3) in the path integral to obtain
Z=
D A D g
(20.11)
We now use that the a
tion S (A) is invariant under gauge transformations. We leave it as
an exer
ise to verify that likewise DA is invariant under the
hange of variables A ! g A,
whi
h trivially implies that
Z=
D A D g
(20.12)
The dependen
e of the integrand on g has disappeared, and the integration over g gives an
overall (innite) normalisation fa
tor, whi
h is irrelevant. We next note that Z has to be
independent of the gauge xing fun
tion F , in parti
ular F (A) Y is just as good for the
gauge xing (provided of
ourse we show that F (g A) = Y has a solution). This modi
ation
does not ae
t the so-
alled Faddeev-Popov operator M (A) and we nd
Z
(20.13)
i Z
2
DY exp 2 d4x Ya (x) = 1 ;
whi
h
ombined with the previous equation gives
Z =
Z
(20.14)
2
Y (x)
2 a
2
F (A) :
(20.15)
= DA det (M (A)) exp i d4 x L(A)
2 a
For U(1) gauge theories with F (A) = A this pre
isely reprodu
es the a
tion of eq. (4.22)
in the Lorentz gauge, and in that
ase det(M (A)) is a
onstant.
For non-Abelian gauge theories we are left with the task of
omputing det(M (A)) for
ea
h A, whi
h is no longer
onstant. But here the path integral over Grassmann variables
omes to the res
ue. In problem 25 we have seen that
Z
DD
Z
exp i d4 x
= det(M (A)) ;
(20.16)
up to an overall normalisation. This implies that the path integral
an also be written in
the Lorentz gauge as
Z
Z
2
a
a
b
Z = DA DD exp i d4 x L(A)
( A (x)) + (x)[ (x) + qfab
A (x) (x) :
2 a
(20.17)
Sin
e and are auxiliary elds, they should never appear as external lines. They are
therefore
alled ghosts. Ghosts
an only appear in loops and be
ause of the fermioni
nature
of the ghost variables, every su
h loop gives a minus sign. The Feynman rules for the Lorentz
gauge are given in the following table.
no external ghost lines
-k
- -6
b
; k3
b; k2
a; k1
(A=0)ab = k2+abi"
table 7
iqfab k1
1 i (2d4 k)4
R
loop fa
tor
92
Be
ause one
an easily derive that for a
omplex s
alar eld (up to an overall
onstant)
Z
Z
D'D' exp i d4x 'a(x)M ab (A)'b(x) = det(M1 (A)) ;
(20.18)
we
an view a ghost as the elimination of a
omplex degree of freedom. It is in this way that
in the path integral the two unphysi
al degrees of freedom of a Lorentz ve
tor are eliminated.
For QED both the ghost and the unphysi
al degrees of freedom have no intera
tions, and
an
not appear as external lines either, whi
h is why in QED the introdu
tion of ghosts was never
ne
essary for a
onsistent des
ription of the theory. For non-Abelian gauge theories, be
ause
of the intera
tion of the ghost with the gauge eld, ghosts
an no longer be ignored. To
have the ghosts eliminate the unphysi
al degrees of freedom, one should have the \masses"
(poles) of the ghosts to
oin
ide with the \masses" of the unphysi
al degrees of freedom.
Furthermore the
ouplings of the ghost and unphysi
al elds to the physi
al elds should be
related. This is veried expli
itly for the Georgi-Glashow model in problem 35. In general it
is guaranteed by the existen
e of an extra symmetry, dis
overed by Be
hi, Rouet and Stora,
alled the BRS symmetry s, whi
h for example a
ts on the gauge eld as follows
sA = Dad
:
(20.19)
This is pre
isely an innitesimal gauge transformation. For more details see Itzykson and
Zuber, se
tion 12.4-1.
only at Plan
k energies. If that is the
ase the mass of the Higgs should, however, not be
mu
h bigger than 100 GeV.
The standard model
onsists of gauge elds B (for U(1)), Wa (for SU(2)) and Aa (for
SU(3), where a runs from 1 to 8, to be dis
ussed later). These gauge elds have intera
tions
with a Higgs eld 2 C= 2 , whi
h transforms under SU(2) as a spin one-half representation
(i.e. the fundamental representation) with a
oupling
onstant g . Under U(1) this Higgs
eld transforms with a
oupling
onstant 12 g 0 , whereas it is neutral under SU(3). These
ouplings are represented in the
ovariant derivative
3
i 0
ig X
D =
W a :
(21.1)
g B
2
2 a=1 a
The potential for the Higgs eld
auses spontaneous breaking of part of the symmetries
(21.2)
V () = (y F 2 )2 = y + (y )2 +
onst. ;
4
4
where 12 F 2 . In this
ase the minimum of the potential, also
alled the va
uum, is
degenerate on a three dimensional sphere, spe
ied by y = F 2 ( 2 C= 2 IR4 ), whi
h
would give rise to three massless s
alar parti
les a
ording to the Goldstone theorem, but
all three will be \eaten" by longitudinal
omponents of the gauge elds to whi
h the Higgs
eld
ouples. We note that there are four gauge eld
omponents, B and Wa for a = 1; 2
and 3. Indeed one
ombination among these four will not have something to \eat" and will
therefore stay massless. It plays the role of the photon eld as we got to know it in QED.
