PHY 253a: Problem Set 11 - Solutions

November 23, 2015

1. Supersymmetry The new vertices in this theory are

ẽ− e− ẽ−
Aµ Aµ
ẽ−

Aµ
ẽ+ Ã ẽ+

with similar vertices for the smuons. The first order loop correction to the electron magnetic moment is
given by the diagrams

Aµ Aµ Aµ Aµ

ẽ

p+k
ẽ k ẽ ẽ
q1 − k ẽ

e− e− e− Ã e−
q1 q2 e− Ã e− e− Ã e−

(a) As before, only the second diagram contributes to the electron magnetic moment. The amplitude for
this diagram is
" #
d4 k q1 − k
i(/ / + mà )
Z
i i
iMµ = ūs (q2 )(ig) (ig)us0 (q1 ) 2 (ig)(pµ + 2kµ )
(2π)4 (q1 − k)2 − m2Ã + i k − m2ẽ + i (p + k)2 − m2ẽ + i
" # (1)
d4 k q1 − k
(/ / + mà )
Z
3 3 1 (pµ + 2kµ )
= i (ig) ūs (q2 ) us0 (q1 )
(2π)4 (q1 − k)2 − m2Ã + i k2 − m2ẽ + i (p + k)2 − m2ẽ + i

The Feynman parametrization gives

Z 1
1 1
=2 dxdydzδ(x + y + z − 1) (2)
ABC 0 (xA + yB + zC)3
where

A = k 2 − m2ẽ + i, B = (p + k)2 − m2ẽ + i, C = (q1 − k)2 − m2Ã + i (3)

This gives

xA + yB + zC = x[k 2 − m2ẽ ] + y[(p + k)2 − m2ẽ ] + z[(q1 − k)2 − m2Ã ] + i

= k 2 + 2kµ (ypµ − zq1µ ) + zm2e − zm2Ã + yp2 − ym2ẽ − xm2ẽ + i (4)
µ
= (k + yp − µ
zq1µ )2 − ∆ + i

1
where
 
∆ = (yp − zq1 )2 − zm2e − zm2Ã + yp2 − ym2ẽ − xm2ẽ
= y 2 p2 + z 2 m2e − 2yzp · q1 − zm2e + zm2Ã − yp2 + ym2ẽ + xm2ẽ
(5)
= −xyp2 − zy(q2 − q1 )2 + z 2 m2e − 2yz(q2 − q1 ) · q1 − zm2e + zm2Ã + ym2ẽ + xm2ẽ
= −xyp2 + (1 − z)2 m2e + zm2Ã + (1 − z)(m2ẽ − m2e )

The integral then becomes

"Z #
d4 k 2(/q1 − k/ + mà )(pµ + 2k µ )
Z
iMµ = −g 3 ūs (q2 ) dxdydzδ(x + y + z − 1) µ us0 (q1 ) (6)
(2π)4 [(k + ypµ − zq1µ )2 − ∆ + i]3

Now change the integration variable k µ → k µ − ypµ + zq1µ . The numerator of the integrand then
becomes (after neglecting terms that are odd in k µ since they vanish under integration)
µ 
N µ = 2ūs (q2 ) (q/1 − k/ + y p µ µ µ

/ − z q/1 + mà )(p + 2k − 2yp + 2zq1 ) us0 (q1 )
(7)
= 2ūs (q2 ) (me − zme + mà )(pµ − 2ypµ + 2zq1µ ) − 2k/k µ us0 (q1 )
 

Define Qµ = q1µ + q2µ , pµ = q2µ − q1µ =⇒ q1µ = 21 (Qµ − pµ ). This gives

N µ = 2ūs (q2 ) (me − zme + mà )(pµ − 2ypµ + zQµ − zpµ ) − 2k ν k µ γν ūs0 (q1 )
 
 
1
= 2ūs (q2 ) (x − y)pµ + z(me − zme + mà )(q1µ + q2µ ) − η µν k 2 γν ūs0 (q1 )
2 (8)
k2 µ
 
µ µ µ
= 2ūs (q2 ) (x − y)(me − zme + mà )p + z(me − zme + mà )(q1 + q2 ) − γ ūs0 (q1 )
2
Thus, the integral we have to perform is
Z 1
d4 k Nµ
Z
µ 3 (9)
iM = −g dxdydzδ(x + y + z − 1)
(2π)4 0 (k 2 − ∆)3
Note that the pµ term in N µ is antisymmetric under x and y. This therefore integrates out to zero.
Further, we are not interested in the γ µ term as this does not contribute to the electron magnetic
moment. The relevant term is
Z 1
d4 k z(1 − z)me + zmÃ
Z
µ 3 µ ν
iM = −2g ūs (q2 )(q1 + q2 )us0 (q1 ) 4
dxdydzδ(x + y + z − 1)
(2π) 0 (k 2 − ∆)3 (10)
2 µ ν
= f (p )ūs (q2 )(q1 + q2 )us0 (q1 )

d4 k
R1 z(1−z)me +zmÃ
where f (p2 ) = −2g 3
R
(2π)4 0 dxdydzδ(x + y + z − 1) (k2 −∆)3
. Now by the Gordon Identity,

