Quantum Field Theory I: Institute For Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University

Quantum Field Theory I
Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University

Timo Weigand
Literature
This is a writeup of my Master programme course on Quantum Field Theory I. The primary source
for this course has been
Peskin, Schrder: An introduction to Quantum Field Theory, ABP 1995,
Itzykson, Zuber: Quantum Field Theory, Dover 1980,
Kugo: Eichtheorie, Springer 1997,
which I urgently recommend for more details and for the many topics which time constraints have
forced me to abbreviate or even to omit. Among the many other excellent textbooks on Quantum
Field Theory I particularly recommend
Weinberg: Quantum Field Theory I + II, Cambridge 1995,
Srednicki: Quantum Field Theory, Cambridge 2007,
Banks: Modern Quantum Field Theory, Cambridge 2008
as further reading. All three of them oftentimes take an approach different to the one of this course.
Excellent lecture notes available online include
A. Hebecker: Quantum Field Theory,
D. Tong: Quantum Field Theory.
Special thanks to Robert Reischke1 for his fantastic work in typing these notes.
1 For
corrections and improvement suggestions please send a mail to reischke@stud.uni-heidelberg.de.
Contents
1
The free scalar field
1.1
Why Quantum Field Theory? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2
Classical scalar field: Lagrangian formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3
Noethers Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
1.4
Quantisation in the Schrdinger Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
1.5
Mode expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
1.6
The Fock space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
1.7
Some important technicalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21
1.7.1
Normalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21
1.7.2
The identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
1.7.3
Position-space representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
1.8
On the vacuum energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23
1.9
The complex scalar field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
1.10 Quantisation in the Heisenberg picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
28
1.11 Causality and Propagators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
1.11.1 Commutators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
1.11.2 Propagators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
1.11.3 The Feynman-propagator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
34
1.11.4 Propagators as Greens functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
37
Interacting scalar theory
39
2.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
39
2.2
Klln-Lehmann spectral representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40
2.3
S-matrix and asymptotic in/out-states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
2.4
The LSZ reduction formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
46
2.5
Correlators in the interaction picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51
2.5.1
Time evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53
2.5.2
From the interacting to the free vacuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54
2.6
Wicks theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
57
2.7
Feynman diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
59
CONTENTS
2.7.1
Position space Feynman-rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61
2.7.2
Momentum space Feynman-rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61
Disconnected diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
63
2.8.1
Vacuum bubbles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65
1-particle-irreducible diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65
2.10 Scattering amplitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
68
2.10.1 Feynman-rules for the S -matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
70
2.11 Cross-sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
71
Quantising spin 12 -fields
75
2.8
2.9
3.1
The Lorentz algebra so(1, 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
3.2
The Dirac spinor representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
79
3.3
The Dirac action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
82
3.4
Chirality and Weyl spinors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
84
3.5
Classical plane-wave solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
87
3.6
Quantisation of the Dirac field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
89
3.6.1
Using the commutator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
89
3.6.2
Using the anti-commutator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
92
3.7
Propagators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95
3.8
Wicks theorem and Feynman diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
97
3.9
LSZ and Feynman rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
98
Quantising spin 1-fields

4.1
Classical Maxwell-theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.2
Canonical quantisation of the free field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.3
Gupta-Bleuler quantisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.4
Massive vector fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.5
Coupling vector fields to matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

4.5.1
Coupling to Dirac fermions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.5.2
Coupling to scalars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
4.6
Feynman rules for QED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.7
Recovering Coulombs potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

4.7.1
101
Massless and massive vector fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Quantum Electrodynamics
5.1
125
QED process at tree-level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

5.1.1
Feynman rules for in/out-states of definite polarisation . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.1.2
Sum over all spin and polarisation states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.1.3
Trace identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
5.1.4
Centre-of-mass frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
CONTENTS
5.1.5 Cross-section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2 The Ward-Takahashi identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.1 Relation between current conservation and gauge invariance
5.2.2 Photon polarisation sums in QED . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.3 Decoupling of potential ghosts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3 Radiative corrections in QED - Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4 Self-energy of the electron at 1-loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4.1 Feynman parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4.2 Wick rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4.3 Regularisation of the integral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.5 Bare mass m0 versus physical mass m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.5.1 Mass renormalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.6 The photon propagator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.7 The running coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.8 The resummed QED vertex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.8.1 Physical charge revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.8.2 Anomalous magnetic moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.9 Renormalised perturbation theory of QED . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.9.1 Bare perturbation theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.9.2 Renormalised Perturbation theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.10 Infrared divergences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
7
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128
130
133
134
134
135
136
137
138
139
142
144
144
147
148
151
151
152
153
156
162
Classical non-abelian gauge theory

163
6.1 Geometric perspective on abelian gauge theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
6.2 Non-abelian gauge symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
6.3 The Standard Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
The free scalar field

1.1
Why Quantum Field Theory?
In (non-relativistic) Quantum Mechanics, the dynamics of a particle is described by the time-evolution

of its associated wave-function (t, ~x) with respect to the non-relativistic Schrdinger equation
ih
(t, ~x) = H(t, ~x),

t
(1.1)
~p
with the Hamilitonian given by H = 2m
+ V ( x ). In order to achieve a Lorentz invariant framework, a
naive approach would start by replacing this non-relativistic form of the Hamiltonian by a relativistic
expression such as
q
(1.2)
H = c2 ~p 2 + m2 c4
or, even better, by modifying the Schrdinger equation altogether such as to make it symmetric in
~
t and the spatial derivative . However, the central insight underlying the formulation of Quantum
Field Theory is that this is not sufficient. Rather, combining the principles of Lorentz invariance and
Quantum Theory requires abandoning the single-particle approach of Quantum Mechanics.
In any relativistic Quantum Theory, particle number need not be conserved, since the relativistic
dispersion relation E 2 = c2 ~p2 + m2 c4 implies that energy can be converted into particles and
vice versa. This requires a multi-particle framework.
Unitarity and causality cannot be combined in a single-particle approach: In Quantum Mechanics, the probability amplitude for a particle to propagate from position ~x to ~y is
i
G (~x, ~y) = h~y| e h Ht |~xi .
(1.3)
2
p
One can show that e.g. for the free non-relativistic Hamiltonian H = 2m
this is non-zero even
0
if x = ( x , ~x) and y = (y , ~y) are at a spacelike distance. The problem persists if we replace
H by a relativistic expression such as (1.2).
Quantum Field Theory (QFT) solves both these problems by a radical change of perspective:
9
10
CHAPTER 1. THE FREE SCALAR FIELD

The fundamental entities are not the particles, but the field, an abstract object that penetrates
spacetime.
Particles are the excitations of the field.
Before developing the notion of an abstract field let us try to gain some intuition in terms of a mechanical model of a field. To this end we consider a mechanical string of length L and tension T along the
x-axis and excite this string in the transverse direction. Let ( x, t ) denote the transverse excitation of
the string. In this simple picture ( x, t ) is our model for the field. This system arises as the continuum
limit of N mass points of mass m coupled by a mechanical spring to each other. Let the distance of
the mass points from each other projected to the x-axis be and introduce the transverse coordinates
qr (t ), r = 1, . . . , N of the mass points. In the limit 0 with L fixed, the profile qr (t ) asymptotes
to the field ( x, t ). In this sense the field variable x is the continuous label for infinitely many degrees
of freedom.
We can now linearise the force between the mass points due to the spring. As a result of a simple
exercise in classical mechanics the energy at leading order is found to be
E=
N
X
1
r =0
dqr (t )
m
2
dt
!2

+ k(q2r qr qr1 ) + O(q3 ),
k=
T
.
L
(1.4)
In the continuum limit this becomes

!2
!2
ZL
1 2 ( x, t )
1 ( x, t )
+ c
E=
dx

2
t
2
x
(1.5)
in terms of the mass density of the string and a suitably defined characteristic velocity c. Note that
the second term indeed includes the nearest neighbour interaction because
( x, t )
x
!2
( x + x, t ) ( x, t ))
' lim
x0
x
!2
(1.6)
contains the off-diagonal terms ( x + x, t )( x, t ).

The nearest-neighbour interaction implies that the equation of motion for the mass points qi obey coupled linear differential equations. This feature persists in the continuum limit. To solve the dynamics
it is essential that we are able to diagonalise the interaction in terms of the Fourier modes,
!
kx
,
( x, t ) =
Ak (t ) sin
L
k =1
!
L X 1 2 1 2 2
E=
A + A ,
2 k =1 2 k 2 k
(1.7)
where k = kc/L. We are now dealing with a collection of infinitely many, decoupled harmonic
oscillators Ak (t ).
1.2. CLASSICAL SCALAR FIELD: LAGRANGIAN FORMULATION
11
In a final step, we quantise this collection of harmonic oscillators. According to Quantum Mechanics,
each mode Ak (t ) can take energy values
Ek = h k (nk + 1/2) nk = 0, 1, 2, ..., .
(1.8)
P
The total energy is given by summing over the energy associated with all the modes, E = Ek . A
state of definite energy E corresponds to mode numbers (n1 , n2 , ..., n ), where we think of nr as an
excitation of the string or of the field , i.e. as a quantum. In condensed matter physics, these quantised excitations in terms of harmonic modes are called quasi-particles, e.g. phonons for mechanical
vibrations of a solid. Note that the above decoupling of the degrees of freedom rested on the quadratic
form of the potential. Including higher terms will destroy this and induce interactions between modes.
The idea of Quantum Field Theory is to adapt this logic to particle physics and to describe a particle
as the quantum of oscillation of an abstract field - just like in solid state physics we think of a
quasi-particle as the vibrational excitation of a solid. The only difference is that the fields are now
more abstract objects defined all over spacetime as opposed to concrete mechanical fields of the type
above.
As a familiar example for a field we can think of the Maxwell field A ( x, t ) in classical electrodynamics. A photon is the quantum excitation of this. It has spin 1. Similarly we assign one field to
each particle species, e.g. an electron is the elementary excitation of the electron field (Spin 1/2). We
will interpret the sum over harmonic oscillator energies as an integral over possible energies for given
momentum,
Z
X
E=
h k (nk + 1/2)
dp h p (n p + 1/2).
(1.9)
k =1
A single particle with momentum p corresponds to n p = 1 while all others vanish, but this is just a
special example of a more multi-particle state with several n pi , 0. In particular, in agreement with
the requirements of a multi-particle framework, at fixed E transitions between various multi-particle
states are in principle possible. Such transitions are induced by interactions corresponding to the
higher order terms in the Hamiltonian that we have discarded so far. As a triumph this formalism also
solves the problem of causality, as we will see.
1.2
Classical scalar field: Lagrangian formulation
We now formalise the outlined transition from a classical system with a finite number of degrees
of freedom qi (t ) to a classical field theory in terms of a scalar field (t, ~x) ( x ). In classical
mechanics we start from an action
Zt2
S =
dt L(qi (t ), q i (t )) with L =
t1
1X
(q i (t))2 V (q1 , , qN ),
2 i
(1.10)
12
where we have included the mass m in the definition of qi (t ). In a first step replace
qi ( x ) ( x),
( x)
q i (t )
,
t
(1.11)
(1.12)
thereby substituting the label i = 1, ...N by a continous coordinate ~x xi with i = 1, 2, 3. For the
moment we consider a real scalar field i.e. ( x) = ( x) which takes values in R, i.e.
: x ( x ) R.
(1.13)
We will see that such a field describes spin-zero particles. Examples of scalar particles in nature are
the Higgs boson or the inflaton, which cosmologists believe to be responsible for the exponential expansion of the universe during in inflation.
To set up the Lagrange function we first note that in a relativistic theory the partial time derivative can
only appear as part of
(1.14)
( x ) ( x ) .
x
Thus the Lagrange function can be written as
Z
L=
d3 x L(( x), ( x)),
(1.15)
where L is the Lagrange density. The action therefore is
Z
S =
d4 x L(( x), ( x)).
(1.16)
While, especially in condensed matter physics, also non-relativistic field theories are relevant, we focus on relativistic theories in this course.
Note furthermore that throughout this course we use conventions where
h = c = 1.
(1.17)
Then L has the dimension mass4 , i.e. [L] = 4, since [S ] = 0 and [d4 x] = 4.
The next goal is to find the Lagrangian: In a relativistic setting L can contain powers of and1
, which is the simplest scalar which can be built from . The action in this
case is
"
#
Z
1
4
n
m
S =
d x V () + O( () ) ,
(1.18)
2
where
1
1
1
= 2 ()2
2
2
2
(1.19)
1 Note that the only remaining option is a total derivative and will therefore not alter the equations of motion under
the usual assumptions on the boundary terms.
1.2. CLASSICAL SCALAR FIELD: LAGRANGIAN FORMULATION
13
and the last type of terms consists of higher derivative terms with m 2 or mixed terms with n 1.
Notice that
the signature for the metric is, in our conventions, (+, , , ), such that the sign in the action
is indeed chosen correctly such that the kinetic term appears with a positive prefactor;
has dimension 1 (mass1 ).
The potential V (( x)) is in general a power series of the form
V (( x)) = a + b( x) + c2 ( x) + d3 ( x) + . . . .
(1.20)
We assume that the potential has a global minimum at ( x) = 0 ( x) such that

V ()
|=0 = 0,
V (0 ) = V0
(1.21)
By a field redefinition we ensure that the minimum is at 0 ( x) 0 and expand V (( x)) around this
minimum as
1
V (( x)) = V0 + m2 2 ( x) + O(3 ( x)).
2
(1.22)
Here we used that the linear terms vanish at the extremum and the assumption that we are expanding
around a minimum implies m2 > 0. The constant V0 is the classical contribution to the ground state or
vacuum energy. Since in a theory without gravity absolute energies are not measurable, we set V0 = 0
for the time being, but keep in mind that in principle V0 is arbitrary. We will have considerably more
to say about V0 in the quantum theory in section (1.8).
Therefore the action becomes
#
"
Z
1 2 2
1
2
4
(1.23)
S =
d x () m + ... .
2
2
We will find that m2 , the prefactor of the quadratic term, is related to the mass of the particles and that
the omitted higher powers of as well as the terms O(n ()m ) will give rise to interactions between
these particles.
As an aside note that a negative value of m2 signals that the extremum around which we are expanding
the potential is a maximum rather than a minimum. Therefore m2 < 0 signals a tachyonic instability:
quantum fluctuations will destabilise the vacuum and cause the system to roll down its potential until
it has settled in its true vacuum.
We will start by ignoring interaction terms and studying the action of the free real scalar field theory
Z
S =
"
#
1
1 2 2
2
d x () m , = .
2
2
4
(1.24)
The equations of motion are given by the Euler-Lagrange equations. As in classical mechanics we
derive them by varying S with respect to and subject to |boundary = |boundary = 0. This
14
yields
#
L(( x), ( x))
L(( x), ( x))
( x) +
( x)
0 = S = d x
( x)
( ( x))
"
#
Z
L(( x), ( x))
L(( x), ( x))
4
= d x
( x) +
( x) .
( x)
( ( x))
!
"
Integrating by parts gives

"
#
Z
L(( x), ( x))
L(( x), ( x))
4
d x

( x) + boundary terms.
( x)
( ( x))
(1.25)
(1.26)
Since the boundary terms vanish by assumption, therefore the integrand has to vanish for all variations
( x). This yields the Euler-Lagrange equations
L(( x), ( x))
L(( x), ( x))
=
.
( x)
( ( x))
(1.27)
By inserting (1.24) into (1.27) we find the equations of motion for the free scalar field
L
L
= m2 ,
= =
( )
(1.28)
i.e. the Klein-Gordon equation
(2 + m2 )( x) = 0.
(1.29)
Note that (1.29) is a relativistic wave equation and that it is solved by

eipx with p p = ( p0 , ~p)
p
subject to the dispersion relation p2 + m2 = 0, i.e. p0 = ~p2 + m2 . We now set
q
E ~p := ~p2 + m2 E p
and write the general solution of (1.29) in the form
Z

d3 p
1
( x) =
f ( ~p)eipx + g( ~p)eipx ,
p
3
(2) 2E p
(1.30)
(1.31)
(1.32)
where p := ( E p , ~p) and f ( ~p) = g( ~p) for real and px = p x = p x .
1.3
Noethers Theorem
A key role in Quantum Field Theory is played by symmetries. We consider a field theory with Lagrangian L(, ). A symmetry of the theory is then defined to be a field transformation by which
L changes at most by a total derivative such that the action stays invariant. This ensures that the
equations of motion are also invariant. Symmetries and conservation laws are related by Noethers
Theorem2 :
2 Emmy
Noether, 1882-1935.
1.3. NOETHERS THEOREM
15
Every continuous symmetry in the above sense gives rise to a Noether current j ( x) such
that
j ( x) = 0
(1.33)
upon use of the equations of motion ( "on-shell").
This can be proven as follows:

For a continuous symmetry we can write infinitesimally:
+ + O( 2 ) with = X (, ).
(1.34)
Off-shell (i.e. without use of the equations of motion) we know that

L L + L + O( 2 )
with
L = F
(1.35)
for some F . Now, under an arbitrary transformation + , which is not necessarily a symmetry, L is given by
L
L
+
( )
( )
"
# "
#
L
L
L
=
+

.
( )
( )
L =
(1.36)
If = X is a symmetry, then L = F . Setting

j =
we therefore have
L
X F
( )
!
L
L
j =

X
( )
(1.37)
(1.38)
off-shell. Note that the terms in brackets are just the Euler-Lagrange equation. Thus, if
we use the equations of motion, i.e. on-shell, j = 0.
This immediately yields the following Lemma:

Every continuous symmetry whose associated Noether current satisfies ji (t, ~x) 0 sufficiently fast for |~x| gives rise to a conserved charge Q with
Q = 0.
Indeed if we take
Z
Q=
R3
d3 x j0 (t, ~x),
(1.39)
(1.40)
16

then the total time derivative of Q is given by
Z
Q=
d3 x j0
t
R3
Z
= d3 x i ji (t, ~x) = 0
(1.41)
R3
by assumption of sufficiently fast fall-off of ji (t, ~x). We used that j = 0 in the first
step.