To see this write
1 + '1
= F0 + '
;
(21.3)
0
'2
'2
su
h that
g2F 2 1 2
F2
[(W ) + W2 )2 + [g 0 B gW3 2 :
(21.4)
4
4
p
Apparently, the ve
tor elds W1;2 will have a mass MW = 21 2gF , whereas the linear
ombination
g 0B gW3
g0
3
Z = q
;
(21.5)
=
sin
B
os
W
;
tan
=
W
W
W
g
g2 + g02
p
1
re
eives a mass mZ = 12 2F (g 2 + g 02 ) 2 = MW =
os W . The linear
ombination perpendi
ular
to Z ,
3
Aem
(21.6)
=
os W B + sin W W ;
remains massless. This gauge eld denes a U(1) subgroup of SU(2)U(1) that leaves
0 invariant. This U(1) subgroup is a
ombination of the U(1) subgroup of SU(2) generated by exp(i3 ) and the phase rotations exp(i) asso
iated with the expli
it U(1) group
with B as its gauge eld. It is trivial to verify that the produ
t of these group elements,
exp(i) exp(i3 ) indeed leaves 0 invariant. The gauge symmetry asso
iated to this so
alled diagonal U(1) subgroup therefore remains unbroken and
orresponds to ele
tromagnetism.
The Higgs eld has three massless
omponents Re '1 , Im '1 and Im'2 , all eaten by the
ve
tor parti
les W and Z , and one massive
omponent Re '2 with a mass
(D 0 )yD 0 =
m =
2 = F :
94
(21.7)
It is this
omponent that is
alled the Higgs eld. It does not
ouple to Aem
, be
ause like
'0 , also is not ae
ted by the transformation exp(i) exp(i3 ). Alternatively, this
an be
seen from the
ovariant derivative
ig
1 = n
1 + 2 W 2 ) + ig (
os2 W 3 sin2 W )Z
D '
(
W
1
'2
2
2
os W
o
ig
'
1
em
sin W (3 + 1)A
:
(21.8)
'2
2
Using the fa
t that
2
0
3 + 1 = 0 0
(21.9)
it is
lear that '2 has no ele
tri
harge, whereas '1 has a
harge q = g sin W . As
these are would-be Goldstone
bosons, \eaten" by the ve
tor elds, it will turn out that the
p
ombinations W = 21 2(W1 iW2 ) are
harged with an ele
tri
harge of e, where
e = g sin W :
(21.10)
As a
onsequen
e, the two
oupling
onstants g and g 0 are determined by the ele
tri
harge e
and the so-
alled weak mixing angle W , also
alled the Weinberg angle. From experiment it
follows that sin2 W 0:23. The Z ve
tor eld will remain neutral under the ele
tromagneti
intera
tions. To verify the
harge assignment to the ve
tor elds, we have to nd the
oupling
of the various elds to Aem
. For this it is su
ient to
onsider the following part of the
Lagrangian
(21.11)
LW;B = 41 Wa Wa + g"ab
WbW
2 41 ( B B )2 :
a )2 = F a F . After some algebra the above
with the obvious short-hand notations like (F
a
equation
an be rewritten as
LW;B = 41 Fem + ie(W+W W+W ) 2
+W
+ W )2
1 Z
Z
+
ig
os
(
W
W
W
4
em
1 jD em W
D W
ig
os W (Z W
Z W )j2 ;
(21.12)
2
em = Aem
ieAem
; F
Aem
:
(21.13)
We immediately read-o that our
harge assignments for Z and W have been
orre
t. Note
em
that the ve
tor eld W has an extra magneti
moment, be
ause of its
oupling to F
(21.14)
Lmagn.mom. = ieF em W +W ;
whi
h is a dire
t
onsequen
e of the spin of the ve
tor eld (the magneti
moment for the
Dira
eld is dis
ussed in problem 32).
We now introdu
e the fermions in the standard model. They are arranged a
ording to
families. The rst family with the smallest masses
onsists of the ele
tron, the neutrino,
the up and the down quark. Essential in the standard model is that invarian
e under parity
is broken expli
itly by the weak intera
tions (as has been observed in the beta de
ay of
95
Cobalt-60, see problem 40). This is a
hieved by
oupling the left- and right-handed heli
ity
eigenstates of the fermions dierently to the gauge elds. It should be stressed that the
standard model does not explain why parity is violated; it was put in \by hand". For ea
h
fermion we dene
(21.15)
L = 12 (1 +
5 ) ; R = 21 (1
5 ) :
The Dira
Lagrangian in terms of these heli
ity eigenstates
an be written as
L = (i m) = R (i ) R + L (i ) L m( R L + L R ) ;
(21.16)
su
h that dierent transformation rules for R;L enfor
e m = 0, i.e. the absen
e of an
expli
it mass term. The beauty of the Higgs me
hanism is that it also provides a mass for
the fermions. This is a
hieved by
oupling the s
alar eld to the fermions, using a Yukawa
oupling
(21.17)
L ; = y( R y L + L R) ;
where y is the Yukawa
oupling
onstant. It also immediately xes the representation to
whi
h R;L should belong. Sin
e the Lagrangian has to be invariant with respe
t to the
gauge symmetries, and sin
e the s
alar eld is in the fundamental representation of SU(2),
we require that L is also in the fundamental representation, i.e. it is a doublet. On the other
hand R is taken to be invariant under SU(2) (also
alled the singlet representation). The
ouplings of the fermions to the gauge eld B have to be
hosen su
h that the Lagrangian
is neutral. This
oupling is parametrised by the so-
alled hyper
harge Y , in units of 12 g 0 .