ūs (q2 )(q1µ + q2µ )us0 (q1 ) = 2mūs (q2 )γ µ us0 (q1 ) − iūs (q2 )σ µν pν us0 (q1 ) (11)

Thus, the relevant term in the amplitude is

igF2 p2


iMµ = −f (p2 ) [ūs (q2 )iσ µν pν us0 (q1 )] ∼ − [ūs (q2 )iσ µν pν us0 (q1 )]
2me
Z 1 (12)
2ime f (p2 ) 4ig 3 me d4 k z(1 − z)me + zmÃ
Z
=⇒ F2 (p2 ) = − = dxdydzδ(x + y + z − 1)
g g (2π)4 0 (k2 − ∆)3

First, we evaluate the k integral by using

d4 k 1 −i
Z
= (13)
(2π)4 (k 2 − ∆)3 32π 2 ∆
Thus

2
 1 z(z − 1)me − zmÃ
αme
Z
F2 (p2 ) = − dxdydzδ(x + y + z − 1) (14)
2π 0 −xyp2 + (1 − z)2 m2e + zm2Ã + (1 − z)(m2ẽ − m2e )

We can evaluate F2 (0) directly as

αme 1
Z 1 Z 1
z(z − 1)me − zmÃ
Z
F2 (0) = − dz dy dxδ(x + y + z − 1) (15)
2π 0 0 0 (1 − z) me + zm2 + (1 − z)(m2ẽ − m2e )
2 2
Ã

First, we must perform an integral of the form

Z 1 Z 1
dy dxδ(x + y + z − 1) (16)
0 0

To solve this, do a variable transformation x → α = x + y + z − 1 =⇒ dα = dx. The integral is

Z 1 Z y+z
dy dαδ(α) (17)
0 y+z−1

Now the limits of the integration contain zero when y + z − 1 < 0 =⇒ y < 1 − z. The integral is thus
Z 1
dyθ(1 − z − y) = 1 − z (18)
0

Thus
1 me (1 − z)(z(z − 1)me − zmà )
α
Z
F2 (0) = − dz (19)
2π 0 (1 − z)2 m2e + zm2Ã + (1 − z)(m2ẽ − m2e )

Thus, the contribution of loops to the electron magnetic-moment (including supersymmetry) is

1 me (1 − z)(z(z − 1)me − zmà )
α
Z
gSU SY = gQED − dz (20)
π 0 (1 − z)2 m2e + zm2Ã + (1 − z)(m2ẽ − m2e )

(b) Since we expect the SUSY masses to be much larger than the electron mass, we can ignore me compared
to mẽ . For mà = mẽ , the integral evaluates to

me 1 me
Z
dzz(z − 1) = − (21)
mẽ 0 6mẽ
α me
⇒ gSU SY = gQED + (22)
6π mẽ
For SUSY to explain the discrepancy between the theoretical value from QED and experiment,

gQED = 2.0023193043128, gEXP = 2.002319304360 =⇒ gEXP − gQED = 2.3 × 10−10 (23)

we find a bound on the SUSY mass

α me
< 2.3 × 10−10
6π mẽ (24)
⇒ mẽ > 0.86 TeV

(c) For the muon the calculation is exactly the same as in part (b) assuming mà = mµ̃

mµ α 1 mµ α
Z
gSU SY = gQED − dzz(z − 1) = gQED +
πmµ̃ 0 6πmµ̃
mµ α
=⇒ gSU SY − gQED = (25)
6πmµ̃
m µα
⇒ 5.2 × 10−9 > =⇒ mµ̃ > 7.87 TeV
6πmµ̃

3
 (d) Comparing the answers in part (b) and (c), we see that the strongest bound comes from the (g − 2)µ .
This (maybe) surprising observation is that the strongest bound does not come from the most precise
measurement (g − 2)e but from the less accurate (g − 2)µ measurement. This is because the muon
magnetic moment is 200 times more sensitive to SUSY since the correction is proportional to the mass
of the particle (electron or muon).