The technical assumption ji (t, ~x) 0 for |~x| is really an assumption of sufficiently fast fall-off
of the fields at spatial infinity, which is typically satisfied. Note that in a finite volume V = const., the
R
quantity QV = dV j0 (t, ~x) satisfies local charge conservation,
V
Z
Q V =
dV ~j =
~j d~s.
(1.42)
We now apply Noethers theorem to deduce the canonical energy-momentum tensor: Under a global
spacetime transformation x x + a scalar field ( x ) transforms like
( x ) ( x ) = ( x ) ( x ) + O ( 2 ) .
| {z }
(1.43)
X ()
Because L is a local function of x it transforms as
L L L = L L
= L L.
(1.44)
For each component we therefore have a conserved current ( j ) given by
( j ) =
L .
( ) |{z} |{z}
X
(1.45)
( F )
With both indices up, we arrive at the canonical energy-momentum tensor

T =
L
L with T = 0 on-shell.
( )
(1.46)
R
The conserved charges are the energy E = d3 x T 00 associated with time translation invariance and
R
the spatial momentum Pi = d3 x T 0i associated with spatial translation invariance. We can combine
them into the conserved 4-momentum
Z
P =
d3 x T 0
(1.47)
with the property P = 0.
Two comments are in order:
1.4. QUANTISATION IN THE SCHRDINGER PICTURE
17
In general, T may not be symmetric - especially in theories with spin. In such cases it can
be useful to modify the energy-momentum tensor without affecting its conservedness or the
associated conserved charges. Indeed we state as a fact that the Belinfante-Rosenfeld tensor
BR := T + S
(1.48)
can be defined in terms of a suitable S = S such that BR is symmetric and obeys
BR = 0.
In General Relativity (GR), there exists yet another definition of the energy-momentum tensor:
With the metric replaced by g and
Z
d4 x gLmatter (g , , ),
S =
(1.49)
where g detg, one defines the Hilbert energy-momentum tensor:
(H )
2 ( gLmatter )
=
,
g
g
(1.50)
which is obviously symmetric and it the object that appears in the Einstein equations
1
R + Rg = 8G ( H ) .
2
(1.51)
In fact one can choose the Belinfante-Rosenfeld tensor such that it is equal to the Hilbert energymomentum tensor.
1.4
Quantisation in the Schrdinger Picture
Before quantising field theory let us briefly recap the transition from classical to quantum mechanics.
We first switch from the Lagrange formulation to the canonical formalism of the classical theory. In
classical mechanics the canonical momentum conjugate to qi (t ) is
pi ( t ) =
L
.
q i (t )
(1.52)
The Hamiltonian is the Legendre transformation of the Lagrange function L

H=
pi (t )q i (t ) L.
(1.53)
To quantise in the Schrdinger picture we drop the time dependence of qi and pi and promote them to
self-adjoint operators without any time dependence such that the fundamental commutation relation
[qi , p j ] = ii j
(1.54)
18
holds. Then all time dependence lies in the states.

This procedure is mimicked in a field theory by first defining clasically
(t, ~x) :=
L
(t, ~x)
(1.55)
to be the conjugate momentum density. The Hamiltonian is

Z
H=
Z
3
d xH =
d3 x[(t, ~x) (t, ~x) L],
(1.56)
where H is the Hamiltonian density. For the scalar field action (1.24) one finds
(t, ~x) = (t, ~x)
(1.57)
and therefore
"
#
1
1
d3 x 2 (t, ~x) ( )( ) + m2 2 (t, ~x)
2
2
"
#
Z
1 2
1 2 2
1
3
2
= d x (t, ~x) + ((t, ~x)) + m (t, ~x) .
2 {z } 2
2
|
Z
H=
(1.58)
= 12 2 (t,~x)
Note that as in classical mechanics one can define a Poisson bracket which induces a natural sympletic structure on phase space. In this formalism the Noether charges Q are the generators of their
underlying symmetries with the respect to the Poisson bracket (see Assignment 1 for details).
We now quantise in the Schrdinger picture. Therefore we drop the time-dependence of and
and promote them to Schrdinger-Picture operators ( s) (~x) and ( s) (~x). For real scalar fields we get
self-adjoint operators ( s) (~x) = (( s) (~x)) with the canonical commutation relations (dropping ( s)
from now on)
[(~x), (~y)] = i(3) (~x ~y) , [(~x), (~y)] = 0 = [(~x), (~y)].
1.5
(1.59)
Mode expansion
Our Hamiltonian (1.58) resembles the Hamiltonian describing a collection of harmonic oscillators,
one at each point ~x, but the term
()2
(~x + ~x) (~x)

|~x|
!2
(1.60)
couples the degrees of freedom at ~x and ~x + ~x. To arrive at a description in which the harmonic
oscillators are decoupled, we must diagonalise the potential. Now, a basis of eigenfunctions with
1.5. MODE EXPANSION
19
respect to is ei~p~x . Thus the interaction will be diagonal in momentum space. With this motivation
we Fourier-transform the fields as
Z
d3 p
(~x) =
( ~p)ei~p~x ,
(2)3
(1.61)
Z
d3 p
i~p~x
( ~p)e ,
(~x) =
(2)3
where ( ~p) = (~p) ensures that (~x) is self-adjoint. To compute H in Fourier space we must
insert these expressions into (1.58). First note that
1
2
1
d x((~x)) =
2
1
=
2
Thanks to the important equality

Z
Z
3
d x
Z
3
d x
d3 p
ei~p~x ( ~p)
3
(2)
!2
d3 pd3 q
(~p ~q)ei( ~p+~q)~x ( ~p) (~q).
(2)6
d3 x ei( ~p+~q)~x = (2)3 (3) ( ~p + ~q),
(1.62)
(1.63)
the latter equation yields

1
2
d3 x((~x))2 =
1
2
d3 p 2
~p ( ~p) (~p),
(2)3 | {z }
(1.64)
| ( ~p)|2
and therefore with (1.58) altogether

Z
H=
"
#
d3 p 1
1 2
2
2
|( ~p)| + p | ( ~p)| ,
2
(2)3 2
(1.65)
p
where p = ~p2 + m2 . This is a collection of decoupled harmonic oscillators of frequency p - and
indeed the Hamiltonian is diagonal in momentum space.
The next step is to solve these oscillators in close analogy with the quantum mechanical treatment of
a harmonic oscillator of frequency with Hamiltonian
H=
1 2
+ 2 q2 .
2
The quantum mechanical definition of ladder operators a, a such that

r
1
q = (a + a ) , =
i(a a )
2
2
(1.66)
(1.67)
and with commutation relation [a, a ] = 1 can be generalised to field theory as follows: By taking
into account that
( ~p) =
(~p),
( ~p) = (~p) ,
(1.68)
20
we define the operators

s
2
1 q
( ~p) ,
a( ~p) = 2 p ( ~p) + i
2
p
s
2
1 q
(~p) .
a ( ~p) = 2 p (~p) i
2
p
(1.69)
( ~p) and plugging into (1.61) yields

Solving for ( ~p) and

1
d3 p
i~p~x
i~p~x
~
~
a
(
p
)
e
+
a
(
p
)
e
,
p
(2)3 2 p
r
Z

p
d3 p
(~x) =
(i)
a( ~p)ei~p~x a ( ~p)ei~p~x .
3
2
(2)
(~x) =
From (1.61) and (1.59) we furthermore deduce the commutation relations

Z
(~q)] =
[ ( ~p),
d3 xd3 yei~p~x ei~q~y [(~x), (~y)] = (2)3 i(3) ( ~p + ~q),
| {z }
(1.70)
(1.71)
=i(3) (~x~y)
where again (1.63) was used, and

( ~p),
(~q)].
[ ( ~p), (~q)] = 0 = [
(1.72)
The ladder operators therefore obey the commutation relation
[a( ~p), a (~q)] = (2)3 (3) ( ~p ~q),

[a ( ~p), a (~q)] = 0 = [a( ~p), a(~q)].
(1.73)
The Hamiltonian (1.65) in mode expansion is

" r 2

p
d3 p 1
i
a( ~p) a (~p) a(~p) a ( ~p)
H=
2
(2)3 2

#
2p 1
+
a( ~p) + a (~p) a(~p) + a ( ~p) .
2 2 p
Z
(1.74)
Only cross-terms survive due to the commutation relations:

d3 p p
(2)3 4
Z
d3 p p
=
(2)3 2
Z
d3 p p
=
(2)3 2
Z
H=
i
a( ~p)a ( ~p) + a (~p)a(~p) 2
a( ~p)a ( ~p) + a (~p)a(~p)
i
a ( ~p)a( ~p) + (2)3 (3) ( ~p ~p) + a (~p)a(~p) .
(1.75)
1.6. THE FOCK SPACE
21
Therefore H in its final form is given by

Z
H=
d3 p
p a ( ~p)a( ~p) + H ,
(2)3
where we renamed ~p ~p in the second term. The additional constant H is

Z
1
d3 p p (3) (0),
H =
2
(1.76)
(1.77)
which is clearly divergent. An interpretation will be given momentarily. By explicit computation one
finds that H obeys the commutation relations
[ H, a( ~p)] = p a( ~p),
[ H, a ( ~p)] = p a ( ~p).
Similarly one computes the spatial momentum operator
Z
i
d3 x (~x)i (~x),
P =
to be
Z
i
P =
with
d3 p i
p a ( ~p)a( ~p) + pi ,
(2)3
1
pi =
2
d3 p pi (3) (0) 0.
(1.78)
(1.79)
(1.80)
(1.81)
We combine H and P into the 4-momentum operator
P =
d3 p
p a ( ~p)a( ~p) + p ,
(2)3
(1.82)
with p = ( p0 , ~p) = ( p , ~p). It obeys the commutation relations
[ P , a ( ~p)] = p a ( ~p),
[ P , a( ~p)] = p a( ~p).
1.6
(1.83)
The Fock space
We now find the Hilbert space on which the 4-moment operator P acts. The logic is analogous to the
considerations leading to the representation theory of the harmonic oscillator in Quantum Mechanics:
Since P is self-adjoint it has eigenstates with real eigenvalues. Let |k i be such an eigenstate
with
P |k i = k |k i .
(1.84)
22

Then as a result of (1.83)
P a (~q) |k i = a (~q) P |k i + q a (~q) |k i
= (k + q )a (~q) |k i
(1.85)
and similarly
P a(~q) |k i = (k q )a(~q) |k i .
(1.86)
This means that a(~q) and a (~q) are indeed ladder operators which respectively subtract and add
4-momentum q to or from |k i.
Next we observe that the Hamiltonian H = P0 given by (1.76) is non-negative, i.e. h|H|i
0 states |i because
Z
h|H|i =
d3 p
p h|a ( ~p)a( ~p)|i + H h|i 0.
3
(2)
(1.87)
Thus there exists a state |0i such that

a(~q) |0i = 0 ~q.
(1.88)
Otherwise successive action of a(~q) would lead to negative eigenvalues of H. |0i is called the
vacuum of the theory. It has 4-momentum
H , = 0
P |0i = p |0i =
.
(1.89)
0 , =i
We interpret the divergent constant H given in (1.77) as the vacuum energy. A more thorough
discussion of the significance of the divergence will be given later. For now we should note that
in a theory without gravity absolute energy has no meaning. We can hus discard the additive
constant p by defining
P := P p =
d3 p
p a ( ~p)a( ~p),
(2)3
(1.90)
with P |0i = 0. From now on we only work with P and drop the tilde.
The state a ( ~p) |0i then has 4-momentum p ,
P a ( ~p) |0i = p a ( ~p) |0i ,
(1.91)
p
with p = ( E p , ~p) and E p = ~p2 + m2 . Since this is the relativistic dispersion relation for
a single particle with mass m we interpret a ( ~p) |0i as a 1-particle state with energy E p and
momentum ~p.
1.7. SOME IMPORTANT TECHNICALITIES
23
More generally an N-particle state with energy E = E p1 + ... + E pN and momentum ~p =

~p1 + ...~pN is given by
a ( ~p1 )a ( p~2 )...a ( ~pN ) |0i .
(1.92)
So much about the formalism. To get a better feeling for the objects we have introduced, let us recap
what we have done: We have started with the assertion that spacetime - in our case R1,3 - is filled with
the real scalar field (~x), which we have taken to be a free field with Lagrangian L = 21 ()2 12 m2 2 .
This field is interpreted as a field operator, i.e. in the Schrdinger picture at every space point ~x the
object (~x) represents a self-adjoint operator that acts on a Hilbert space. This Hilbert space possesses
a state of lowest energy, the vacuum |0i. The vacuum corresponds to the absence of any excitations of
the field (at least on-shell). If one pumps energy E p and momentum ~p into some region of spacetime
p
such that the relativistic dispersion relation E p = ~p2 + m2 holds, a particle a ( ~p) |0i is created as
an excitation of (~x). In particular, for the free theory the parameter m in L is interpreted as the mass
of such a particle. Since the underlying field ( x) is a scalar field, the associated particle is called
scalar particle. This realizes the shift of paradigm advertised at the very beginning of this course that
the fundamental entity in Quantum Field Theory is not the particle, but rather the field:
The field (~x) is the property of spacetime that in the presence of energy and momentum
( E p , ~p) a particle of energy ( E p , ~p) can be created.
In particular, this naturally gives rise to a multi-particle theory. The particles are just the excitations
of the field and transitions with varying particle number can occur as long as the kinematics allows it.
A first new, non-trivial conclusion we can draw from the formalism developed so far is the following
special case of the spin-statistics theorem:
Scalar particles obey Bose statistics.
All we have to show that the N-particle wavefunction is symmetric under permutations. This follows
immediately from the commutation relations, specifically the second line in (1.73):
|~p1 , ..., ~pi , ..., ~p j , ..., ~pn i ' a ( ~p1 )...a ( ~pi )...a ( ~p j )...a ( ~pN ) |0i
= a ( ~p1 )...a ( ~p j )...a ( ~pi )...a ( ~pN ) |0i
(1.93)
' |~p1 , ..., ~p j , ..., ~pi , ..., ~pn i,

where we have not fixed the normalization of the Fock state yet.
1.7
1.7.1
Some important technicalities

Normalisation
For reasons that will become clear momentarily, we choose to normalise the 1-particle momentum
p
eigenstates as |~pi := 2E p a ( ~p) |0i and, more generally,
q
|~p1 , ..., ~pn i := 2E p1 ... 2E pN a ( ~p1 )...a ( ~pN ) |0i .
(1.94)
24
Then
h~q|~pi =
q
q
2E p 2Eq h0| a(~q)a ( ~p) |0i .
(1.95)
To compute the inner product of two such states we use an important trick: Move all as to the right
and all a to the left with the help of
a(~q)a ( ~p) = a (~q)a( ~p) + (2)3 (3) ( ~p ~q).
(1.96)
This gives rise to terms of the form a(~q) |0i = 0 = h0| a ( ~p). Therefore
h~q|~pi = (2)3 2E p (3) ( ~p ~q).
(1.97)
Note that, as in Quantum Mechanics, momentum eigenstates are not strictly normalisable due to the
appearance of the delta-distribution, but we can form normalisable states as wavepackets
Z
|fi =
d3 p f ( ~p) |~pi .
(1.98)
1.7.2
The identity
With the above normalisation the identity operator on the 1-particle Hilbert space is
11particle =
d3 p 1
|~pi h~p| .
(2)3 2E p
(1.99)
R 3
One should notice that (d2p)3 2E1 p is a Lorentz-invariant measure. This, in turn, is part of the motivation for the normalisation of the 1-particle momentum eigentstates. To see this we rewrite the measure
as
Z
Z
d3 p 1
d3 p 2
=
(2)3 2E p
(2)4 2E p
(1.100)
Z
d4 p
2
2
0
2( p m )( p ),
=
(2)4
where we used that (ax) = 1a ( x) and that