YH Y () = 1 ; YR = YL
1 ; YR;L Y ( R;L ) :
(21.18)
The mass of the fermions is now read-o from eq. (21.17) by repla
ing with its so-
alled
va
uum expe
tation value 0
L ; = yF ( R L2 + L2 R) ;
(21.19)
where the index on L indi
ates the so-
alled isospin index, the spinor index of the two
dimensional fundamental representation for the internal SU(2) symmetry group. We also
see that L1 remains massless and this is exa
tly the neutrino. The ele
tron is identied
with the pair ( R ; L2 ) and has a mass me = yF . We want the neutrino to have no ele
tri
harge and this xes the hyper
harge of L . It is most easily determined from the
ovariant
derivative, a
ting on the left-handed fermion, dened as in eqs. (21.1) and (21.8), sin
e both
are in the same representation (ele
tron and neutrino are also neutral with respe
t to the
strong intera
tions. The situation for the quarks will be dis
ussed below).
D L =
ig
ig
(
os2 W 3
(1 W1 + 2 W2 ) +
2
2
os W
o
ig sin W
L :
(3 + YL)Aem
2
YL sin2 W )Z
(21.20)
YL = 1 ; YR = 2 :
(21.21)
This also allows us to nd the ele
tri
harge of L2 to be g sin W = e, whi
h as it should
be,
oin
ides with the ele
tron
harge. The right-handed
omponent should of
ourse have
96
the same ele tri harge. In that ase the ovariant derivative is given by
D R = (
= (
ig 0
ig 0
YR B ) R = (
YR [sin W Z +
os W Aem
) R
2
2
R ;
ieAem
ie
tan
Z
)
(21.22)
W
with the expe
ted
oupling to the ele
tromagneti
eld. Note that we
an summarise our
assignments of the ele
tri
harge by introdu
ing the
harge operator in terms of the hyper
harge and the so-
alled isospin operator I3
Qem = ( 1 Y + I3 )e :
(21.23)
2
i B0
1
T = 1
2 0
0
i 0
T4 = B
0
2 1
0
i B0
7
T = 0
2 0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
i
0
i B0 i
C
2
0A; T = i 0
2 0 0
0
1
0
1
i 0 0
0C
0
T5 = B
A;
0
2
0
i 0
0
1
0
i B1
C
8
p
iA; T =
0
2 3 0
0
0
0C
T3 =
A;
0
1
i
0C
T6 =
A;
0
1
0 0
1 0 C
;
A
0 2
i B1 0 0C
1 0A;
0
2 0 0 0
1
0
0
0
0
iB
0 1C
A;
0
2 0 1 0
(21.26)
normalised in a
ordan
e with eq. (18.20). We leave it as an exer
ise to determine the
stru
ture
onstants. Note that the Lie-algebra for the group SU(N) is given by tra
eless
and antihermitian (X y = X )
omplex N N matri
es. The dimension of this Lie-algebra
is easily seen to be N 2 1. Note that det(exp(X )) = exp(Tr(X )), su
h that exp(X ) has
determinant one. Also, exp(X ) 1 = exp( X ) = exp(X y) = exp(X )y guarantees that exp(X )
is a unitary matrix.
The fra
tional ele
tri
harge of the quarks is not observable (otherwise we would have
had a dierent unit for ele
tri
harge). The reason is that quarks are
onje
tured to always
form bound states that are neutral under SU(3). This
an be a
hieved by either taking
97
A
W
Z
name
photon
gluon
W-parti
le
Z-parti
le
0
0
e
0
1
1
1
1
for e
table 8
0
ele
tromagnetism
0
strong for
e
80 GeV
weak for
e
91 GeV
weak for
e
The strong intera
tions do not break parity invarian
e, i.e. the eight gluons Aa
ouple to
the left-handed and right-handed
omponents of the quark elds in the same way. However,
the so-
alled Cabibbo mixing with two other families of quarks (the strange and
harm quark
on the one hand and the bottom and top quark on the other hand) gives in a very subtle way
rise to violation of CP , that is the
ombination of
harge
onjugation and parity (equivalent
to time reversal T , sin
e CP T is
onserved). The ele
tron and neutrino,
alled leptons,
in the rst family are repla
ed by the muon and its neutrino for the se
ond family and
by the tau and asso
iated neutrino for the third family. The experiments des
ribed in the
98
introdu
tion (see problem 37) have shown that there are not more than three of these families
with massless neutrinos. In the standard model there is room to add a right-handed partner
for the neutrino eld, whi
h
ouples to none of the gauge elds. With a suitably
hosen
Yukawa
oupling the neutrino
an be given an arbitrarily small mass. It is experimentally
very hard to measure the mass of the neutrino; only upper bounds have been established.
The table below lists the properties of all the fermions observed in the standard model (the
top quark was only dis
overed in 1994 at Fermilab). For mu
h more on the standard model
see in parti
ular the book by J.C. Taylor mentioned in the introdu
tion.