2. Vacuum Polarization The s-channel diagram to a first order loop correction is given by diagrams

π− π− π− π−
p3 p1 + p2 − k p3
p1 p1
τ+
p1 + p2
µ ν + µ α β ν

p2 p2 τ-
p4 k p4
π+ π+ π+ π+

Figure 1: Feynman diagrams for π − π + → π − π +

In class, we calculated the correction to the photon propagator (eq. 16.48-16.49)

iΠµν (q 2 ) = i(−q 2 g µν + q µ q ν )e2 Π(q 2 ) (26)

where
1
µ̃2
  
1 2
Z
2
Π(q ) = 2 dxx(1 − x) + log (27)
2π 0 ε m2τ − q 2 x(1 − x) − iε

Where we have kept in the iε, which will play a role later when we need to choose the right branch or the
logarithm when the argument is negative.
Ignoring the pµ pν terms, the propagator in the s-channel diagram with this correction is
−ig µν −i −i −igµν 
1 − e2 Π(s)

iGµν (s) = + iΠµν (s) = (28)
s s s s
The amplitude for the process is therefore

iM = (−ie)(pµ1 − pµ2 )iGµν (s)(−ie)(pν3 − pν4 )

e2  (29)
1 − e2 Π(s) (p1 − p2 ) · (p3 − p4 )

=⇒ M(s) =
s
We are interested in plotting the amplitude for forward scattering where t = 0 which implies p1 = p3 and
p2 = p4 .

e2  e2 
1 − e2 Π(s) (p1 − p2 )2 = 1 − e2 Π(s) (4m2π − s) (30)
 
iM(s) =
s s
At a scale s0 , this is

e2  e2
1 − e2 Π(s0 ) (4m2π − s0 ) = R (4m2π − s0 ) =⇒ e2 = e2R + e4R Π(s0 )

M(s0 ) = (31)
s0 s0
Plugging this in, we get

e2R 
1 − e2R [Π(s) − Π(s0 )] (4m2π − s) (32)

M(s) =
s

4
where
1
m2τ − s0 x(1 − x) − iε
 
1
Z
Π(s) − Π(s0 ) = 2 dxx(1 − x) log (33)
2π 0 m2τ − sx(1 − x) − iε

We use s0 = 0 at which eR = 0.303. Thus

Z 1
e2R e2R
  
s
M(s) = 1+ 2 dxx(1 − x) log 1 − 2 x(1 − x) − iε (4m2π − s) (34)
s 2π 0 mτ

We use values eR = 0.303, mπ = 139.5 MeV, mτ = 1770 MeV.

(a) We want to plot |M|2 , but let us first define

  Z 1
s
I r= 2 = dxx(1 − x) log (1 − rx(1 − x)) (35)
mτ 0

The integral I(r) can be performed numerically using Mathematica, and we can plot
2 2
 2
s 2
 2
e2 2
      
e
|M|2 =  R (4m2π − s) 1 + R2 I
s  = e4R 1 − 4mπ 1 + eR I

(36)
s 2π m2τ  s  2π 2 m2τ 

This looks like

0.990

0.985
/eR 4
2
|M

0.980

0.975

2 3 4 5 6
s
r=
mτ 2

We find a kink at r = 4 which corresponds to s = 4m2τ . When s = ECM

2 = 4m2τ , the center of mass
energy is ECM = 2mτ , so we have enough energy to produce two tau particles on-shell.

(b) The real and imaginary parts are

5
 0.0020

-0.986

0.0015
-0.988
Re[M]/eR 2

Im[M]/eR 2
-0.990 0.0010

-0.992
0.0005

-0.994

0.0000
2 3 4 5 6 2 3 4 5 6
s s
r= r=
mτ 2 mτ 2

We now want to calculate Im [M] explicitly, and show that it agrees with the plot. Consider the
integral
Z 1
I(r) = dxx(1 − x) log (1 − rx(1 − x) − iε) (37)
0

The imaginary part comes from those values of x for which the argument of the logarithm is negative.
This happens when
r ! r !
1 r−4 1 r−4
rx(1 − x) > 1 =⇒ 1− <x< 1+ (38)
2 r 2 r

The logarithm of a negative number is not unique log(−x) = log(x) ± iπ depending on which way we
approach the negative real axis in the complex plane. The iε tells us that we are approaching it from
the lower half-plane giving us log(−x − iε) = log(x) − iπ. The imaginary part of the integral is simply
given by
√
q 
1
1+ r−4
π r − 4(r + 2)
Z
2 r
Im[I] = −π  q  dxx(1 − x) = − (39)
1
2
1− r−4
r
6r3/2

This gives
 √
e4R m2π π r − 4(r + 2)

Im[M(r)] = 2 1 − 4 2
2π rmτ 6r3/2
(40)
e4R 2
p
= 5 (s − 4mπ ) s − 4m2τ (s + 2m2τ )
12πs 2