( p2 m2 ) = ( p0 E p )( p0 + E p )
(1.101)
in the last step. (1.100) is manifestly Lorentz-invariant: First, d4 p det()d4 p under a Lorentztransformation, and since the determinat of a Lorentz-transformation is 1, it follows that d4 p is
Lorentz-invariant. Moreover the sign of p0 is unchanged under a Lorentz transformation.
1.7.3
Position-space representation
In Quantum Mechanics, the position eigenstate is related by a Fourier transformation to the momenR
ipx |pi with hx|pi = eipx . Due to our normalisation
tum eigenstates, |xi = dp
2 e
q
|~pi = 2E p a ( ~p) |0i ,
(1.102)
1.8. ON THE VACUUM ENERGY
25
the correct expression for |~xi in QFT is

d3 p 1 i~p~x
e
|~pi
(2)3 2E p
Z
|~xi =
because then
Z
h~x|~pi =
d3 q 1 i~q~x
e h~q|~pi = ei~p~x ,
3
2E
(2)
q
where we used (1.97). Note that

Z

d3 p
1 i~p~x
i~p~x
~
~
|~xi =
e
a
(
p
)
+
e
a
(
p
)
|0i = (~x) |0i .
p
(2)3 2E p
(1.103)
(1.104)
(1.105)
In other words, the field operator ( x) acting on the vacuum |0i creates a 1-particle position eigenstate.
1.8
On the vacuum energy
We had seen that originally

Z
d3 p
p a ( ~p)a( ~p) + H ,
H=
(2)3
1
H =
2
d3 p
p (2)3 (0),
(2)3
(1.106)
where H is the vacuum energy E0 such that H |0i = H |0i E0 |0i. E0 is the first example of a
divergent quantity in QFT. In fact, it realises the two characteristic sources of a possible divergence in
QFT:
The divergent factor (2)3 (3) (0) is interpreted as follows: We know that
Z
d3 x ei~p~x = (2)3 (3) ( ~p),
(1.107)
R3
so formally the volume of R3 is given by

Z
VR3 =
d3 x = (2)3 (3) (0).
(1.108)
R3
The divergence of (3) (0) is rooted in the fact that the volume of R3 is infinite, and the corresponding divergent factor in E0 arises because we are computing an energy in an infinite
volume. This divergent factor thus results from the long-distance (i.e. small energy) behaviour
of the theory and is an example of an infra-red (IR) divergence. Generally in QFT, IR divergences signal that we are either making a mistake or ask an unphysical question. In our case,
the mistake is to consider the theory in a strictly infinite volume, which is of course unphysical.
One can regularise the IR divergence by instead considering the theory in a given, but finite
volume. What is free of the IR divergence is in particular the vacuum energy density
Z
E0
1
d3 p
0 =
=
p.
(1.109)
V R3
2
(2)3
26

Nonetheless, even 0 remains divergent because
E0
=
0 =
VR3
d3 p
2(2)3
1 4
~p2 + m2 =
2 (2)3
Z
dpp2
q
p2 + m2 ,
(1.110)
which goes to infinity due to the integration over all momenta up to p . This is an ultraviolet (UV) divergence. The underlying reason for this (and all other UV divergences in QFT)
is the breakdown of the theory at high energies (equivalently at short distances) - or at least a
breakdown of our treatment of the theory.
To understand this last point it is beneficial to revisit the mechanical model of the field (t, x) as an
excitation of a mechanical string as introduced in section 1.1. Recall that the field (t, x) describes the
transverse position of the string in the continuum limit of vanishing distance between the individual
mass points at position qi (t ) which were thought of as connected by an elastic spring. However,
in reality the string is made of atoms of finite, typical size R. A continuous string profile (t, x) is
therefore not an adequate description at distances R or equivalently at energies E ' 1/R
resolving such small distances. Rather, if we want to describe processes at energies E , the
continuous field theory (t, x) is to be replaced by the more fundamental, microscopic theory of
atoms in a lattice. In this sense the field (t, x) gives merely an effective description of the string valid
at energies E . Extrapolation of the theory beyond such energies is doubtful and can give rise to
infinities - the UV divergences.
In a modern approach to QFT, this reasoning is believed to hold also for the more abstract relativistic
fields we are considering in this course. According to this logic, QFT is really an effective theory
that eventually must be replaced at high energies by a more fundamental theory. A necessary
condition for such a fundamental theory to describe the microscopic degrees of freedom correctly
is that it must be free of pathologies of all sort and in particular be UV finite.3 At the very least,
gravitational degrees of freedom become important in the UV region and are expected to change the
qualitative behaviour of the theory at energies around the Planck scale MP ' 1019GeV.
Despite these limitations, in a good QFT the UV divergences can be removed - for all practical
purposes - by the powerful machinery of regularisation and renormalisation. We will study this
procedure in great detail later in the course, but let us take this opportunity to very briefly sketch the
logic for the example of the vacuum energy density:
The first key observation is that in the classical Lagrangian we can have a constant term V0 of
dimension mass4 ,
1
1
(1.111)
L = ()2 m2 2 V0 , V0 = V|min ,
2
2
corresponding to the value of the classical potential at the minimum around which we expand.
We had set V0 0 in our analysis because we had argued that such an overall energy offset
is not measurable in a theory without gravity. However, as we have seen the vacuum energy
3 To
date, the only known fundamental theory that meets this requirement including gravity is string theory.
1.8. ON THE VACUUM ENERGY
27
density really consists of two pieces - the classical offset V0 and the quantum piece H . Thus,
let us keep V0 for the moment and derive the Hamiltonian
! Z
Z
1 2 1 2 2 1
2
3
(1.112)
H=
d x + m + () + d3 x V0 .
2
2
2
Next, we regularise the theory: Introduce a cutoff-scale and for the time being only allow for
energies E . If we quantise the theory with such a cutoff at play, the overall vacuum energy
is now
H |0i = VR3 (0 () + V0 ) |0i
(1.113)
with
1
0 () =
(2)2
Z
2
dp p
q
p2 + m 2 .
(1.114)
Note that the momentum integral only runs up to the cutoff in the regularised theory.
Since V0 is just a parameter, we can set
V0 = V0 () = 0 () + ,
finite as .
(1.115)
With this choice

H |0i = VR3 |0i
(1.116)
independently of !This way we absorb the divergence into a cutoff-dependent counterterm

V0 () in the action such that the total vacuum energy density is finite. This step is called
renormalisation. Crucially, note that the finite piece is completely arbitrary a priori. It must be
determined experimentally by measuring a certain observable - in this case the vacuum energy
(which is a meaningful observable only in the presence of gravity - see below).
Finally, we can remove the cutoff by taking .
To summarize, we define the quantum theory as the result of quantising the classical Lagrangian
L = 12 ()2 12 m2 2 V0 () with V0 () = 0 () + and taking the limit at the very
end. Since appears only in the classical - or bare - Lagrangian, but in no observable, physical
quantity at any of the intermediate stages, we can safely remove it at the end. In this sense, the theory
is practically defined up to all energies.
This way to deal with UV divergences comes at a prize: We lose the prediction of one observable per
type of UV divergence as a result of the inherent arbitrariness of the renormalisation step. In fact,
above we have chosen V0 () such that H |0i = VR3 |0i. It is only in the absence of gravity that
the vacuum energy is unobservable and thus is irrelevant. More generally, the value of the vacuum
energy must now be taken from experiment - is an input parameter of the theory rather than a prediction. While we have succeeded in removing the divergence by renormalising the original Lagrangian,
28
the actual value of the physical observable associated with the divergence - here the vacuum energy
density - must be taken as an input parameter from experiment or from other considerations. In a
renormalisable QFT it is sufficient to do this for a finite number of terms in the Lagrangian so that
once the associated observables are specified, predictive power is maintained for the computation of
all subsequent observables.
The Cosmological Constant in gravity
In gravity, the vacuum energy density is observable because it gravitates and we have to carry the
vacuum energy with the field equations
1
R Rg = 8GT + (0 + V0 )g .
(1.117)
2
This form of the Einstein field equations leads to accelerated expansion of the Universe. Indeed,
observations indicate that the universe expands in an accelerated fashion, and the simplest - albeit not
the only possible - explanation would be to identify the underlying Dark energy with the vacuum
energy. Observationally, this would then point to 0 + V0 = = (103 eV)4 . Of course in our
QFT approach it is impossible to explain such a value of the vacuum energy because as a side-effect
of renormalisation we gave up on predicting it. In this respect, Quantum Field Theory remains an
effective description. In a fundamental, UV finite theory this would be different: There the net vacuum
energy would be the difference of a finite piece V0 and a finite quantum contribution 0 , both of which
would be computable from first principles (if the theory is truly fundamental). Thus the two quantities
should almost cancel each other. There is a problem, though: On dimensional grounds one expects
both V0 and 0 to be of the order of the fundamental scale in the theory, which in a theory of quantum
gravity is the Planck scale MP = 1019 GeV. The expected value for the vacuum energy density is
thus MP4 , which differs by the observed value by about 122 orders of magnitude difference. Thus, the
difference of V0 and 0 must be by 122 orders of magnitude smaller than both individual numbers.
Such a behaviour is considered immense fine-tuning and thus unnatural. The famous Cosmological
Constant Problem is therefore the puzzle of why the observed value is so small.4
1.9
The complex scalar field
We now extend the formalism developed so far to the theory of a complex scalar field, which classically no longer satisfies ( x) = ( x). A convenient way to describe a complex scalar field of mass
m is to note that its real and imaginary part can be viewed as independent real scalar fields 1 and 2
of mass m, i.e. we can write
1
(1.118)
( x) = (1 ( x) + i2 ( x)) .
2
The real fields 1 and 2 are canonically normalised if we take as Lagrangian for the complex field
L = ( x) ( x) m2 ( x)( x).
4 In
(1.119)
fact, the problem is even more severe as becomes apparent in the Wilsonian approach to be discussed in QFT2. For
more information see e.g. the review arXiv:1309.4133 by Cliff Burgess.
1.9. THE COMPLEX SCALAR FIELD
29
It is then a simple matter to repeat the programme of quantisation, e.g. by quantizing 1 and 2 as
before and rewriting everything in terms of the complex field ( x). At the end of this rewriting we can
forget about 1 and 2 and simply describe the theory in terms of the complex field ( x). The details
of this exercise will be provided in the tutorials so that we can be brief here and merely summarise the
main formulae.
The fields ( x) and ( x) describe independent degrees of freedom with respective conjugate
momenta
L
(t, ~x) =
= (t, ~x),
(t, ~x)
(1.120)
L
= (t, ~x).
(t, ~x) =
(t, ~x)
The Hamiltonian H is
Z

d3 x (~x) (~x) + (~x) (~x) L
d x (~x)(~x) + (~x)(~x) + m (~x)(~x) .
H=
(1.121)
3
These fields are promoted to Schrdinger picture operators with non-vanishing commutators
h
i
[(~x), (~y)] = i(3) (~x ~y) = (~x), (~y)
(1.122)
and all other commutators vanishing.

The mode expansion is conveniently written as
Z

d3 p
1
i~p~x
i~p~x
~
~
(~x) =
a
(
p
)
e
+
b
(
p
)
e
p
(2)3 2E p
Z

d3 p
1
(~x) =
b( ~p)ei~p~x + a ( ~p)ei~p~x ,
p
3
(2) 2E p
(1.123)
where the mode operators a( ~p) and b( ~p) are independent and a ( ~p) and b ( ~p) describe the
respective conjugate operators. A quick way to arrive at this form of the expansion is to plug
the mode expansion of the real fields 1 and 2 into (1.118). This identifies
1
a = (a1 + ia2 ),
2
1
b = (a1 + ia2 ).
2
(1.124)
In particular this implies that
[a( ~p), a (~q)] = (2)3 (3) ( ~p ~q) = [b( ~p), b (~q)],

while all other commutators vanish.
(1.125)
30

The mode expansion of the 4-momentum operator is
P =

d3 p
~
~
~
~
p
a
(
p
)
a
(
p
)
+
b
(
p
)
b
(
p
)
.
(2)3
(1.126)
Crucially, one can establish that it has 2 types of momentum eigenstates

a ( ~p) |0i and b ( ~p) |0i ,
(1.127)
p
both of energy E p = ~p2 + m2 . I.e. both states have mass m, but they differ in their U (1)
charge as we will see now:
The Lagrange density is invariant under the global continuous U (1) symmetry
( x) ei ( x),
(1.128)
where is a constant in R. Recall that the unitary group U ( N ) is the group of complex N N
matrices A satisfying A = A1 . The dimension of this group is N 2 . In particular ei U (1).
According to Noethers theorem there exists a conserved current (see Ass. 3)
j = i( )
(1.129)
and charge
Z
Z
Q=
d xj =

d3 p
a ( ~p)a( ~p) b ( ~p)b( ~p).
3
(2)
(1.130)
This Noether charge acts on a particle with momentum ~p as follows:

Qa ( ~p) |0i = a ( ~p) |0i : charge 1,
Qb ( ~p) |0i = + b ( ~p) |0i : charge + 1.
(1.131)
We interpret a ( ~p) |0i as a particle of mass m and charge 1 and b ( ~p) |0i as a particle with
the same mass, but positive charge, i.e. as its anti-particle. For the real field the particle is
its own anti-particle. Note that the term charge 1 so far refers simply to the eigenvalue of
the Noether charge operator Q associated with the global U (1) symmetry of the theory. That
this abstract charge really coincides with what we usually call charge in physics - i.e. that it
describes the coupling to a Maxwell type field - will be confirmed later when we study Quantum
Electrodynamics.
1.10
Quantisation in the Heisenberg picture
So far all field operators have been defined in the Schrdinger picture, in which the time-dependence
is carried entirely by the states on which these operators act. From Quantum Mechanics we recall
1.10. QUANTISATION IN THE HEISENBERG PICTURE
31
that alternatively quantum operators can be described in Heisenberg picture (HP), where the timedependence is carried by the operators A(H ) (t ) and not the states. The HP operator A(H ) (t ) is defined
as
(S )
(S )
A(H ) (t ) = eiH (tt0 ) A(S ) eiH (tt0 ) ,
(1.132)
where A(S ) is the corresponding Schrdinger picture operator and H (S ) is the Schrdinger picture
Hamilton operator. At the time t0 the Heisenberg operator and the Schrdinger operator coincide,
i.e. A(H ) (t0 ) = A(S ) . We will set t0 0 from now on. The definition (1.132) has the following
implications:
H (H ) (t ) = H (S ) t.
The time evolution of the Heisenberg picture operators is governed by the equation of motion
d (H )
A (t ) = i[ H, A(H ) (t )].
dt
(1.133)
The Schrdinger picture commutators translate into equal time commutators, e.g.
(H )
[ qi
(H )
(t), p j (t)] = i i j .
(1.134)
In field theory we similarly define the Heisenberg fields via

(H ) (t, ~x) ( x) = eiH
(H ) (t, ~x) ( x) = e
(S ) t
(S ) (~x)eiH
iH (S ) t
H (H ) (t, ~x) H ( x) = e
(S ) (~x)e
iH (S ) t
(S ) t
iH (S ) t
H (S ) (~x)e
iH (S ) t
(1.135)
These obey equal-time canonical commutation relations
[(t, ~x), (t, ~y)] = i(3) (~x ~y)

[(t, ~x), (t, ~y)] = 0 = [(t, ~x), (t, ~y)].
(1.136)
The Heisenberg equation of motion for ( x) reads
(t, ~x) = i[ H, (t, ~x)] = i

t
d3 y[H (t, ~y), (t, ~x)],
(1.137)
with
H (t, ~y) =
1 2
1
1
(t, ~y) + ((t, ~y))2 + m2 2 (t, ~y)
2
2
2
(1.138)
for a real scalar field. In the latter equation we used that H is time-independent, i.e. we can evaluate
the commutator at arbitrary times and thus choose equal time with (t, ~x) so that we can exploit the
equal-time commutation relations.
In evaluating (1.137) we observe that the only non-zero term comes from
1 2
[ (t, ~y), (t, ~x)] = (i)(t, ~y)(3) (~x ~y),
2
(1.139)
32
where used the standard relation [ A, BC ] = [ A, B]C + B[ A, C ] together with (1.136). This gives
(t, ~x) = (t, ~x)

t
(1.140)
as expected. One can similarly show that
(t, ~x) = i[ H, (t, ~y)]

t
= 2 (t, ~x) m2 (t, ~x).
(1.141)
Therefore altogether we can establish that the Klein-Gordon equation
( 2 + m2 ) ( x ) = 0
(1.142)
holds as an operator equation at the quantum level.