Fermion families
table 9
name
d
u
e
e
down quark
up quark
ele
tron
neutrino
-e/3
2e/3
-e
0
1/2
1/2
1/2
1/2
10 MeV
5 MeV
511 keV
0(<10 eV)
s
1/2
1/2
1/2
1/2
250 MeV
1,5 GeV
106 MeV
0(<0,5 MeV)
b
t
bottom quark
top quark
tau
tau-neutrino
1/2
1/2
1/2
1/2
4,8 GeV
174 GeV
1,8 GeV
0(<164 MeV)
-e/3
2e/3
-e
0
(see for example eq. (21.2)). We dene the physi
al four-point
oupling
onstant in terms of
the 1P I four-point fun
tion with the momenta on the amputated lines set to some parti
ular
value proportional to (the pre
ise
hoi
e is not important for the present dis
ussion). It
is
lear that this gives a fun
tion reg(; ; ). The dependen
e on other
oupling
onstants
and the mass parameters is left impli
it.
The theory is
onsidered renormalisable if we
an remove the
ut-o by adjusting
(also
alled the bare
oupling
onstant) in su
h a way that at a xed value = 0 the
renormalised
oupling R stays nite and takes on a pres
ribed (i.e. measured) value. It is
then obvious that the renormalised
oupling
onstant R () reg((); ; ) is a fun
tion
of ,
oin
iding at 0 with the pres
ribed value R . Sin
e the physi
al
oupling
onstant is
omputed in terms of the full 1P I four-point fun
tion, the dependen
e on the energy s
ale is
aused by quantum
orre
tions. Sin
e the va
uum in eld theories is not really empty, as was
dis
ussed in the
ontext of the Casimir ee
t in se
t. 2, the
omputation is not mu
h dierent
from
al
ulating ee
tive intera
tions in a polarised medium. In this
ase the polarisation is
due to the virtual parti
les that des
ribe the quantum
u
tuations (zero-point
u
tuations)
of the va
uum, and is therefore also
alled the va
uum polarisation. The energy dependent
ouplings are
alled running
ouplings. It should be emphasised that the running of the
ouplings is a manifestation of an anomaly (
alled the
onformal anomaly), whi
h is the
breaking of a symmetry of the Lagrangian by the quantum
orre
tions. In the absen
e of
a mass, the s
alar eld theory with a '4 intera
tion is at the
lassi
al level invariant under
s
ale transformations, '(x) ! '(x=), where is the s
ale parameter. It is obvious that
the regularised
ouplings are not invariant under su
h a res
aling, be
ause of the presen
e of
a
uto. What is not obvious is that, for the simple eld theories we have been
onsidering
in four dimensions, the s
ale independen
e
an not be re
overed by removing the
uto (i.e.
taking ! 1).
By adjusting the bare
oupling
onstants of the theory as a fun
tion of the
uto ,
to ensure that all regularised
ouplings stay nite when the
uto is moved to innity, the
al
ulations
an be arranged su
h that nowhere expli
it innities o
ur. When we say that
the
ontributions of the loops diverge, we mean that without adjusting the bare
oupling
onstant, their
ontributions are innite in the limit ! 1. A theory is
alled renormalisable if only a nite number of bare
oupling
onstants needs to be adjusted to have all 1P I
n-point fun
tions nite. This
an be shown to be equivalent to all 1P I n-point fun
tions to
be
ompletely determined as a fun
tion of a nite number of renormalised
ouplings,
alled
relevant
ouplings. It is only in su
h an instan
e that quantum eld theory has predi
tive
power. Renormalisability is therefore a ne
essary requirement for the theory to be insensitive
to what happens at very high energies with a maximal amount of predi
tive power. The
standard model falls in this
lass of theories.
Theoreti
al studies of the last ve years or so have shown that the self-
oupling of the
Higgs eld will most likely vanish if we really take ! 1, albeit in a logarithmi
way.
Losely speaking the running of this
oupling is su
h that the renormalised
oupling in
reases
with in
reasing energy. The only way it
an be avoided that the renormalised
oupling will
be
ome innite at some nite energy, is to either take the renormalised
oupling equal to
zero or to keep the
uto nite. It depends on the parameters of the model, in parti
ular
the Higgs mass, how large the
uto should be. If the Higgs mass is relatively light, this
an
be at the Plan
k s
ale and has little
onsequen
e for the theory. If, however, the Higgs mass
turns out to be in the order of 1 TeV, the
uto has to be roughly smaller than 10 TeV.
As we
an measure the self-
oupling of the Higgs eld and related quantities to be nontrivial (whi
h is of
ourse
ru
ial for the spontaneous symmetry breaking and giving a mass
100
to the W and Z parti
les), the s
alar se
tor of the standard model depends in a rather subtle
way on what happens at higher energies. This sensitivity to high energies is, however, mu
h
and mu
h weaker than in non-renormalisable theories like for the four-fermi intera
tions.
It is outside the s
ope of these le
tures to des
ribe the
omputations ne
essary to make
the above more pre
ise. In the following we give a sample
al
ulation that will provide the
te
hni
al ingredients to perform su
h
al
ulations and to illustrate some of these issues in a
simple setting. Also, problems 2(!), 38 and 39 illustrate further ingredients that are pertinent
to renormalising eld theories.