Plotting this, we get

0.0020
Analytic Result for Im[M]/eR 2

0.0015

0.0010

0.0005

0.0000
2 3 4 5 6
s
r=
mτ 2

6
 which is exactly the figure plotter earlier!
(c) The diagram for the π − π + → τ − τ + process is

π− τ−
p1 k3
Aµ
µ ν

p2 k4
π+ τ
+

The amplitude for this process is

−iηµν e2
iM0 = ūs (k3 )(−ieγ ν )vs0 (k4 ) (−ie)(pµ1 − pµ2 ) =⇒ M0 = (pµ1 − pµ2 )ūs (k3 )γµ vs0 (k4 ) (41)
s s
The cross-section is therefore
e4 µ
|M0 |2 = (p − pµ2 )(pν1 − pν2 )Tr [(k/3 + mτ )γµ (k/4 − mτ )γν ] (42)
s2 1
where k32 = k42 = m2τ since the external particles are on-shell. We can simplify this
e4 µ
|M0 |2 = (p1 − pµ2 )(pν1 − pν2 )Tr k/3 γ µ k/4 γ ν − m2τ γ µ γ ν
 
s 2

4e4
= 2 (pµ1 − pµ2 )(pν1 − pν2 )(k3µ k4ν + k3ν k4µ − (m2τ + k3 · k4 )g µν ) (43)
s
4e4
= 2 2[(p1 − p2 ) · k3 ][(p1 − p2 ) · k4 ] − (m2τ + k3 · k4 )(p1 − p2 )2


s
In the center of mass frame
p1 = (E, 0, 0, p), p2 = (E, 0, 0, −p),
(44)
k3 = (E, 0, k sin θ, k cos θ), k4 = (E, 0, −k sin θ, −k cos θ)
and we find
4e4
|M0 |2 = 2[−2pk cos θ][2pk cos θ] + 4p2 (m2τ + k3 · k4 )


s 2

4e4
= 2 8[−p2 k 2 cos2 θ] + 8p2 E 2 (45)


s
32e4 2 2
= 2 p E − k 2 cos2 θ


s
The cross section is
1 1 |~kf |
Z
+ − + −
σ(π π → τ τ ) = dΩ 2 |M0 |2
64π 2 ECM |~
pi |
1 1 k 32e4 2 2
Z
2 2


= dΩ p E − k cos θ
64π 2 s p s2
e 4 Z
= 3 kp d(cos θ) E 2 − k 2 cos2 θ (46)


πs
2e4 k2
 
2
= 3 kp E −
πs 3
e 4 p p
s − 4m2π s − 4m2τ s + 2m2τ


= 3
12πs

7
 We then find
√ p
Im[Mp1 ,p2 →p1 ,p2 ] = s s − 4m2π σ(π + π − → τ + τ − )
(47)
= 2ECM |p|σ(π + π − → τ + τ − )

which is the statement of the optical theorem.

3. Grand Unification

(a) The effective coupling is given by

 
−1 −1 β0 mZ
α(µ) = α(mZ ) + log (48)
2π µ

Now, sin2 θW = 0.2312 =⇒ cos2 θW = 0.7688

α1−1 (mZ ) = cos2 θW αe−1 (mZ ) = 99.0983, (β0 )1 = 4

22 10
α2−1 (mZ ) = sin2 θW αe−1 (mZ ) = 29.8017, (β0 )2 = 4 − =− (49)
3 3
αs−1 (mZ ) = 0.1184−1 , (β0 )s = 4 − 11 = −7

Thus, we have the relations

 
3 −1 6 91.2
α1 (µ) = 59.459 + log
5 5π µ
 
−1 5 91.2
α2 (µ) = 29.8017 − log (50)
3π µ
 
−1 −1 7 91.2
αs (µ) = 0.1184 − log
2π µ

Plotting these on a log scale, we get

60

50

40
3
α -1 (μ)
5 1
α-1

30 α2 -1 (μ)
αs -1 (μ)
20

10

100 106 1010 1014 1018

μ(GeV)

It seems like the lines almost cross, but not quite.

8
(b) We can zoom in, and look at the uncertainties in the lines

49.5

49.0

48.5

3
48.0 α -1 (μ)
5 1
α-1

47.5 α2 -1 (μ)

47.0 αs -1 (μ)

46.5

46.0

5 × 1015 1 × 1016 5 × 1016 1 × 1017 5 × 1017 1 × 1018

μ(GeV)

The width of the line corresponds to the uncertainties. So the lines do not cross, even within the
uncertainties in the value of the couplings.

(c) The Landau poles results when α−1 goes to zero. This occurs at

α1 (3, 66 × 1069 GeV)−1 = 0, α2 (3.66 × 10−23 GeV)−1 = 0, αs (0.047GeV)−1 = 0 (51)