The covariantisation of (1.137) is
( x) = i[ P , ( x)]
(1.143)
R 3
with Pi = d y (y) i (y). Indeed this equation can be explicitly confirmed by evaluating the
commutator [ Pi , ( x)]. As a consequence we will check, on sheet 3, that
P
( x + a ) = eia
( x)eia
(1.144)
This, in fact, is simply the transformation property of the quantum field ( x) under translation.
Let us now compute the mode expansion for the Heisenberg field. From the mode expansion for the
Schrdinger picture operator we find
Z

1 iHt
d3 p
(H )
iHt i~p~x
iHt
iHt i~p~x
~
~
(t, ~x) =
e
a
(
p
)
e
e
+
e
a
(
p
)
e
e
.
(1.145)
p
(2)3 2E p
To simplify this we would like to commute eiHt through a( ~p) and a ( ~p). Since [ H, a( ~p)] = a( ~p) E p ,
we can infer that
Ha( ~p) = a( ~p)( H E p )
(1.146)
and by induction that
H n a( ~p) = a( ~p)( H E p )n .
(1.147)
eiHt a( ~p) = a( ~p)ei(HE p )t ,
(1.148)
Thus
which gives the mode expansion in the Heisenberg picture
(H )
(t, ~x) ( x) =

d3 p
1
ipx
ipx
~
~
a
(
p
)
e
+
a
(
p
)
e
,
p
(2)3 2E p
(1.149)
with
p x = p0 x0 ~p ~x,
( p0 , ~p) = ( E p , ~p).
(1.150)
1.11. CAUSALITY AND PROPAGATORS
33
In other words, the coefficient of eipx in the mode expansion of the Heisenberg field corresponds to
the annihilator and the coefficient of eipx to the creator. Note that indeed this mode expansion solves
the operator equation of motion (1.142).
For later purposes we also give the inverted expression
Z
i
d3 x eiqx 0 ( x),
a(~q) = p
2Eq
Z
(1.151)
3
iqx
a (~q) = p
d xe
0 ( x ) ,
2Eq
where
u( x) 0 v( x) := u( x)0 v( x) (0 u( x))v( x),

R
the integrals d3 x are evaluated at arbitrary times t = x0 .
You will check these expressions in the tutorial.
1.11
Causality and Propagators
We are finally in a position to come back to the question of causality in a relativistic quantum theory,
which in section 1.1 served as one of our two prime motivations to study Quantum Field Theory. We
will investigate the problem from two related points of view - via commutators and propagators.
1.11.1
Commutators
For causality to hold we need two measurements at spacelike distance not to affect each other. This is
guaranteed if any two local observables O1 ( x) and O2 (y) at spacelike separation commute, i.e.
!
[O1 ( x), O2 (y)] = 0
for
( x y)2 < 0.
(1.152)
By a local observable we mean an observable in the sense of quantum mechanics (i.e. a hermitian
operator) that is defined locally at a spacetime point x, i.e. it depends only on x and at most on a
local neighborhood of x. Any such local observable is represented by a local (hermitian) operator, by
which we mean any local (hermitian) expression of the fundamental operators ( x) and ( x) such
as products or powers series (e.g. exponentials) of the operators. Indeed such operators are local in
the sense that they depend only on a local neighborhood of the spacetime point x.
To check for (1.152) we thus need to compute the commutator
( x y) := [( x), (y)]
not just at equal times x0 = y0 , but for general times. In Fourier modes we have
Z
Z
d3 p
1
d3 q
1
( x y) =
p
p
3
3
(2) 2E p
(2) 2Eq
h
i
a( ~p)eipx + a ( ~p)eipx , a(~q)eiqy + a (~q)eiqy .
(1.153)
(1.154)
34
Using the commutation relations for the modes yields

( x y) =

d3 p 1 ip( xy)
ip(yx)
e
e
.
(2)3 2E p
(1.155)
R 3
Now assume ( x y)2 < 0. Since (d2p)3 2E1 p is Lorentz invariant (see the discussion in section 1.7.2)
we can apply a Lorentz transformation such that ( x0 y0 ) = 0. Indeed this can be always be achieved
if two points are at spacelike distance. This gives

( x y)
Z
( xy)2 <0

d3 p 1 i~p(~x~y)
e
ei~p(~x~y) ,
3
(2) 2E p
(1.156)
which is evidently zero because we can change the integration variable from ~p to ~p in the second
term. Consequently, also commutators of the form [ x ( x), (y)] = x [( x), (y)] vanish for x and
y at spacelike distance. Therefore for all local operators we have
[Oi ( x), O j (y)] = 0
if ( x y)2 < 0.
(1.157)
This establishes that causality is maintained at the operational level.

Remark:
In the above we have been able to derive (1.157) because we are working with a free theory, for which
the free mode expansion implies [( x), (y)] = 0 for ( x y)2 < 0. In an interacting theory, such a
derivation may not be possible since in this case a free mode expansion is no longer available. More
generally, therefore, one must postulate [( x), (y)] = 0 for ( x y)2 < 0 in form of an axiom of QFT.
A note on Quantum Entanglement
As we have seen, locality in Quantum Field Theory refers to the fact (or requirement) that local
operators commute at spacelike distances. By contrast, the states on which these operators act, i.e.
the elements of the Hilbert space, do exhibit non-local behaviour just as in non-relativistic Quantum
Mechanics. Indeed the fact that in QFT local operators commute is not at odds with the existence of
entangled states, known from Quantum Mechanics. Consider e.g. an entangled 2-spin state | 21 , 12 i
| 12 , 12 i. Even though the state is entangled, the spin operator S 1 for measurement of the spin of particle
1 at x and S 2 for measurement of the spin of particle 2 at y commute. In particular the expectation
value of S 2 is not changed by measuring S 1 . Therefore by measuring the expectation value of S 2 we
cannot determine if S 1 was measured and vice versa and the two measurements do not affect each
other in this sense. More generally, the states of the Quantum Field Theory are non-local objects. We
will understand this better when discussing the Schrdinger Representation of states in the context of
path integral quantization in QFT 2. The states are represented as functionals of the field configuration
and are necessarily dependent on non-local information.
1.11.2
35
Propagators
Consider now the probability amplitude for a particle emitted at y to propagate to x (where it can be
measured). This is given by the propagator
D( x y) := h0| ( x)(y) |0i ,
(1.158)
because |xi = ( x) |0i is a position eigenstate. In particular, unlike in the non-relativistic expression
(1.3), the time-evolution operator need not be inserted by hand because |xi contains information about
the time variable x0 . By a mode expansion we find
"
D( x y) =

d3 p
1
d3 q
1
iqx
iqx
~
~
h0|
a
(
q
)
e
+
a
(
q
)
e
p
p
(2)3 2E p (2)3 2Eq

a( ~p)eipy + a ( ~p)eipy |0i .
(1.159)
Using a( ~p) |0i = 0 = h0| a (~q) we find that the only contribution is due to the term
eiqx eipx h0| a(~q)a ( ~p) |0i = eiqx eipx (2)3 (3) (~q ~p).
(1.160)
This yields
D( x y) = h0| ( x)(y) |0i =
d3 p 1 ip( xy)
.
e
(2)3 2E p
(1.161)
We see that D( x y) is non-zero even for x and y at spacelike distance. On the other hand, in view
of (1.156) this cannot affect causality. So how can this be consistent? What saves the day is the
observation that
[( x), (y)] = D( x y) D(y x).
(1.162)
We can therefore interpret the commutator as describing 2 physical processes, whose quantum probability amplitude apparently cancel each other for ( x y)2 < 0:
D( x y) is the quantum amplitude for a particle to travel from y x,
D(y x) is the quantum amplitude for a particle to travel from y x.
Indeed if x and y are at spacelike distance from each other, there is no Lorentz invariant notion of
whether ( x0 y0 ) is bigger or smaller than zero. Therefore both processes can occur. In the expression for [( x), (y)] these two processes cancel each other in the sense of a destructive quantum
mechanical interference.
Even more interestingly we can consider a complex scalar field, which contains the mode operators
according to
( x) a( ~p), b ( ~p),
( x) a ( ~p), b( ~p).
(1.163)
36
For a complex scalar field [( x), (y)] = 0 for all x, y. More interesting is the commutator
[( x), (y)] = h0| ( x) (y) |0i h0| (y)( x) |0i ,
(1.164)
which vanishes for ( x y)2 < 0 while being in general non-zero otherwise. The first term corresponds
to a particle which travels from y to x, while the second term corresponds to an anti-particle travelling from x to y. Again both processes cancel each other in the expression for the commutator. The
important conclusion is that the field formalism saves causality in the QM sense even though the QM
probability for a propagation x y itself is non-zero if ( x y)2 < 0. This is why a single-particle
approach must fail. The field commutators, on the other hand, know about processes of all possible
particles and anti-particles. Thus it is the intrinsic nature of Quantum Field Theory as a multi-particle
framework which is responsible for causality.
1.11.3
The Feynman-propagator
We will see in the next chapter that an object of crucial importance in QFT is the Feynman-propagator
DF ( x y) := h0| T ( x)(y) |0i ,
where
( x )(y)
T ( x )(y) =
(y)( x )
(1.165)
if x0 y0 ,
if y0 > x0
(1.166)
is the time-ordered product. The Feynman-propagator can be written as

DF ( x y) = ( x0 y0 ) h0| ( x)(y) |0i +(y0 x0 ) h0| (y)( x) |0i
|
{z
}
|
{z
}
D( xy)
D(yx)

d p 1 ip( xy)
0
0
e
= ( x y )

(2)3 2E p
p0 =+ E p

Z
d3 p 1 ip( xy)
0
0
+ (y x )
e
.

(2)3 2E p
p0 =+ E p
Z
Relabeling ~p by ~p in the second term gives

#
"
Z 3
d p i~p(~x~y)
1 iE p ( x0 y0 )
1 iE p ( x0 y0 )
0
0
0
0
e
( x y )
e
+ (y x )
e
.
2E p
2E p
(2)3
(1.167)
(1.168)
The term in brackets can be rewritten as a complex contour integral. As a preparation recall Cauchys
integral formula:
Let g : U C be a holomorphic function defined in an open subset U of C and consider
a closed disk D with C = D U. Then for z0 in the interior of D we have
I
g(z)
1
g(z0 ) =
dz.
(1.169)
2i C z z0
37
In this spirit the first term in DF ( x y) can be written as

1 iE p ( x0 y0 )
e
2E p
I
0 0
0
eip ( x y )
0
0 1
0
= ( x y )
dp
,
2i C1
( p0 E p )( p0 + E p )
( x 0 y0 )
(1.170)
where
the poles are avoided in -surroundings as drawn in the picture.
we close the contour in the lower half-plane such as to pick up the residue at p0 = + E p and
the integral is clockwise, which explains the overall minus sign.
Figure 1.1: Contour C1 .
It is important to note that this result holds for any contour that encloses the poles as drawn. In
particular, since x0 y0 > 0 the integral along the lower half-plane asymptotically vanishes if we
choose to deform the contour to infinity, corresponding to R . For the second term in (1.168) we
can similarly write
1 iE p ( x0 y0 )
e
2E p
I
0 0
0
eip ( x y )
0
0 1
0
.
= (y x )
dp
2i C2
( p0 E p )( p0 + E p )
(y0 x0 )
(1.171)
This time C2 runs counter-clockwise, but picks up the pole at p0 = E p , which again yields an overall
minus.
Now, as stressed above both expressions hold for any R > E p , but if R , then the integral
in the lower-/upper halfplane each vanishes due to the appearance of ( x0 y0 ) and (y0 x0 ),
respectively. It is at this place that the time ordering becomes crucial.
We can therefore evaluate both integrals for R , add them with the help of 1 = ( x0 y0 ) +
(y0 x0 ) and arrive at
I
d4 p
i
D F ( x y) =
eip( xy) ,
(1.172)
2
2
4
C (2) p m
38
Figure 1.2: Contour C2 .
Figure 1.3: Contour C of the Feynman propagator.
where ( p0 E p )( p0 + E p ) = p2 m2 was used. In this expression the contour integral in p0 must be

taken along the path C shown above.
Since this is a complex contour integral, all that matters is the relative position of the contour to the
poles. Therefore we can equivalently pick the contour C on top of the real axis but shift the poles e.g.
by an amount i /E p in the limit 0.
Figure 1.4: Shifted poles.
This modifies the denominators as

p0 = E p + i /E p
and
p0 = E p i p /E p .
(1.173)
39
This must be combined with taking the limit 0 after performing the integral. With this understood
2
and using furthermore ( p0 ( E p i /E p ))( p0 + ( E p i /E p )) = p0 E 2p + 2i + 2 /E 2p =
p2 m2 + i with = 2i i /E p , the Feynman propagator can be written as the integral
Z
D F ( x y) =
d4 p
i
eip( xy)
2
2
4
(2) p m + i
(1.174)
with the p0 integration along the real axis and with the limit 0 after performing the integral.
1.11.4
Propagators as Greens functions
Direct computation reveals that DF ( x y) is a Greens function for the Klein-Gordon equation
(2x + m2 ) DF ( x y) = i(4) ( x y).
(1.175)
The general solution to the equation
(2 + m2 )( x) = i(4) ( x)
(1.176)
is found by Fourier transforming both sides as

( x) =
d4 p
( p)eipx , (4) ( x) =
(2)4
d4 p ipx
e
(2)4
(1.177)
and noting that the Klein-Gordon equation becomes an algebraic equation for the Fourier transforms,
(p2 + m2 ) ( p) = i ( p) =
p2
i
.
m2
(1.178)
Special care must now be applied in performing

q the Fourier backtransformation for this solution due
0
to the appearance of the two poles at p = E 2~p . Any consistent prescription to avoid divergences
in performing the contour integral in p0 leads to a solution to the original equation (1.175).
In fact, there are 2 2 different ways to evaluate the contour integral in p0 by avoiding the two poles
in the upper and lower half-plane. As will be shown in the tutorials, if we avoid both poles along a
contour in the upper half-plane, the solution is the retarded Greens function
DR ( x y) = ( x0 y0 )[ D( x y) D(y x)]
( x0 y0 ) h0| [( x), (y)] |0i
(1.179)
while avoiding both poles in the lower half-plane yields the the advanced Greens function
DA ( x y) = (y0 x0 )[ D( x y) D(y x)].
(1.180)
40
Figure 1.5: The retarded contour.
Figure 1.6: The advanced contour.
Note that DR and DA appear also in classical field theory in the context of constructing solutions to
the inhomogenous Klein-Gordon equation, where they propagate the inhomogeneity forward (DR )
and backward (DA ) in time. In particular the classical version of causality is the statement that DR and
DA vanish if ( x y)2 < 0, which we proved from a different perspective before.
By contrast DF ( x y) is the solution corresponding to the contour described previously in this section.
It does not appear in classical field theory. The reason is that DF ( x y) propagates positive frequency
modes eipx forward and negative frequency modes eipx backward in time (see (1.168)). Remember
that DF ( x y) is non-vanishing, even for x and y at spacelike distance. Finally there is a fourth
prescription which has no particularly important interpretation in classical or quantum field theory.
Chapter 2
Interacting scalar theory

2.1
Introduction
So far we have considered a free scalar theory

L0 =
with V0 () =
1
2
1
()2 V0 ()
2
(2.1)
m20 2 .
The theory is exactly solvable: The Hilbert space is completely known as the Fock space of
multi-particle states created from the vacuum |0i.
There are no interactions between the particles.
Interactions are described in QFT by potentials V () beyond quadratic order. We can think of V ()
as a formal power series in ,
V () =
1
1 2 2 1
m0 + g 3 + 4 + ...,
2 {z } |
3!
4!
|
{z
}
V0
(2.2)
Vint
and decompose the full Langrangian as

L = L0 + Lint , Lint = Vint .
(2.3)
This yields the decomposition of the full Hamiltonian as H = H0 + Hint . Introducing interaction
terms leads to a number of important changes in the theory:
The Hilbert space is different from the Hamiltonian of the free theory.
This is true already for the vacuum, i.e. the full Hamiltonian H has a ground state |i
different from the ground state |0i of the free Hamiltonian H0 :
|0i vacuum of H0 : H0 |0i = E0 |0i ,
|i vacuum of H : H |i = E |i
with |i , |0i.
41
(2.4)
42
CHAPTER 2. INTERACTING SCALAR THEORY

The mass of the momentum eigenstates of H does no longer equal the parameter m0 that
appears in L0 .
Bound states may exist in the spectrum.
The states interact.
The dream of Quantum Field Theorists is to find the exact solution of a non-free QFT, i.e. find the
exact spectrum and compute all interactions exactly. This has only been possible so far for very
special theories with a lot of symmetry, e.g. certain 2-dimensional QFTs with conformal invariance
(Conformal Field Theory), or certain 4-dimensional QFTs with enough supersymmetry.
However, for small coupling parameters such as g and in V () we can view the higher terms as
small perturbations and apply perturbation theory. Note that depending on the mass dimension of
the couplings it must be specified in what sense these parameters must be small, but e.g. for the
dimensionless parameter this would mean that 1 for perturbation theory to be applicable.
Before dealing with interactions in such a perturbative approach, however, we will be able to establish
a number of non-trivial important results on the structure of the spectrum and interactions in a nonperturbative fashion.
2.2
Klln-Lehmann spectral representation
We take a first look at the spectrum of an interacting real scalar field theory in a manner valid for
all types of interactions and without relying on perturbation theory. As a consequence of Lorentz
~ ] = 01 ,
invariance the Hamiltonian and the 3-momentum operator must of course still commute, [ H, P
~ in the
and can thus be diagonalised simultaneously. By | ~p i we denote such an eigenstate of H and P
full theory such that
H | ~p i = E p () | ~p i ,
~ | ~p i = ~p | ~p i .
P
(2.5)
Each | ~p i is related via a Lorentz boost with the corresponding state at rest, called |0 i. We can have
the following types of | ~p i:
1-particle states |1 ~p i with E p =
identical to m0 in L0 .
~p2 + m2 and rest mass m. Remember that m is no more
Bound states with no analogue in the free theory.