Let us end this dis
ussion by noting that a running
oupling
an of
ourse either in
rease
or de
rease at in
reasing energy. The Higgs self-
oupling and the ele
tromagneti
oupling
onstant e are examples of
ouplings that in
rease at high energies. For the ele
tri
harge e,
this in
rease is very tiny and the
uto
an be
hosen mu
h bigger than the Plan
k energy.
The analogy with a polarised medium is that the virtual parti
les in the eld of a
harged
parti
le will s
reen its
harge at large distan
es. When we probe the
harged parti
le at
ever smaller distan
es the ee
tive
harge be
omes less s
reened and in
reases. Due to the
self-intera
tions of a non-Abelian gauge eld, its
harges show the ee
t of anti-s
reening.
Here the ee
tive
harge be
omes bigger at larger distan
es. For the strong intera
tions this
is one way to understand
onnement. The energy of a single quark within a spheri
al shell
would in
rease without bound with in
reasing radius. A free quark would
arry an innite
energy. To the
ontrary, at de
reasing separations, the ee
tive
harge be
omes weaker and
weaker and the quarks start to behave as free parti
les. This is the asymptoti
freedom
mentioned in the previous se
tion.
We will now
onsider to one-loop order the self-energy for the s
alar eld ' with a mass
m,
oupled to two
avours of fermions with masses m1 and m2 ,
oupled through Yukawa
ouplings des
ribed by the Lagrangian
X
L = 1 ( ')2 1 m2 '2 1 '3 + (i) (i
mi ) (i) g' (1) (2) + (2) (1) : (22.1)
2
The self-energy for the s
alar eld in one-loop order splits in two
ontributions 1 and 2
from a fermion and a s
alar loop (in this order Z 1).
' (q ) 1 + 2 =
m ; q+k
m
1; k
q + q
q+k
(22.2)
(22.3)
Using eq. (11.1), requires us to employ the Feynman rules of table 3 to obtain these expressions. (Alternatively the Feynman rules of table 2
an be used, provided the self-energy is
dened through eq. (9.9).) These integrals are obviously divergent. Introdu
ing a momentum
uto we nd 1 2 and 2 log to lowest non-trivial order in 1=. One says
that 1 is quadrati
ally and 2 logarithmi
ally divergent. To simplify the integrands we
dis
uss the Feynman tri
k
1
1 Z1
= dx
;
(22.4)
ab
(ax + b(1 x))2
0
101
?
- - 6
6 ? Rek0
q
g. 14
&
(k 2 )
; k2 = k02 + ~k 2 :
(22.8)
(k2 + M 2 i")
We note that the integrand is a purely radial integral and as the surfa
e area of a n dimensional sphere is analyti
ally known (Sn = 2 n=2 = (n=2), e.g. S2 = 2 , S3 = 4 ,
S4 = 2 2 , ), we obtain
2 n=2 Z n 1
r2
In;; (M ) = i( 1)
r dr 2
(n=2)
(r + M 2 i")
i( 1) n=2 ( + n=2) ( n=2)
:
(22.9)
=
(M 2 i") n=2 ( ) (n=2)
We used the integral representation of the beta fun
tion
zn 1
(n) (k) Z 1
=
:
(22.10)
dz
( n 1; k )
(n + k )
(z + 1)k+n
0
In;; (M ) = i( 1)
dnk
102
Note that q 2 = q02 ~q 2 and that the
oupling
onstant for the s
alar three-point
oupling
has the dimension of mass. We have split the result for i in a pole term with residue (i 1)
and a nite part (0)
i for n ! 4.
Z
g2 1
(0)
2
2
^
^
dx Mx;q
log( [Mx;q i") +
1 =
4 2 0
!
2
2
2
m1 m2 + 3x(x 1)q + 2xm1 + 2(1 x)m2
;
2 Z 1
(0)
2 i") +
;
2 =
dx
log(
[
M
x;q
8(2 )2 0
g2
2
2 + m2 1 q 2 ) ; ( 1) =
(
m
m
+
m
:
(22.19)
(1 1) =
1
2
2
1
2 2
2 2
(4 )2
We now note that the pole terms are of the same form as the tree-level expressions
obtained form the following extra term in the Lagrangian
L = 21 a( ')2 12 b'2 :
(22.20)
This means that we
an
hoose a and b so as to pre
isely
an
el the pole terms. To lowest
order we therefore have
(0)
' (L + L) = ' (L) + b aq 2 = (0)
(22.21)
1 + 2 + O(n 4) ;
from whi
h we
an solve for a and b in terms of ( 1)
i
!
g2 1
g2
2
1
2
2
a=
; b=
(m1 m2 + m1 + m2 )
:
(22.22)
2
2
2
(2 ) 4 n
(4 ) 2
4 n
Note that as long as we stay away from n = 4 everything is well dened, in
luding a
and b. The limit n ! 4 is to be taken after we have expressed everything in terms of the
renormalised
oupling
onstants and masses. We have taken here a slightly dierent approa
h
for renormalising the theory. Rather than
omputing at n 6= 4 physi
al pro
esses to x the
renormalised
ouplings, we have started with renormalised
ouplings and determined how
they have to depend on the bare
ouplings so as to
an
el any innities that might arise as
n ! 4. It is
lear that these two pro
edures are equivalent. For the physi
al interpretation
the rst pro
edure (due to Wislon) is more transparent, in a loop expansion the se
ond
pro
edure is more natural. To nd the bare mass and the eld renormalisation (for the bare
oupling we should have
onsidered the 1P I three-point fun
tion with three ' external
lines) we write to one-loop order
q
p
m2 + b
2
2
2
2
1
1
LB = L + L 2 ( 'B ) 2 mB 'B ; mB 1 + a ; 'B Z'' = 1 + a' :
(22.23)
Often it
an be determined by power-
ounting (of momenta) whi
h diagrams give rise to
divergen
ies for n ! 4 or ! 1. The innities
orrespond to lo
al
ounter terms (i.e with
a nite number of spa
e-time derivatives) in the Lagrangian. For the theory in eq. (22.1),
power
ounting easily shows that the ' four-point fun
tion is logarithmi
ally divergent at
one-loop order, see the Feynman diagram below.
m
1
g. 15
m2 ? 6m2
-
m1
104
We therefore need to introdu
e an independent parameter for the ' four-point
oupling, so
as to adjust its bare
oupling to depend in the proper way on the
uto, to ensure that
we
an remove it. It
an be shown that after adding to the Lagrangian in eq. (22.1) the
term 4 '4 =4!, the theory be
omes renormalisable to all orders in the loop expansion. The
relevant parameters are m, m1 , m2 , g , and 4 .
As we have seen in se
tion 11, ' (q ) should have a non-vanishing imaginary part if the
s
alar parti
le is unstable. It is
lear that the s
alar parti
le itself
an not de
ay in two s
alar
parti
les, but when m1 + m2 < m it
ould de
ay in two fermions. Indeed, it is not di
ult
to show that on the mass shell (q 2 = m2 ) (0)
2 is real
2 Z1
2 = m2 ) =
(0)
(
q
dx log[(x 12 )2 + 43
log(m2 ) 2 IR :
(22.24)
2
8(2 )2 0
We will show that Im(0)
1 (q 2 = m2 ) 6= 0 if and only if q 2 > (m1 + m2 )2 ,
alled the threshold
for de
ay. The only way (0)
1
an develop an imaginary part is when the argument of the
logarithm in eq. (22.19) be
omes negative. The threshold is therefore determined by
2 jx 2 [0; 1g = minfxm2 + (1 x)m2 x(1 x)q 2 jx 2 [0; 1g < 0 :
(22.25)
minfM^ x;q
1
2
Let us rst
onsider the simplest
ase of equal fermion masses, m1 = m2 . In that
ase
2 jx 2 [0; 1g = m2 1 q 2 (m1 = m2 ) ;
(22.26)
minfM^ x;q
1 4
and the threshold is determined by q 2 > 4m21 = (m1 + m2 )2 . For the general
ase of unequal
fermion masses, the minimum is obtained for x = 21 (1 + (m22 m21 )=q 2 ). After some algebra
we nd
!
2 ! (m1 + m2 )2
2
(
m
m
)
q
1
2
2
1
1 ;
(22.27)
minfM^ x;q jx 2 IRg =
4
q2
q2
whi
h is indeed negative for q 2 > (m1 + m2 )2 . The value of x where this minimum is attained
does not lie in the interval [0; 1 if j(m21 m22 )=q 2 j > 1, whi
h
an be used to rule out the
other region, q 2 < (m1 m2 )2 , where eq. (22.27) is negative. This therefore proves that
the kinemati
ally determined threshold
oin
ides with the threshold for Im(q ) 6= 0, as was
assumed in se
tion 11.
A major advantage of dimensional regularisation is that it preserves the Lorentz and
gauge invarian
es. Furthermore, it is a lo
al regulator. The latti
e regularisation also
an
be arranged to preserve the gauge invarian
e, but lo
ality and Lorentz invarian
e are only
valid at distan
es mu
h bigger than the latti
e spa
ing a. A momentum
uto breaks both
the Lorentz and gauge invarian
e. Pauli-Villars regularisation is aimed at having a regulator
that preserves the Lorentz invarian
e. We will des
ribe it for the Lagrangian of eq. (22.1),
using again the
omputation of ' (q ) to one-loop order as an illustration. For ea
h of the
original elds ' and (i) one adds extra (ghost) elds, with either the same (e` > 0) or
opposite (e` < 0) statisti
s. This means that a loop of these ghost elds gets an additional
fa
tor e` . Furthermore, the mass of these ghost elds is shifted over M` with respe
t to the
original (\parent") eld (alternatively, if the original eld is a boson, one
an shift m2 over
M`2 , see problem 39. With the present pres
ription we
an treat bosons and fermions on the
same footing). By dening e0 = 1 and M0 = 0, the index ` = 0 des
ribes the original elds
of the model. We dene furthermore M` b` with m; m1 ; m2 . To regularise ' by
Pauli-Villars' method, we
hoose
(22.28)
in other words the s
alar and two fermion elds ea
h have three ghost elds asso
iated to
them but with non-standard weights for the loops. We
ould sti
k to standard weights, su
h
that these ghost elds
an be des
ribed in terms of either grassmann or bosoni
variables by
taking je` j elds, having either the same (e` > 0) or reversed (e` < 0) statisti
s with respe
t
to the original (\parent") eld. It is straightforward to give the self-energy in
luding the
ontribution of the ghost elds
3 n
o
X
PV
(
q
)
=
e
(
m
+
b
;
m
+
b
;
q
)
+
(
m
+
b
;
q
)
;
(22.29)
` 1 1
`
2 `
2
`
'
`=0
in an obvious notation. The weights are
hosen su
h that the momentum integrals
an all
be performed. Nevertheless, the masses of the ghost parti
les, all proportional to , now
play the role of a momentum
uto, as the Lagrangian will at that energy s
ale no longer
des
ribe a physi
al theory. It is still
onvenient to evaluate the integrals in n, rather than
in 4 dimensions. We will see that eq. (22.28) guarantees that the terms proportional to
(4 n) 1 exa
tly
an
el. Indeed, using eq. (22.19)
3 ( 1)
X
e` 1 (m1 + b` ; m2 + b` ; q ) + (2 1) (m + b` ; q ) =
(22.30)
`=0
!