2- and N-particle states formed out of 1-particle and the bound states. In this case we take ~p to
be the centre-of-mass momentum of the multi-particle state.
1 This
is simply the statement that the momentum operator is conserved - cf. (1.137).
2.2. KLLN-LEHMANN SPECTRAL REPRESENTATION
43
All these states are created from the vacuum |i. The crucial difference to the free theory is, though,
that ( x) cannot simply be written as a superposition of its Fourier amplitudes a( ~p) and a ( ~p) because
it does not obey the free equation of motion, i.e.
(2 + m2 ) , 0.
(2.6)
(2 + m2 ) = j
(2.7)
Rather,
for a suitable current j. Thus, acting with on |i does not simply create a 1-particle state as in the
free theory.
We will make frequent use of the completeness relation of this Hilbert space,
1 = |i h| +
XZ
1
d3 p
| ~p i h ~p | .
3
(2) 2E p ()
(2.8)
Here the formal sum over includes the sum over the 1-particle state, over all types of bound states
R 3
as well as over all multi-particle states, while the integral (d2p)3 E 1() refers to the centre-of-mass
p
momentum of a state of species . In particular, since specifying a multi-particle state requires specifying the relative momenta of the individual states (in addition to the centre-of-mass momentum ~p),
the sum over is really a sum over a continuum of states.
Our first goal is to compute the interacting Feynman-propagator
h| T ( x)(y) |i
(2.9)
and to establish a physical interpretation for it. Even though we cannot rely on the mode expansion of
the field any more, we will be able to make a great deal of progress with the help of two tricks.
First we insert 1 between ( x) and (y)2 . We first ignore time ordering. Then, without loss of
generality we can assume that
h| ( x) |i = 0,
(2.10)
because since
( x) = eix
(0)eix
(2.11)
(cf. (1.144)) and P |i = 0 we have

h| ( x) |i = h| (0) |i x.
(2.12)
So if c h| (0) |i , 0 we simply redefine c to achieve (2.10). Therefore

h| ( x) 1 (y) |i =
XZ
2 Whenever
d3 p
1
h| ( x) | ~p i h ~p | (y) |i .
3
(2) 2E p ()
we do not know what to do, and Fourier transformation is not the answer, we insert a 1.
(2.13)
44

Now
h| ( x) | ~p i = h| eiPx (0)eiPx | ~p i ,
(2.14)
and with h| eiPx = h| and eiPx | ~p i = | ~p i eipx we find

h| ( x) | ~p i = h| (0) | ~p i eipx .
(2.15)
The next trick is to relate | ~p i to |0 i by a Lorentz boost. To this end we investigate the transformation behaviour of a scalar field under a Lorentz transformation
x 7 x0 = x.
(2.16)
In the spirit of Quantum Mechanics the action of the Lorentz group is represented on the Hilbert
space in terms of a unitary operator U () such that all states transform like
|i 7 |0 i = U () |i .
(2.17)
What is new to us is that also the transformation of the field is determined in terms of U ().
More precisely, the scalar field transforms as
( x) 7 0 ( x0 ) = ( x( x0 ))
(2.18)
with 0 ( x0 ) = U 1 ()( x0 )U (), i.e.

U 1 ()( x0 )U () = ( x).
(2.19)
To see this we start with the familiar transformation of a classical scalar field under a Lorentz
transformation given by
7 0 ( x0 ) = ( x).
(2.20)
We now need to find the analogue of this equation for operator-valued fields. The analogue
of the classical value of ( x) is the matrix element h| ( x) |i evaluated on a basis of the
Hilbert space. The transformed field 0 ( x) then corresponds to transformed matrix elements
h0 | ( x) |0 i. Thus the classical relation (2.20) translates into
h0 | ( x0 ) |0 i = h| ( x) |i ,
| {z }
(2.21)
h|U 1 ( x0 )U|i
for all states |i and |i.

Now, let U denote a Lorentz boost such that
| ~p i = U 1 |0 i .
(2.22)
We can then further manipulate (2.15) by writing

h| ( x) | ~p i = h| U 1 U(0)U 1 U | ~p i eipx .
| {z } | {z } |{z}
h|
(0)
|0 i
(2.23)
2.2. KLLN-LEHMANN SPECTRAL REPRESENTATION
45
Figure 2.1: Spectral function.
Thus the Feynman propagator without time ordering can be expressed as

h| ( x)(y) |i =
XZ

2
d3 p
1
ip( xy)
,
e
h|
(
0
)
|
i
0
(2)3 2E p ()
(2.24)
which is to be compared with the free scalar result (1.161). Including time ordering, we can peform
the same manipulations for the integral as in the free theory and therefore conclude
h| T ( x)(y) |i =
XZ

2
d4 p
i
ip( xy)
.
e
h|
(
0
)
|
i
0
(2)4 p2 m2 + i
One can define

Z
2
DF ( x y; M ) :=
to write
h| T ( x)(y) |i =
i
d4 p
eip( xy)
2
2
4
(2) p M + i
Z
dM 2
( M 2 ) DF ( x y; M 2 )
2
(2.25)
(2.26)
(2.27)
in terms of the spectral function

( M 2 ) =

2
2 ( M 2 m2 ) h| (0) |0 i ,
(2.28)
which has a typical form like in Figure 2.1. It is crucial to appreciate that the 1-particle states leads
to an isolated -function peak around M 2 = m2 . Therefore below M 2 (2m)2 or M 2 m2bound the
spectral function takes the form
( M 2 ) = 2 ( M 2 m2 ) Z.
(2.29)
Here we have defined the field-strength or wavefunction renormalisation

2
Z = h| (0) |10 i ,
(2.30)
46
where |10 i is a 1-particle state at rest.

Consider now the Fourier-transformation
Z
4
ip( xy)
d xe
h| T ( x)(y) |i =
dM 2
i
( M 2 ) 2
(2.31)
2
p M 2 + i
0
Z
dM 2
i
iZ
+
( M 2 ) 2
.
2
2
2
p m + i
p M 2 + i
mbound 2
This identifies the 1-particle state as the first analytic pole at m2 . This is an important observation:
The mass-square m2 of the particle is the location of the lowest-lying pole of the Fourier
transformed propagator.
I.e. computation of the propagator gives us, among other things, a way to read off the mass of the
particle. Note furthermore that
bound states appear at higher isolated poles and
N-particle states give rise to a branch cut beginning at p2 = 4m2 .
The field-strength renormalisation Z was 1 in free theory because (0) just creates the free particle
from vacuum. In an interacting theory

h| (0) |10 i = Z < 1

(2.32)
because creates not only 1-particle states and thus the overlap with the 1-particle states is smaller.
In fact, by exploiting the properties of the spectral function one can prove formally that
Z = 1 if and only if the theory is free.
We give a guided tour through this proof in the tutorials.
2.3
S-matrix and asymptotic in/out-states
We now consider scattering of incoming states |ii to outgoing states | f i with the aim of computing
the QM transition amplitude, i.e. the probability amplitude for scattering of |ii to | f i. The process is
formulated in terms of the theory of asymptotic in- and out-states.
In the asymptotic past, t , the in-states |i, ini are described as distinct wave-packets
corresponding to well-separated single particle states. Being far apart for t , they travel
freely as individual states. This is a consequence of locality of the interactions, which we
assume in the sequel.
As these states approach each other, they start to "feel each other", interact and scatter into the
final states | f i.
2.3. S-MATRIX AND ASYMPTOTIC IN/OUT-STATES
47
For t these final states are again asymptotically free and well-separated 1-particle states.
The concept of free asymptotic in/out states is formalised by the so-called in- and out-fields in and
out with the following properties:
The in-state |i, ini is created from the asymptotic vaccum |vac, ini by action of in as t .
We will see that
|vac, ini = |i ,
(2.33)
the vacuum of the interacting theory.

p
|i, ini has E = p2 + m2 with m the value of the 1-particle pole in the Feynman propagator of
the full interacting theory. In particular m , m0 . Therefore, in is a free field obeying the free
Klein-Gordon-equation, but with the full mass m , m0 ,
(2 + m2 )in = 0.
It is thus possible to expand in in terms of ain ( ~p) and ain ( ~p) so that
Z

1
d3 p
ipx
ipx
~
~
in ( x) =
+
a
a
(
p
)
e
(
p
)
e
,
p
in
in
(2)3 2E p
p
where p0 = ~p2 + m2 .
(2.34)
(2.35)
in satisfies the following relation to the interacting field : Asymptotically for t the
above logic suggests identifying in ( x) with ( x), at least in weak sense that their their matrix
elements with a basis of the Hilbert space must agree in a suitable manner. We therefore make
the ansatz
C in
(2.36)
in the weak sense only, i.e.
h| |i C h| in |i
(2.37)
for all |i and |i as t . With this input one can show (see Examples Sheet 5 for the proof)
that
h1 ~p | (0) |i = C h1 ~p | in (0) |i .
(2.38)
Since by construction h1 ~p | in (0) |i = 1 this identifies C = Z with Z the wavefunction

renormalisation of the full theory as defined in (2.30). Thus
h| |i Z h| in |i
(2.39)
as t . Note that this is really true only in this weak sense. What does not hold in an
interacting field theory is that operator products (i.e. powers of ( x)) approach corresponding
products of in ( x).3
this were to hold, then the field theory would be free: Indeed the assumption that ( x) (y) Z in ( x) in (y) and
similarly for (y)( x) implies that Z = 1 by exploiting the commutation relations for the fields.
3 If
48

out has of course analogous properties as t +.
Our considerations can be summarised as follows: in/out are free fields with single particle states of
p
energy E p = p2 + m2 , with the mass m of the full theory. We can think of switching off all interactions of the theory as t except for self-interactions of the field. This leads to mass m , m0
and Z , 1. We will be able to understand what is meant by these self-interactions very soon when
discussing the resummed propagator, and it will become clear then that indeed it is imperative to take
into account m , m0 and Z , 1 for in/out .
The Hilbert spaces of asymptotic in- and out-states are isomorphic Fock spaces. Thus there exists
an operator S which maps the out-states onto the in-states, i.e.
|i, ini = S |i, outi .
(2.40)
On Examples Sheet 5 we prove the following properties of S :

S is unitary, i.e S = S 1 ,
in ( x) = S out ( x)S 1 ,
|vac,ini = |vac,outi = |i and S |i = |i.
Our aim is to compute the transition amplitude
h f , out| i, ini = h f , in| S |i, ini,
| {z }
(2.41)
S -matrix element
so that | h f , in| S |i, ini |2 it the probability for scattering from the initial states to the final states.
2.4
The LSZ reduction formula
Let us now compute the S -matrix element

hp1 , ..., pn , out| q1 , ..., qr , ini
(2.42)
for scattering of asymptotic in- and out-states of definite momenta. One can think of this as the buildR
ing block to describe scattering of asymptotically localised wave-packets | fin i = d3 p f ( ~p) |pin i.
We first use the definition of |qi , ini in terms of the creation operator of the in-field
in ( x) =

d3 k
1 ~ ikx
~ ikx
(
k
)
e
a
(
k
)
e
+
a
in
in
(2)3 2Ek
(2.43)
given by
|qi , ini =
q
2Eqi ain (qi ) |i .
(2.44)
2.4. THE LSZ REDUCTION FORMULA
49
We will use that

ain (~q) = p
d3 x eiqx 0 in ( x) x0 =t ,
2Eq
Z

ain (~q) = p
d3 x eiqx 0 in ( x) x0 =t ,
2Eq
(2.45)
(cf. (1.151)), where the integral can be evaluated at arbitrary time t. This allows us to trade |qi i
by in ( x) as follows:
q
hp1 , ..., pn , out|q1 , ..., qr , ini = 2Eq1 hp1 , ..., pn , out| ain (q~1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini
Z

1
d3 x eiq1 x 0 hp1 , ..., pn , out| in (t, ~x) |q2 , ..., qr , ini x0 =t .
=
i
(2.46)
Since t is arbitrary, we can take t because in that limit we can make use of the relation
lim h1 ~p | in (t, ~x) |i = lim Z 1/2 h1 ~p | (t, ~x) |i ,
t
(2.47)
or more generally
lim hp1 , ..., pn , out| in (t, ~x) |q2 , ..., qr , ini = lim Z 1/2 hp1 , ..., pn , out| ( x) |q2 , ..., qr , ini .
t
(2.48)
This leads to
t
hp1 , ..., pn , out| q1 , ..., qr , ini

Z
1/2 1
= lim Z
d3 x eiq1 x 0 hp1 , ..., pn , out| ( x) |q2 , ..., qr , ini .
t
i
|
{z
}
R
(2.49)
d3 x f (t,~x)
Our next aim is to let ( x) act from the right on the out-states in order to annihilate one of the
states. To this end we need to relate the above matrix element with t to a matrix element
in the limit t , where we can re-express ( x) by out ( x). We can do so by exploiting that
for all functions f (t, ~x)
Z
( lim lim )
t
d x f (t, ~x) = lim

3
t f
ti ti
|
i.e.
Z
lim
Zt f
d x f (t, ~x) = lim

3
t+
dt
d3 x f (t, ~x),
t
{z
}
R
(2.50)
d4 x 0 f ( x)
d x f (t, ~x)
3
d4 x 0 f ( x).
(2.51)
Therefore we can write the overlap of the in- and out-states as

hp1 , ..., pn , out| q1 , ..., qr , ini = A B
(2.52)
50

with
Z
B=
#
"
1
d4 x Z 1/2 0 eiq1 x 0 hp1 , ..., pn , out| ( x) |q2 , ..., qr , ini
i
(2.53)
and
Z
A =
lim
d3 x
1 iq1 x 1/2
e
0 Z
hp1 , ..., pn , out| ( x) |q2 , ..., qr , ini
|
{z
}
i
for t: hp1 ,...,pn ,out|out ( x)|q2 ,...,qr ,ini
= hp1 , ..., pn , out| aout (~q1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini
q
2Eq1 .
(2.54)
Altogether
q
hp1 , ..., pn , out| q1 , ..., qr , ini = hp1 , ..., pn , out| aout (~q1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini 2Eq1
(2.55)
"
#
Z
+i d4 x Z 1/2 0 eiq1 x 0 hp1 , ..., pn , out| ( x) |q2 , ..., qr , ini .

The first term gives
hp1 , ..., pn , out| aout (~q1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini
n
X
q
2Eq1 =
2E pk (2)3 (3) ( ~pk ~q1 ) hp1 , ..., p k , ..., pn , out| q2 , ..., qr , ini,
(2.56)
k =1
where p k has to be taken out. This describes a process where one of the in- and outgoing
states are identical and do not participate in scattering. Such an amplitude corresponds to a
disconnected diagram and its computation reduces to computing an S-matrix element involving
only (r 1) in- and (n 1) out-states (since one in- and out-state factor out). The second term
in (2.55) gives
Z

h

i
i d4 x Z 1/2 0 eiq1 x 0 h...i 0 eiq1 x h...i
Z
(2.57)
h

i
4
1/2 iq1 x 2
2 iq1 x
= i d xZ
e
0 h...i 0 e
h...i ,
because the cross-terms cancel each other. Now consider that
2

20 eiq1 x = q01 eiq1 x = q21 + ~q21 eiq1 x = m2 2 eiq1 x .
(2.58)
With respect to the spatial variable we can integrate two times by parts,
Z
Z

d4 x m2 2 eiq1 x h...i =
d4 x eiq1 x m2 2 h...i,
(2.59)
since boundary terms at spatial infinity vanish. To justify this recall that the momentum eigenR
states are to be thought of as convoluted with a wavefunction profile as in | fin i = d3 p f ( ~p) |pin i
so that the full states are really localised in space. Altogether this gives
hp1 , ..., pn , out| q1 , ..., qr , ini =
n
X
2E pk (2)3 (3) ( ~pk ~q1 ) hp1 , ..., p k , ..., pn , out| q2 , ..., qr , ini
k =1
+ i Z 1/2

d4 x1 eiq1 x1 1 + m2 hp1 , ..., pn , out| ( x1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini .
(2.60)
2.4. THE LSZ REDUCTION FORMULA
51
Now we repeat this for all remaining states. First consider replacing hp1 | by out as follows:
hp1 , ..., pn , out| ( x1 )|q2 , ..., qr , ini
q
= 2E p1 hp2 , ..., pn , out| aout ( p1 )( x1 )|q2 , ..., qr , ini
Z
1/2
= lim i Z
d3 y1 eip1 y1 y0 hp2 , ..., pn , out| (y1 )( x1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini .
y01
(2.61)
We would like to repeat the previous logic and transform this into a sum of two terms, one
of which being the disconnected term hp2 , ..., pn , out| ( x1 )ain ( ~p1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini. However, we
need to be careful with the ordering of operators as we cannot simply commute ain ( ~p1 ) through
( x1 ). This is where the the time-ordering symbol T comes in. Namely, observe that for finite
values of x10
Zt f

1/2
3
ip1 y1
lim
iZ
d y1 e
y0 hp2 , ..., pn , out| T (y1 )( x1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini
0
1
t f
y1
ti ti
"
#
Z
1/2
3
ip1 y1
= lim i Z
d y1 e
y0 hp2 , ..., pn , out| (y1 )( x1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini
(2.62)
1
y01
"
#
Z
lim i Z 1/2
d3 y1 eip1 y1 y0 hp2 , ..., pn , out| ( x1 )(y1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini .
dy01
y01
{z
hp2 ,...,out|( x1 )ain ( ~p1 )|q2 ,...,ini
2E p1 disconnected term
Note the different ordering of (y1 )( x1 ) in both terms. Indeed since the limit x10
appears outside of the correlator in eq. (2.60), the time-ordering symbol precisely yields these
orderings as y01 . The term on the lefthand-side of (2.62) is, as before,
Z
i Z 1/2

d4 y1 eip1 y1 y1 + m2 hp2 , ..., pn , out| T (y1 )( x1 ) |q2 , ..., qr , ini .
(2.63)
This can be repeated for all in- and out states to get the Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann
reduction formula
hp1 , ..., pn , out| q1 , ..., qr , ini hp1 , ..., pn , in| S |q1 , ..., qr , ini
= ( disconnected terms)+
Z

n+r Z
+ i Z 1/2
d4 y1 ...d4 yn d4 x1 ...d4 xr
Pn
(2.64)
Pr
ei( k=1 pk yk l=1 ql xl )

y1 + m2 ... x1 + m2 ... h| T (y1 )...(yn )( x1 )...( xr ) |i .
This formula reduces the computation of the S -matrix to the computation of time-ordered
correlation functions of the full interacting theory.
52

In terms of the Fourier transformed quantities it reads as follows. First note that
Z

d4 p 2
2 i py
2
+
m
e ( p ).
(2.65)
y + m (y) =
(2)4
R
We can plug this into (2.64), perform the integrals d4 yk ei( pk p k )yk = (2)4 (4) ( pk p k ) (and

R d4 q
2 + m2 eiqx

(q ))
similarly for xl , where we define accordingly y + m2 ( x) = (2
4
)
and arrive at
n
r

n+r Y
Y

hp1 , ...pn | S |q1 , ..., qr i connected = iZ 1/2
p2k + m2
q2l + m2
(2.66)
k =1
l=1
h| T ( p1 )... ( pn ) (q1 )... (qr ) |i .
Note that the p1 , . . . , pn and q1 , . . . qr which appear on both sides of this equation are on-shell
since these correspond to the physical 4-momenta of the out- and incoming 1-particles states.

Therefore p2k m2 = 0 = q2l m2 . In order for hp1 , ...pn | S |q1 , ..., qr i connected to be non-zero,
the correlation function appearing on the right must therefore have a suitable pole structure such

Q

Q
r
2
2
as to cancel precisely the kinematic factors nk=1 p2k + m2
l=1 ql + m .
In fact, as will be confirmed by explicit computation, h| T ( p1 )... ( pn ) (q1 )... (qr ) |i will
in general be a sum of terms with different poles in the momenta. Only the term with the
Qn
Q
1
1
pole structure given precisely by nk=1 p2 m
2
l=1 q2 m2 contributes to the connected S-matrix
k
l

element hp , ...p | S |q , ..., q i
. The terms with fewer poles will contribute at best to
1
connected
disconnected scattering processes. On the other hand, since the S -matrix, being a QM probability amplitude, is non-singular, the correlation functions cannot have more poles than what
is cancelled by the kinematic factors on the right, and this prediction of the LSZ-formula will
indeed be confirmed in explicit computations.
Thus
n Z
Y
k =1
d yk e
ipk yk
r Z
Y
l=1
n

Y i Z
2 m2
p
k =1 k
d4 xl eiql xl h| T
Y
k
( yk )
Y
l
( xl ) |i
r

Y i Z
hp1 , ...pn | S |q1 , ..., qr i

connected .
q2 m2
l=1
(2.67)
We have arrived at a very

precise prescription to compute the connected piece of the S-matrix element
hp1 , ...pn | S |q1 , ..., qr i
:
connected
Compute the Fourier transformation of the correspondingqtime-ordered (n + rq
)-correlation
0
0
2
2
function and take all momenta pk and ql on-shell, i.e. pk = ~pk + m and ql = ~p2l + m2 .
The result will be a sum of terms each a function of the momenta, which are distinguished by
the structure of their poles.
The connected S -matrix element (times (i Z )n+r )) is the residue with respect to
Qn
Qr
1
1
l=1 q2 m2 .
k=1 p2 m2
k
2.5. CORRELATORS IN THE INTERACTION PICTURE
2.5
53
Correlators in the interaction picture
To further evaluate the LSZ formula we need to compute the (n+r)-correlation function
h| T (y1 )...(yn )( x1 )...( xr ) |i
(2.68)
of the full interacting theory with Hamiltonian

H = H0 + Hint .
(2.69)
There are two ways how to do this, either by performing a path-integral computation, or by computing
in the Interaction Picture. The path-integral formalism is reserved for the course QFT II. In the sequel
we consider the latter approach. Our strategy is to reduce the computation of the full correlator to a
calculation in terms of
free-field creation/annihilation operators and
the free-field vacuum |0i.
This is achieved in the Interaction Picture ( Dirac picture). Let (t, ~x) denote the Heisenberg Picture
field of the full interacting theory and fix some reference time t0 . Then we define the Interaction
Picture operators
I (t, ~x) =eiH0 (tt0 ) (t0 , ~x)eiH0 (tt0 )
I (t, ~x) =eiH0 (tt0 ) (t0 , ~x)eiH0 (tt0 ) .
(2.70)
The motivation behind this definition is that I (t, ~x) satisfies the free Klein-Gordon-equation
(2 + m20 )I (t, ~x) = 0
(2.71)
with mass m0 as in H0 . One can see this as follows: The defintion (2.70) implies that
t I (t, ~x) = i[ H0 , I (t, ~x)]
= eiH0 (tt0 ) i[ H0 , (t0 , ~x)] eiH0 (tt0 ) .

|
{z
}
(2.72)
(t0 ,~x)
Here we are using that (t0 , ~x) = i[ H, (t0 , ~x)] = i[ H0 , (t0 , ~x)] because H and H0 differ only by
powers in (t, ~x).4
Therefore
t I (t, ~x) = I (t, ~x)
(2.73)
and likewise
2t I (t, ~x) = eiH0 (tt0 ) i[ H0 , (t0 , ~x)] eiH0 (tt0 )
|
{z
}
(2.74)
(2 m20 )(t0 ,~x)
=
4 If
(2 m20 )I (t, ~x).
(2.75)
we allow also for time derivative terms in the interactions, we should be writing here and in the sequel
i[ H0 , (t0 , ~x)] = 0 (t0 , ~x) with 0 (t0 , ~x) , (t, ~x). It can be checked that this does not alter the conclusions.
54
Here it is crucial to appreciate that m0 appears because the commutator involves only H0 and the
computation of i[ H0 , (t0 , ~x)] proceeds as in the free theory.
Equ. (2.71) implies that I (t, ~x) enjoys a free mode expansion of the form
I ( x) =

d3 p
1
ipx
ipx
~
~
a
(
p
)
e
+
a
(
p
)
e
,
p
I
I
(2)3 2E p
p0 = E ~p = ~p2 + m20 .
(2.76)
Furthermore it is easy to see that the interaction picture fields and, as a result of (2.73), also the modes
satisfy the free-field commutation relations
[I (t, ~x), I (t, ~y)] = i(3) (~x ~y),
[aI ( ~p), aI (~q)] =
(2)3 (3) ( ~p ~q).
(2.77)
One then verifies that
[ H0 , aI ( ~p)] = E p aI ( ~p),
[ H0 , aI ( ~p)] = + E p aI ( ~p)
(2.78)
as in the free theory. This can be seen e.g. by noting that H0 = eiH0 (tt0 ) H0 eiH0 (tt0 ) ( H0 )I
and therefore we can replace in H0 all fields ( x) by I ( x) so that all free field results carry over.
Consequently by the same arguments as in the free theory there must exist a vacuum state annihilated
by all aI ( ~p) and by H0 . This identifies this state as the unique vacuum of the free theory, H0 |0i = 0,
and therefore
aI ( ~p) |0i = 0.
(2.79)
At t , t0 , the Heisenberg Picture (t, ~x) and the Interaction Picture I (t, ~x) relate as
(t, ~x) = eiH (tt0 ) (t0 , ~x)eiH (tt0 )
= eiH (tt0 ) eiH0 (tt0 ) I (t, ~x)eiH0 (tt0 ) eiH (tt0 ) ,
(2.80)
which yields
(t, ~x) = U (t, t0 ) I (t, ~x)U (t, t0 ),
(2.81)
where
U (t, t0 ) = eiH0 (tt0 ) eiH (tt0 )
(2.82)
is the time-evolution operator. Note that, since H and H0 do not commute, this is not just eiHint (tt0 ) .
The logic is now to replace the Heisenberg Picture operators ( x) in the correlator (2.68) by the
Interaction Picture operators I ( x) because these obey a free-mode expansion. To further evaluate
the resulting expression, we first derive a useful expression for U (t, t0 ) and second establish a relation
between the vacuum |i of the interacting theory as appearing in (2.68) and the free vacuum |0i on
which the interaction picture modes act.
2.5.1
55
Time evolution
To compute U (t, t0 ) we note that the time-evolution operator satisfies

i
U (t, t0 ) = HI (t )U (t, t0 )
t
(2.83)
with HI (t ) = eiH0 (tt0 ) Hint eiH0 (tt0 ) because

h
i
it eiH0 (tt0 ) eiH (tt0 ) = i iH0 eiH0 (tt0 ) eiH (tt0 ) + eiH0 (tt0 ) (iH )eiH (tt0 )
= eiH0 (tt0 ) ( H H0 )eiH (tt0 )

= eiH0 (tt0 ) Hint eiH0 (tt0 ) eiH0 (tt0 ) eiH (tt0 )
(2.84)
= HI (t)U (t, t0 ).
As in Quantum Mechanics we solve the differential equation (2.83)by rewriting it as an integral equation,
Zt
1
U (t, t0 ) =
HI (t0 )U (t0 , t0 )dt0 + U (t0 , t0 ).
(2.85)
i
t0
The latter can be solved iteratively with initial value U (0) (t, t0 ) = 1,
(1)
1
(t, t0 ) =1 +
i
Zt
t0
1
U (2) (t, t0 ) =1 +
i
Zt
dt1 HI (t1 ) U (0) (t1 , t0 ),

| {z }
=1
(2.86)
dt2 HI (t2 )U (1) (t2 , t0 ),
t0
and so on at each iteration. The exact solution is given by the n-th iteration for n ,
lim U (n) (t, t0 ) U (t, t0 ).
(2.87)
Indeed it is easy to check that this expression, which is just

t
!n Z
Z1
Zn1
X
1
U (t, t0 ) = 1 +
dt1 dt2 ... dtn HI (t1 ) HI (t2 )...HI (tn ),
i
n=1
t0
t0
(2.88)
t0
solves equ. (2.83). Note that the HI (ti ) under the integral are time-ordered.
The solution can be simplified further. Consider e.g. the second term and observe that it can be
rewritten as
Zt
Zt1
Zt
Zt
1
dt1 dt2 HI (t1 ) HI (t2 ) =
dt1 dt2 T ( HI (t1 ) HI (t2 )) .
(2.89)
2
t0
t0
t0
t0
56
Indeed the right-hand side is

1
2
|
Zt1
Zt
dt1
t0
t0
1
dt2 HI (t1 ) HI (t2 ) +
2
{z
} |
Zt
Zt
dt2 HI (t2 ) HI (t1 )
dt1
t0
(2.90)
t1
{z
a) t1 >t2
b) t2 >t1
and intgral b) is in fact the same as integral a). To see this rotate the square in the t1 t2 plane over
which we integrating by 90 , which gives
1
b) =
2
Zt2
Zt
dt1 HI (t2 ) HI (t1 ) a) .
dt2
t0
(2.91)
t0
With this reasoning the time-evolution operator is

U (t, t0 ) =
Zt
X
(i)n
n!
n=0
t0
Zt
Zt
dt1
dtn T HI (t1 ) HI (tn ).
dt2 ...
t0
(2.92)
t0
For the latter infinite series one introduces the notation

Rt
i dt0 HI (t0 )
U (t, t0 ) = T e
t0
(2.93)
From the series expression one can verify that the time-evolution operator has the following properties:
U (t1 , t2 ) = U 1 (t1 , t2 ) = U (t2 , t1 ),
U (t1 , t2 )U (t2 , t3 ) = U (t1 , t3 ) for t1 t2 t3 .
2.5.2
From the interacting to the free vacuum
Having understood how to relate the full Heisenberg fields to the free interaction picture fields, we
now try to set up a relation between the free vacuum |0i and the interacting vacuum |i. Let |ni be an
eigenstate of the full Hamiltonian, i.e.
H |ni = En |ni with H = H0 + Hint .
(2.94)
Then the time-evolution of the free vacuum |0i is5

X
eiHT |0i = eiHT
|ni hn| 0i
n
iEn T
n
iE T
=e
|ni hn| 0i
|i h| 0i +
(2.95)
X
|ni,|i
5 You
must not confuse time ordering T and time T over the next pages.
eiEn T |ni hn| 0i.
57
If H0 |0i = 0, then H |i = E |i with E , 0, because we now compare the vacuum energy of 2

theories or, put differently, the counter-term V0 in the Lagrangian has already been used to set E0 = 0
so that we are stuck with E , whatever it is. Be that as it may, we have En > E |ni , |i. So
if we formally take the limit T (1 i ), then eiEn T is stronger suppressed and only the vacuum
|i survives in6
lim eiHT |0i =
lim eiE T h| 0i |i .
(2.96)
T (1i )
T (1i )
Solving this for |i yields

|i =
eiHT |0i
.
T (1i ) eiE T h| 0i
lim
(2.97)
Note that we are assuming here that h| |0i , 0, which is guaranteed at least for small perturbations
Hint in H.
To bring this to a form involving the time-evolution operator we shift T T + t0 = t0 (T )) and
write for eiH (T +t0 ) |0i
eiH (t0 (T )) eiH0 (T t0 ) |0i = U (t0 , T ) |0i ,
(2.98)
|
{z
}
=|0i since H0 |0i= 0
because
h
i1
U (t0 , T ) = U (T , t0 )1 = eiH0 (T t0 ) eiH (T t0 )
= eiH (T +t0 ) eiH0 (T t0 ) .
(2.99)
So the vacuum is
|i =
lim
T (1i )
1
eiE (t0 (T )) h| 0i U (t0 , T ) |0i .
Likewise, starting from limT (1i ) h0| eiHT one gets

1
h| =
lim h0| U (T , t0 ) eiE (T t0 ) h0| i .
T (1i )
(2.100)
(2.101)
Finally we can compute h| T ( x)(y) |i. Suppose first that x0 y0 t0 : Then h| T ( x)(y) |i
becomes
h| ( x)(y) |i =
lim
T (1i )
(eiE (T t0 ) h0| i)1
h0| U (T , t0 ) U ( x0 , t0 ) I ( x)U ( x0 , t0 )
|
{z
}
( x)

1
U (y0 , t0 ) I ( x)U (y0 , t0 ) U (t0 , T ) |0i eiE (t0 (T )) h| 0i
|
{z
}
(2.102)
(y)
lim
T (1i )
| h0| i|2 eiE 2T
1
h0| U (T , x0 ) I ( x)U ( x0 , y0 ) I (y)U (y0 , T ) |0i .