3
X
g2
g2q2
2
2
2
e`
(m1 + b` )(m2 + b` ) + (m1 + b` ) + (m2 + b` )
=
2 2
(2 )2 (4 )2
`=0
g 2 (m1 m2 + m21 + m22 12 q 2 ) 18 2 X
3g 2 2 X 2
3(m1 + m2 )g 2 X
e
b
+
e` b` = 0 :
e
+
`
`
`
2 2
2 2
2 2
`
`
`
The nite result that remains (repla
ing ( 1) in the equation above by (0) ) is nevertheless
still dependent on . To keep the following
omputation transparent we take m1 = m2
PV
' (q )
(
)
h
g2 Z 1 X
2
2
2 x(1 x)q 2 i
=
dx
e
1
3
3
log
[(
m
+
b
)
x
(1
x
)
q
(
m
+
b
)
`
1
`
1
`
(2 )2 0
`
(
)
2 Z 1 X
2
2
dx e` log [(m + b`) x(1 x)q +
+
8(2 )2 0
`
Z 1
2
X
3g
2 x(1 x)q 2 h(m1 + b` )2 x(1 x)q 2 i
dx
e
log
(
m
+
b
)
=
`
1
`
(2 )2 0
`
Z 1
2
X
2 x(1 x)q 2
+
dx
e
log
(
m
+
b
)
`
`
8(2 )2 0
`
2 Z1
2 Z 1
2 x(1 x)q 2 3g
2 x(1 x)q 2 hm2 x(1 x)q 2 i
=
dx
log
m
dx
log
m
1
1
8(2 )2 0
(2 )2 0
+a1 2 + a2 + a3 log + a4 q 2 log + a5 + a6 q 2 + O(1=) :
(22.31)
The pre
ise values of the
oe
ients ai are not very important, but
an be
al
ulated expli
itly with some eort. All dependent terms
an be absorbed in a redenition of Z' and
the mass of the s
alar eld, su
h that
3g 2 Z 1
2 x(1 x)q 2 hm2 x(1 x)q 2 i
dx
log
m
PV
(
q
)
=
1
1
'
(2 )2 0
2
2 x(1 x)q 2 + a5 + a6 q 2 :
(22.32)
log
m
+
8(2 )2
106
(0)
Note that in dimensional regularisation (DR) we found the result (0)
1 + 2 , or
(
)
i
h
h
3g 2 Z 1
2
2
2 x(1 x)q 2 i
DR
1
+
dx
log
m
x
(1
x
)
q
m
' (q ) =
1
1
3
(2 )2 0
)
(
h
2 Z 1
2 x(1 x)q 2 i +
:
(22.33)
dx
log
m
+
8(2 )2 0
DR
2
However, the dieren
e PV
' (q ) ' (q ) = a5 b1 + (a6 b2 )q , where
2 (
+ log ) g 2 m21 (3
+ 3 log 1)
g 2 m21 (3
+ 3 log
b1 =
;
b
=
2
8(2 )2
(2 )2
6(2 )2
1)
(22.34)
an be absorbed in a nite redenition of the mass and of Z' . If we dene the renormalised
oupling in terms of some physi
al s
attering pro
ess, su
h an ambiguity of
ourse
annot
arise. In that
ase there is a unique relation between the bare and renormalised parameters.
This relation, however, depends on the regularisation used.
We will now dis
uss, without a detailed derivation, the renormalisation of gauge theories
to one-loop order in dimensional regularisation. The bare Lagrangian is given by
L = 1 ( A A )2 1 B ( A )2 + B (i
mB ) B + eB A B
B : (22.35)
B
In n dimensions we still want the a
tion to be dimensionless (h = 1), whi
h implies that
L=n is dimensionless. From this we derive the dimensions of the elds and the parameters
in n dimensions,
1
1
1
1
[A = 2 n 1 ; [B = 1 ; [ B = [ B = 2 n 2 ; [mB = ; [eB = 2 2 n : (22.36)
B
If we dene (as is
ustomary) " 4 n, one nds (for details see Itzykson and Zuber, e.g.
se
tions 7-1 and 8-4. They use slightly dierent notations.)
!1
!
2
3e2 1
e2 1
ZA
+ A ; mB Zm m = 1 82 " + m ;
1
6 2 "
!1
!
q
2 1
2 1
2
1"
1"
e
e
B 2 Z = 2 1
+ ; B Z = 1 + 6 2 " + ;
8 2 "
!
2 1
1"
1"
e
eB 2 Ze e = 2 1 +
+ e :
(22.37)
12 2 "
We note that to one-loop order A eB AB and B =e2B are nite for n ! 4. This is
not an a
ident, but the
onsequen
e of a so-
alled Ward identity, whi
h as a
onsequen
e of
the gauge symmetry (through the BRS invarian
e mentioned at the end of se
t. 20) relates
dierent Z fa
tors,
Ze2 = Z = 1=ZA :
(22.38)
It is therefore sometimes mu
h more
onvenient to use
L = 4e12 ( A A )2 2e2 ( A )2 + B (i
D mB ) B ; D iA :
B
B
(22.39)
To all orders in the loop expansion the eld A and the gauge xing parameter remain
free of renormalisations. The same holds for non-Abelian gauge theories. By absorbing the
AB
1
2"
A =
1
2"
107
harge q (
alled
oupling
onstant g q hen
eforth) in the gauge eld, the Lagrangian
an
be expressed as
(22.40)
where the gauge eld and the gauge xing parameter re
eive no renormalisations, in other
words they are already the renormalised eld and gauge xing parameter. The eld strength
F and
ovariant derivative D are now given by (
ompare eqs. (18.35) and (18.41))
D = + A ; F = A
A + [A ; A :
(22.41)
If the gauge group is SU(N) and there are nf
avours of fermions the renormalisation of the
oupling
onstant is given by (see Itzykson and Zuber se
t. 12.3-4)
!
2 1
1"
1"
(11
N
2
n
)
g
f
gB = 2 Zg g = 2 1
" + g :
(22.42)
48 2
As long as the number of fermion
avours is small enough, we see that the one loop
orre
tions
to the bare
oupling
onstant diers in sign from the equivalent expression for the Abelian
ase. It is the self-intera
tions of the non-Abelian gauge elds that are responsible for
the asymptoti
freedom of its running
oupling
onstant. The running of the
oupling is
expressed in terms of the so-
alled beta-fun
tion
(g )
(22.43)
where the derivative is taken at xed " and gB (g gR ). For non-Abelian gauge theories
one nds (0 is an integration
onstant)
(11N 2nf )g 3
1
(11N 2nf )
(g ) =
+ O (g 5 ) ; 2 =
log(=0) + O(g 2 ()) ;
2
2
48
g ( )
24
(22.44)
whereas for QED (
oupled to nf
avours of fermions)
n e3
1
nf
(e) = f 2 + O(e5 ) ; 2 =
log(=0 ) + O(e2 ()) :
(22.45)
12
e ( )
6 2
For other regularisations the
omputation of the running
oupling
onstant is similar, ex
ept
that " is repla
ed roughly by 1= log(). To the order displayed, the beta-fun
tions do not
depend on the regularisation s
heme.
It is perhaps appropriate to end these le
ture notes with as
lassi
an experimental test
of renormalisation ee
ts in eld theory as the one for the Casimir energy in se
tion 2. It
on
erns the Lamb shift, measured in 1947, whi
h is the very small energy splitting of the
2S 21 and 2P 21 orbitals in hydrogen atoms, re
eiving a
ontribution from va
uum polarisation
ee
ts (for a dis
ussion of the other
ontributions see se
tion 7-3-2 of Itzykson and Zuber).
In problem 39 it will be shown that to one-loop order the photon va
uum polarisation is
given by (
ompare eqs. (16.22) and (16.23). In the Landau gauge, ! 1, we
an drop the
() fa
tors)
(q ) = () (q )(q 2 g
q q
)! (q 2)(
) (q ) :
(22.46)
108
From the results of problem 39, where ! is
omputed with Pauli-Villars regularisation, it
an be dedu
ed that (m is the ele
tron mass)
! (q 2 ) = a log(=m) + b +
q 2 for q 2 ! 0; ! 1 :
(22.47)
The pre
ise values of the
oe
ients a and b are not very important, as the
ombination
a log(=m)+ b
an be absorbed in the eld renormalisation (this means that a
an be read o
from ZA given above). In se
tion 7-1-1 of Itzykson and Zuber it is shown that
= e2 =(60m2 ).
In the stati
limit, as is relevant for the hydrogen atom, q 2 = ~q 2 and the photon ex
hange
an be a
urately des
ribed by the Coulomb potential
Z
ei~q~r
e2
= e2 d3 ~q 2 ;
(22.48)
4r
~q
whi
h due to the va
uum polarisation is repla
ed by
e4
(~r) :
60m2 2 3
(22.49)
The extra delta-fun
tion intera
tion, that arises from the va
uum
u
tuations, only ae
ts
the wave fun
tions that do not vanish in the origin. Consequently, only the energy of the S
orbitals will be shifted by this
orre
tion
4me5
e2
;
=
;
(22.50)
E (nS 12 ) =
e
15n3
4
where n is the radial quantum number and e is the ne-stru
ture
onstant.
e2
Z
ei~q~r
1
e2
2
i~q~r =
d3 ~q 2
d
~
q
=
e
+
+
e
3
~q (1 + ! ( ~q 2 ))
~q 2
4r
!
109