6 Alternatively,
the argument can be phrased as follows: Renormalise your theory such that E = 0, but E0 , 0. Then it
is clear that only the term involving |i survives unsupressed. The following equations must then be adjusted, but the final
result is the same.
58
Note that the contraction U ( x0 , t0 )U (t0 , y0 ) = U ( x0 , y0 ) only works because of time-ordering. We

can eliminate the constant prefactor by noting that

1
1 = h| i =
lim
| h0| i|2 eiE (2T ) h0| U (T , t0 )U (t0 , T ) |0i .
(2.103)
T (1i )
For x0 y0 t0 we arrive at
h| ( x)(y) |i =
h0| U (T , x0 ) I ( x)U ( x0 , y0 ) I (y)U (y0 , T ) |0i

.
h0| U (T , T ) |0i
T (1i )
lim
(2.104)
The nominator is
h0| T I ( x) I (y) U (T , x0 )U ( x0 , y0 )U (y0 , T ) |0i ,
|
{z
}
(2.105)
U (T ,T )
where the time-ordering symbol takes care of order. Similar conclusions are obtained for x0 y0 .
Therefore altogether

RT
h0| T I ( x) I (y)ei T dtHI (t) |0i
.
h| T ( x)(y) |i =
lim
(2.106)
RT
T (1i )
h0| T ei T dtHI (t) |0i
This same reasoning goes through for higher n-point correlators. Our master formula for computing
correlation function becomes
h| T
( xi ) |i =
lim
h0| T
T (1i )
i
i I ( xi ) e
h0| T ei
RT
T
RT
T
dtHI (t )
dtHI (t )
|0i
(2.107)
|0i
This formula can be applied to concrete interactions, i.e.

4
( x ),
4!
where has mass-dimension 0. The interaction picture Hamiltonian is then
Z
HI =
d3 x I (t, ~x)4
4!
L = L0 + Lint , e.g. Lint =
(2.108)
(2.109)
and we can expand the time-evolution perturbatively order by order in if 1 by expanding the
exponential
R
RT
4 4
lim ei T dtHI (t) =
lim ei d x 4! I ( x) .
(2.110)
T (1i )
T (1i )
As we will see the (1 i ) prescription for the boundaries of the integral will pose no problems (cf.
discussion after (2.133)).
There are basically two remaining problems:
Q
Perform a systematic evaluation of h0| T i I ( xi ) |0i and
deal with the denominator.
We will solve these problems by exploiting the action of the creation and annihilation operators on
the vacuum.
2.6. WICKS THEOREM
2.6
59
Wicks theorem
To compute an expression of the form h0| T
I ( xi ) |0i we decompose I into free modes,
Z
d3 p
1
d3 p
1
ipx
~
I =
a
(
p
)
e
+
a ( ~p)eipx .
p
p
I
3
3
(2) 2E p
(2) 2E p I
|
{z
} |
{z
}
Z
(2.111)
=: I ( x)
=: +
I ( x)
Now we want to commute all I ( x) to the left of all +

I ( x) to use
+
I ( x) |0i = 0 = h0| I ( x).
(2.112)
To do so we definie normal-ordering:
An operator O is normal-ordered if all creation/annihilation operators appear on the

left/right. For such O we write : O :
Consider for example the operator:

: a ( ~p1 )a( ~p2 )a ( ~p3 ) : = a ( ~p1 )a ( ~p3 )a( ~p2 ) = a ( ~p3 )a ( ~p1 )a( ~p2 ).
(2.113)
It is obvious that
h0| : O : |0i = 0
(2.114)
for every non-trivial operator O , c1 for c C. We begin with h0| T I ( x) I (y) |0i and drop the
subscript "I" from now on. There are two cases to consider, either x0 y0 or y0 x0 . If x0 y0 , then
T ( x)(y) = ( x)(y) and
( x ) (y) = ( x ) (y) + ( x ) + (y) + + ( x ) + (y) + + ( x ) (y)
(2.115)
The first three terms are already normal-ordered and the last term can be put in normal-ordered form
by commuting the fields through each other,
( x)(y) = : ( x)(y) : + [+ ( x), (y)].
(2.116)
Similar expressions follow for x0 y0 , so altogether

T (( x)(y)) = : ( x)(y) : + ( x0 y0 )[+ ( x), (y)]
+ (y0 x0 )[+ (y), ( x)].
(2.117)
We notice that the last two terms are a C-number c and with
(0)
h0| T ( x)(y) |0i = h0| : ( x)(y) : |0i + h0| c |0i = c DF ( x y)

|
{z
}
0
(2.118)
60
we find that
(0)
T (( x)(y)) = : ( x)(y) : + DF ( x y).
(2.119)
(0)
We use the notation DF ( x y) for the free Feynman propagator in the sequel to emphasize that this
object is defined in terms of the free mass parameter m0 appearing in the Lagrangian. If we define the
contraction
(0)
(0)
( x ) (y) = D F ( x y) = D F (y x ),
(2.120)
T (( x)(y)) = : ( x)(y) + ( x)(y) : .
(2.121)
we can write this as
Note that by definition : c := c for a C-number, which explains the notation : ( x)(y) :.7 This
generalises to higher products. E.g. one can show by direct computation that
T (( x1 )( x2 )( x3 )) T (1 2 3 )
= : 1 2 3 : + : 1 2 3 : + : 1 2 3 : + : 1 2 3 :
(0)
(0)
(2.122)
(0)
= : 1 : DF ( x2 x3 )+ : 3 : DF ( x1 x2 )+ : 2 : DF ( x1 x3 ).
Wicks theorem generalises this for N fields,
T (1 ... N ) = : 1 ... N :
X
+
: 1 ... i ... j ... N :
1i< jN
: 1 ... i ...k ... j ...l ... N :
(2.123)
1i<k< j<lN
+ 2 more contractions
+ ...
Indeed one can prove this by induction and summarize Wicks theorem as
T (1 ... N ) = : 1 ... N : + : all contractions of distinct pairs : .
(2.124)
The proof is reserved to Examples Sheet 6.

Wicks theorem together with (2.114) has two important consequences:
h0| T 1 ...2N +1 |0i = 0, because there is always an odd number of normal-ordered fields remaining and
P
(0)
(0)
(0)
h0| T 1 ...2N |0i = DF ( x1 x2 ) DF ( x3 x4 )...DF ( x2N1 x2N ) + (all other contractions).
7 See
also the remark right after equ. (2.114).
2.7. FEYNMAN DIAGRAMS
2.7
61
Feynman diagrams
There exists a practical graphical representation of the systematics of contractions in terms of Feynman diagrams. Consider for instance
(0)
(0)
(0)
(0)
h0| T (1 2 3 4 ) |0i = DF ( x1 x2 ) DF ( x3 x4 )
(0)
(0)
(2.125)
+ DF ( x1 x3 ) DF ( x2 x4 ) + DF ( x1 x4 ) DF ( x2 x3 ).
The result can be translated into a Feynman diagram as follows:
First, draw 1 point for all xi in ( xi ) and connect these by lines in all possible ways. This gives,
in the present case, three distinct diagrams displayed in Figure 2.2. Note that these are distinct
because we distinguish between x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 .
Figure 2.2: Possible connections between all xi .
(0)
Then, to each line between i and j we attach a factor of DF ( xi x j ).

(0)
We then multiply all DF ( xi x j ) and sum over all distinct diagrams.

In interacting theories also contractions involving fields at the same spacetime point occur. For example consider the propagator in 4 -theory up to first order in :
h0|T ( x)(y)ei 4!
d4 z4 (z)
|0i =
h0| T ( x)(y) |0i + h0| T ( x)( x)
i
d4 z
4 (z) |0i + O(2 ).
4!
(2.126)
The O(0 )-term corresponds to a straight line between x and y, i.e. the propagation from x to y, which
(0)
is assigned a factor DF ( x y). The term to first order in is
Z
i
d4 z ( x)(y) (z) (z)(z) (z)
4!
(2.127)
alalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
alalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
d4 z( x)(y)(z) (z) (z)(z) .
(2.128)
62
This can be written as

Z
4
d
Z
(0)
zDF ( x y)
(0)
!
4 1 (0)
(0)
D (z z) D F (z z)
2 2 F
(0)
(2.129)
(0)
d4 z DF ( x z) DF (y z) DF (z z) 4 3.
The graphical representation of these two different contributions is given in Figure 2.3. Note the
appearance of the point z, which is integrated over. The first term is proportional i 18 , while the
second term has a factor of i 12 .
Figure 2.3: First and second term of O(1 ).
To give an interpretation of these combinatorial factors of 1/8 and 1/2, we observe that they coincide
with 1 over the order ( number of elements) of the symmetry group of the diagrams. These are called
the symmetry factors. The symmetry factors are given by the number of ways one can exchange
components of the diagram without changing the diagram, where by components we mean either the
two ends of a line starting and ending on the same point, entire lines between points or internal points
(vertices - see below).
For the two diagrams these are in turn:
The single loop at z is symmetric under the exchange of the out- and in-going end of the loop, but
the direction must be consistent (i.e. one out- and one ingoing arrow). Therefore the symmetry
group is G = Z2 and its order is |G| = 2.
The double loop is separately symmetric under exchange of the out- and in-going end of both
loops, which gives a Z2 Z2 as well as under exchange of the two loops as a whole. Therefore
the symmetry group is G = Z2 Z2 Z2 and its order is |G| = 8.
One can show in general that if a Feynman diagram with symmetry group G always carries a combi1
. This is because if some symmetry remains the factor of n!1 in the interaction term
natorial factor |G|
n! n is only partially cancelled by counting the various contractions that yield the same diagram. In
the above examples the symmetry group was due to the ambiguity in assigning arrows to the lines at a
vertex. In addition, if k vertices are identical, the symmetry group includes the group of permutations
of these k vertices of order |S k | = k!.
Let us introduce some jargon:
The points x, y associated to ( x)(y) in the correlator, which are not integrated over, are
called external points.
2.7. FEYNMAN DIAGRAMS
63
All other points - here z - over which is integrated over are internal points.
For a n interaction, at an internal point n lines meet. Such points are called vertices.
2.7.1
Position space Feynman-rules
The translation of Wicks theorem into Feynman-graphs as exemplified above can be proven to hold
generally (the only non-trivial aspect being the symmetry factors). We summarize this in terms of the
position space Feynman-rules for the computation of
h0| T
m
Y
( xi )ei n!
d4 z n (z)
|0i
(2.130)
i=1
at order k , where we are assuming that all xi are distinct:

Draw one external point for all xi and k internal points z j .
Connect the points by lines such that
to each external point xi 1 line is attached,
to each internal point z j n lines are attached.
To each line between points yi and y j (both external and internal) we associate a free propagator
(0)
(0)
D F ( yi y j ) = D F ( y j yi ) ,
(2.131)
where we stress again that the superscript reminds us to take the Feynman propagator of the
free theory.
R
To each vertex associate a factor i d4 z j .
To each external point associate a 1.
Multiply all factors, Feynman propagators etc. and divide by the symmetry factor of the diagram.
Then sum up all distinct such Feynman diagrams.
2.7.2
Momentum space Feynman-rules
More practical are the momentum space Feynman-rules: To each free propagator
(0)
D F ( x y)
i
d4 p
eip( xy)
4
2
(2) p m20 + i
(2.132)
associate an arrow and momentum p in that direction. This means an arrow from x to y corresponds
(0)
(0)
(0)
to the propagator DF ( x y). Obviously the direction is arbitrary because DF ( x y) = DF (y x),
64
R
but let us make one such choice for each line. We can then perform the integral d4 z at each vertex
explicitly. E.g. for the 4 -theory 4 lines meet at a vertex, and if, say, the momenta p1 and p2 point
into that vertex and p3 , p4 point out of it, this integral yields
Z
d4 z eip1 z eip2 z eip3 z eip4 z = (2)4 (4) ( p1 + p2 p3 p4 ).
(2.133)
This implements momentum conservation at each vertex. The delta-function will effectively eliminate
R
one integral d4 pi per vertex.8
RT
Note at this point that the formal prescription that we integrate limT (1i ) T in (2.107) translates
R
into a corresponding prescription for d4 z. We should therefore view this integral as a complex
contour integral. From the fact that such integrals can be deformed in the complex plane as long as no
poles are hit it follows that the (1 i ) prescription does not affect the result.
The momentum-space Feynman rules9 for the computation of the n-point function
h0| T
m
Y
( xi )ei n!
d4 z n (z)
|0i
(2.134)
i=1
at order k are:
Draw one external point for all xi and k internal points z j .
Connect the points by lines such that
to each external point xi 1 line is attached,
to each internal point z j n lines are attached.
To each line between points yi and y j (both external and internal) we associate a free propagator
(0)
D F ( yi y j )
(2.135)
(0)
with one choice of direction and to each such DF (yi y j ) we associate directed momentum p
from yi to y j and a factor
i
.
(2.136)
p2 m20 + i
For each vertex we multiply a factor of (2)4 (4) (
ingoing
pi
outgoing
pk ) (i).
For each external point we multiply a factor of eipx for momentum pointing out of the external
point, or eipx for momentum pointing into the point.
8 The
elimination of the zi -integration works this way only if the vertex is connected to at least one other point, either
internal or external. This is, for example, not the case for the second diagram in Fig. 2.3. More generally, one overall factor
R
of d4 zi = VolR1,3 = (2)4 (4) (0) remains for diagrams not connected to any of the external points. We will see in the
next subsection how to deal with such disconnected diagrams.
9 Careful: By momentum space Feynman rules we do not mean that we compute the Fourier transform of the correlator,
but rather that we give an equivalent set of rules for the computation of the correlator where the integral over the vertex
positions has been performed explicitly.
2.8. DISCONNECTED DIAGRAMS

Integrate over each momentum
65
d4 p
(2)4
and divide by the symmetry factor.
Then sum up all distinct such Feynman diagrams.

For example, consider again the 4 theory to order , i.e.
h0| T
4
Y
k ei 4!
d4 x4
|0i .
(2.137)
k =1
0 corresponds to the diagrams in Figure 2.2. For 1 we can have
Figure 2.4: Diagrams for 1 .
Consider the first diagram at order , make a consistent choice of momenta and assign eikx for in-going
arrows at external points, eikx for out-going arrows and i(4) (k1 + k2 k3 k4 ) at the vertex due
to momentum consvervation. We end up with
4
Y
!
Z

i
4
4
h0| T
( xk )
d z (z) |0i
4!
Diagram
k =1
4 Z
Y
d4 k j ik1 x1 ik2 x2 ik3 x3 ik4 x4
e
e
e
e
=
(2)4
j=1
(i)(2)4 (4) (k1 + k2 k3 k4 )
4
Y
k2
j=1 j
(2.138)
i
.
m20 + i
As we will see soon, in the context of the LSZ formalism we actually need not the correlation function,
but rather its Fourier transform. E.g. we will need expressions of the form
Z
Z
Z
Z

d4 x1 eip1 x1
d4 x2 eip2 x2
d4 x3 eip3 x3
d4 x4 eip4 x4 h0| ... |0i
Diagram
2.8
(2) ( p1 + p2 q3 q4 )(i)
i
i
i
i
.
2
2
2
2
2
2
p1 m0 + i p2 m0 + i p3 m0 + i p4 m0 + i
4 (4)
(2.139)
Disconnected diagrams
A typical diagram contains disconnected pieces, i.e. subdiagrams which are not connected to any of
the external points. For example consider the second diagram in Figure 2.4: The double loop in this
66
case is not connected to any external point and therefore called disconnected piece (or disconnected
diagram). A disconnected piece contains only internal points. By contrast, the part of the diagram
which is connected to at least one external point is called partially connected diagram.
According to the Feynman rules disconnected pieces appear as overall factors of the Feynman diagram. If we sum up all Feynman diagrams that contribute to
h0| T ( x1 )...( xk )ei N!
N d4 x
|0i
(2.140)
the result factorises into the sum of all partially connected diagrams in the above sense multiplied
by the sum of all disconnected diagrams. If you dont believe this, just draw a few pages of Feynman
diagrams relevant for, say, the 4-point function in 4 -theory and convince yourself that the infinite
sum over all relevant diagrams can be organized this way.
Let {V j } denote the set of all individual disconnected pieces (i.e. Vi is a Feynman diagram containing
only internal points which itself is connected as a diagram). Then the sum over all diagrams not
connected to any of the external points can be organized as a sum over all Vi , where each Vi appears
ni -times with ni = 0, 1, ..., . If some Vi appears ni -times we must divide its contribution by ni !
to account for the symmetry factor from interchanging identical Vi . For instance, the sum over all
disconnected diagrams contains
8+ 88 + 888 + ... + arbitrary products and number of loops.
1+
1
3!
1
2!
Denoting by Vi also the value of the corresponding diagram, we have that the sum over all disconnected diagrams is
YX
Y
P
1
(Vi )ni
=
eVi = e i Vi .
(2.141)
ni !
i n =0
i
i
This is called exponentiation of disconnected pieces. The final result for (2.140) is therefore of the
form
X
P
( at least partially connected pieces) e i Vi .
(2.142)
Now consider the full correlator
h| T
i |i =
h0| T
i
i i e
h0| T ei
HI dt
HI dt
|0i
(2.143)
|0i
The denominator contains no external points and thus yields precisely

h0| T ei
HI dt
|0i = e
Vi
the partition function.
(2.144)
This cancels the factor from the nominator and thus

h| T
n
Y
i |i =
(all partially connected diagrams with n external points).
(2.145)
Note that the partition function plays an important role also in Statistical Mechanics. In computing
the partition function in that context you will encounter many times the same reasoning that organizes
the sum over all its contributions in a form similar to the one above. In fact, when discussing the path
integral approach to Quantum Field Theory in QFT II we will see that this is no coincidence.
2.9. 1-PARTICLE-IRREDUCIBLE DIAGRAMS
2.8.1
67
Vacuum bubbles
The disconnected diagrams contributing to the partition function are called vacuum bubbles and they
have a remarkable physical interpretation: From eq. (2.103) we recall that
P
Vi
= h0| T ei
dtHI
|0i =
lim
T (1i )
2

h| 0i eiE 2T
(2.146)
so
X

iE 2T T (1i ) =
Vi log | h| 0i|2
|
{z
}
(2.147)
finite number
and therefore
E =
lim
T (1i )
Vi
2T
(2.148)
because the finite term plays no role in the limit we are taking. E is the vacuum energy of the
interacting theory in the scheme where E0 - the vacuum energy of the free theory - has been set to
0 by renormalisation of the original Lagrangian after adding a term VolE0 3 to L. In terms of the
R
corresponding energy density this means
P
P
i j Vj
E
j Vj
= lim
=i
.
(2.149)
VolR3
T (1i ) 2T VolR3
(2)4 (4) (0)
Note that the factor of (2)4 (4) (0) in the denominator cancels a corresponding factor appearing in
R
the computation of each of the Vi from an uncancelled overall d4 z - see footnote 8. This factor
represents the familiar IR divergence of the vacuum energy from integration over spacetime. As
E
is also UV divergent because
we will see later when actually computing loops of this type, Vol
3
R
of divergent momentum integration for the vacuum loops. This is no surprise as already VolE0 3 was
R
divergent. We organise these divergences order by order in perturbation theory and can renormalise
them away by counter-terms, i.e. by adding to the classical Lagrangian terms of form10
(1)
(2)
L L 1 V0 2 V0 ...,
(2.150)
just like we did for E0 (i.e. at order 0 ) in the free theory.
2.9
1-particle-irreducible diagrams
As a first application of our formula for the computation of n-point functions in an interacting theory
we consider perturbative corrections to the propagator in 4 -theory,
X
DF ( x y) = h| T ( x)(y) |i =
O ( i ) .
(2.151)
i
Some of the first few Feynman diagrams are shown in Figure 2.5.
fact, due to renormalisation of the other operators order by order in this is a bit of an oversimplification, but we
will come to this in more detail later in the course.
10 In
68
Figure 2.5: Perturbative corrections.
To organise the sum over Feynman diagrams it is useful to define the concept of 1 particle-irreducible
(1PI) Feynman diagrams. These are diagrams out of which one cannot produce 2 separate non-trivial
diagrams (diagrams containing more than just one line) by cutting a single line. E.g. in Figure 2.5
only the 4th diagram is not 1PI (one can cut it in 2 by cutting the line between the two loops). It is
standard to introduce the notation
X
1PI =

(all non-trivial 1PI diagrams),
(2.152)
where it is understood that we do not attach

external points to both ends (i.e. no factors eipx or

i/( p2 m20 + i ) from the left or right of
1PI.

2
2
We now define iM ( p ) to be the value of
1PI, where p2 denotes the in- and outgoing momentum.
Clearly computing iM 2 ( p2 ) can be a hard task, and the result will be a complicated function of p2 .
In particular this quantity may be divergent (again due to integration over internal momenta). We will
compute iM 2 ( p2 ) explicitly for an electron in Quantum Electrodynamics, in which case it is called
self-energy, later in the course and find ways to deal with its divergence systematically. Irrespective
of the outcome for iM 2 ( p2 ), the sum over all diagrams contributing to h| T ( x)(y) |i can
be organised as a geometric series in 1 PI diagrams. Let us compute the Fourier transform DF ( p2 )
defined such that
Z
D F ( x y) =
d4 p ip( xy)
e
D F ( p2 ) .
(2)4
(2.153)
DF ( p2 ) can be expanded as
D F ( p2 ) =
ff f f f f f

i
p2 m2 +i
0
1PI

i
p2 m2 +i
0
i
p2 m2 +i
0

+ ...
1PI
1PI

(2.154)
The fact that we are not drawing points at the two ends of diagrams symbolizes that we are omitting
the factors of eipx or eipy as these are, by definition, not part of DF ( p2 ). The Fourier transformed
2.9. 1-PARTICLE-IRREDUCIBLE DIAGRAMS
69
propagator is then

i
i
i
2 2
+
iM
(
p
)
+ ...
2
2
2
2
2
p m0 + i
p m0 + i
p m20 + i
2
2
2
2
M ( p )
M (p )
i
+ ...
+ 2
= 2
1 + 2
2
2
2
p m0 + i
p m + i
p m0 + i
| {z0 }
D F ( p2 ) =
(2.155)
i
= 2
p m20 + i
M 2 ( p2 )
p2 m20 +i
P
1
n
Here we assumed that q < 1 so that the geometric series
n=0 q converges to 1q . Once again, we
will deal with the explicit form of iM 2 ( p2 ) later in QED and justify this assumption. This procedure
is called Dyson resummation and yields the resummed propagator
D F ( p2 ) =
p2 (m20 + M 2 ( p2 )) + i
fpf
(2.156)
Now, iM 2 ( p2 ) is a complicated function of p2 that we compute order by order in . We can then

extract the first analytic pole in DF ( p2 ) and call it m2 . Then
DF ( p2 ) =
p2
iZ
+ terms regular at m2
m2 + i
(2.157)
for some Z. I.e. Z is by definition the residue (in the above sense) of DF ( p2 ) at its first analytical pole
m2 . This way we can compute
m2 - the physical 1-particle-mass pole mass,
Z - the wavefunction renormalisation,
perturbatively to given order in . This is a beautiful result because we can now understand quantitatively why the mass of the 1-particle momentum eigenstates in an interacting theory differs from m0 :
The reason are the self-interactions of the field, which are resummed as above to shift the pole of the
full propagator from m0 to m. In particular this picture justifies our assertion made in the context of
asymptotic in- and out-states that the asymptotic states behave as free particles, but with fully renormalised mass m , m0 : By sending the particles infinitely far apart from each other we effectively
switch off the interactions between the different particles, but we cannot switch off the interactions
of the asymptotic particles with themselves (or rather of the field with itself). These are precisely the
1PI contributions to DF ( p2 ) and thus the in-and out-states do have the fully resummed mass m2 , m20 .
70
2.10
Scattering amplitudes
Recall the LSZ-reduction formula for r in- and n out-states

n Z
Y
d4 yk eipk yk
d4 xl eiql xl h| T (y1 )...( x1 )... |i
l=1
k =1
r Z
Y
i Z 1/2
p2k m2 + i

i Z 1/2
hp1 ...| S |q1 ...i connected ,
2
2
ql m + i
(2.158)

where all ql and pk are on-shell. Now, recall that hp1 ...| S |q1 ...i connected itself cannot be proportional
to p2k m2 or q2l m2 because otherwise it is zero on-shell and thus no scattering occurs; likewise

hp1 ...| S |q1 ...i connected cannot contain any factors of ( p2k m2 )1 or (q2l m2 )1 because then it would
be divergent on-shell, in contradiction with its definition as a quantum mechanical amplitude. As a
result only those Feynman diagrams are relevant with exactly (n + r ) poles at m2 in the above sense.
It is not hard to see that these are precisely the ones that contribute to the fully connected correlation
function. A fully connected correlation function has the structure displayed in Figure 2.6.
Figure 2.6: Fully connected correlation function with r in and n out states.
xfpf
Here
denotes the fully resummed propagator from lines connected to external points.
The fully resummed propagator would appear if we computed to all orders in perturbation theory.
More realistically, to a given finite order in perturbation theory we should think of the propagator as
computed to suitable order.
xfpf fpfx
The big blop in the middle denotes the amputated correlator. By amputated correlator we mean the
Feynman diagram after cutting off all external legs carrying
or
. Since
iZ
2
2
each external leg carries a factor of p2 m2 +i near m if p is on-shell, all (n + r ) external legs yield
together yield the right singularity structure.
By contrast, partially connected diagrams such as the one in Figure 2.7 carry fewer factors of p2 mi 2 +i

and thus do not contribute to hp1 ...| S |q1 ...i connected . Therefore the final result for the computation
2.10. SCATTERING AMPLITUDES
71
of scattering amplitudes is
n + r

(2.159)
Z
hp1 , ..., pn | S |q1 , ..., qr i connected =

YZ
YZ
d4 xl eiql xl h| T (y1 )...( x1 )... |i |fully connected |Amputated
d4 yk eipk yk
k
Note that the wavefunction renormalisation factor Z itself is of the form 1 + O() in perturbation
theory, so to leading order in the coupling constant the Z-factors play no role as only O() diagrams
can be fully connected.
x1
x2
xfxfpfx
pfx
y1
y2
Figure 2.7: Partially connected diagramm, i.e. (n 2) and (r 2).
As an example we consider again the 4 -theory to leading order. The only fully connected diagram
at O() is the first diagram in Figure 2.4. We make a consistent choice of ingoing versus outgoing
momenta and recall the result

h|T ( x1 )( x2 )(y1 )(y2 ) |i =
4 Z
Y
d4 k j ik1 x1 ik2 x2 ik3 y1 ik4 y2
=
e
e
e
e
(2)4
(2.160)
j=1
(i)(2)4 (4) (k1 + k2 k3 k4 )
4
Y
k2
l=1 l
i
.
m20 + i
To compute hp1 , p2 | S |q1 , q2 i |connected we take first the Fourier transform as

Z
Z
Z
Z
d4 x1 eiq1 x1
d4 x2 eiq2 x2
d4 y1 eip1 y1
d4 y2 eip2 y2

h| T ( x1 )( x2 )(y1 )(y2 ) |i
= (i)(2)4 (4) (q1 + q2 p1 p2 )
2
Y
q2
j=1 j
i
i
2
2
m0 + i p j m20 + i
(2.161)
72
and then we amputate by discarding all propagators from external lines. The result is

hp1 , p2 | S |q1 , q2 i connected, O() = (i)(2)4 (4) (q1 + q2 p1 p2 ),
where we have discarded the factor
order result.
2.10.1
(2.162)
4
Z because, as discussed, it does not contribute to the leading
Feynman-rules for the S -matrix
This procedure can be summarised in general in terms of the Feynman-rules for the computation of

hp1 , ..., pn | S |q1 , ..., qr i connected as follows:
Draw the relevant fully connected Feynman diagrams with (n + r ) external points to given order
in .
Assign ingoing momenta ql and outgoing momenta pk and label momenta of internal lines with
k j.
P
Each vertex carries (i)(2)4 (4) ( ingoing momenta outgoing momenta).
Each internal line carries
i
.
k2j m20 +i
Integrate over all internal momenta
Q R
Sum up all diagrams and multiply by
d4 k j
(2)4
and divide by the symmetry factor.
n + r
Z
to given order in .
Deeper interpretation of the Feynman rules

The connection between correlation functions and S -matrix elements gives Feynman diagrams an
intuitive physical meaning: In Figure 2.8 two particles come in and interact at Z1 to form two socalled "virtual" particles, which in turn join again at Z2 and form two outgoing states. The obvious
Figure 2.8: Feynman graph with two virtual particles.
interpretation of the Feynman diagram elements is therefore:

A line
corresponds to the worldline of a particle.
2.11. CROSS-SECTIONS
73
eipx is the wavefunction for a momentum-eigenstate.
A vertex
Z is a localised interaction at a spacetime point Z.

R
Summing up diagrams and integrating over d4 z amounts to coherently summing up the QM
probability amplitudes for all possible processes - called "channels" - with the same macroscopic result. In particular, this will lead to QM interference between the different channels.
Intermediate particles, e.g. those running in the loop as k1 and k2 in Figure 2.8, are called virtual
because they are generally off-shell: This means that these particles do in general not satisfy the
relation ki2 m20 = 0. E.g. for the loop-diagram above we integrate over all internal momenta (where
the delta-functions at the vertices implies that some of these integrals become trivial). In the present
diagram momentum conservation at the first vertex implies that
q1 + q2 = k1 + k2 k2 = q1 + q2 k1 ,
(2.163)
where k1 is free and thus integrated over. For most values of k1 we have k12 m20 , 0. We can
think of this as a quantum-mechanical violation of the energy-momentum relation because E 2j ,
2
k~j + m20 for virtual particles. In Quantum Mechanics this is allowed for sufficiently short times - in
fact this precisely what is meant by the energy-time uncertainty relation arising in quantum mechanical
perturbation theory. Note, however, that 4-momentum conservation is guaranteed at each vertex due
to the factors
X

(2)4
ingoing momenta outgoing momenta .
(2.164)
LSZ versus Interaction Picture Perturbation Theory

On assignment 7 will work out a detailed a comparison of the LSZ approach to scattering as completed in this chapter and a more naive approach based on quantum mechanical Interaction Picture
perturbation theory.
2.11
Cross-sections
S -matrix elements are in general of the form

h f | S |ii =
fi
+ i(2)4 (4) ( p f pi )
|{z}
|
{z
}
no scattering
momentum conservation
Mfi
|{z}
(2.165)
=:scattering amplitude
In particular, momentum conservation is a consequence of the insertion of delta-functions at each

vertex in the Feynman diagrams. The first summand f i accounts for the situation that the initial and
final states are identical, in which case no scattering occurs. In the sequel we will usually exclude this
possibility and focus on non-trivial scattering events.
The QM probability for scattering of a given initial state {|ii} into a range of final states {| f i} is
X
h f | S |ii 2 .
P|ii{| f i} =
(2.166)
| f i{| f i}
74
Assume now that |ii < {| f i} (so that in particular the term f i is irrelevant), then
P|ii{| f i} =
i2
2

M f i .
(2)4 (4) ( p f pi )
|
{z
}
| f i{| f i}
4 (4)
(
4
)
4
=(2) ( p f pi ) (2) (0)
| {z }
X
(2.167)
=V 1,3
R
We define the transition rate as the probability normalised per spacetime volume,
fi =
P|ii{| f i}
unit time unit volume
(2.168)
and therefore
fi =

2
(2)4 (4) ( p f pi )M f i .
(2.169)
| f i{| f i}
For scattering into N identical particles this is

N
1 Y
fi =
N! n=1
X
X
d3 kn 1
M 2 ,
4 (4)
p
k
(
2
)
fi
i
n
(2)3 2En
n
i
(2.170)
1
where the symmetry factor N!
accounts for the indistinguishability of the N identical particles.
Now, a typical scattering experiment is of the form
Incoming beam of density B and length lB
Target A of density A and length lA ,
where A,B denote the respective number densities (i.e. number of particles per volume). The number
R
(#) of scattered particles is proportional11 to lA lB d2 x a ( x) B ( x). The factor of proportionality has
dimension [Area] and is called cross-section ,
# of events =: lA lB
d2 x A ( x) B ( x).
(2.171)
If A and B are constant and both beams overlap over the area A, then
=
# of scattered particles
.
lA l B A B A
(2.172)
This suggests the following intuitively clear interpretation of the meaning of : The cross-section
is the effective area of the beam B that participates in the scattering.
Consider now a 2 N scattering process such that all out-going states |k j i are momentum eigenstates. The initial states are the momentum eigenstates |pA i and |pB i. Let us go to the rest frame of
11 Here
we are assuming that all particles of the beam hitting the target get to interact with the target particles with equal
probability. For simplicity we are also assuming that the particle density varies only in the directions x1 , x2 transverse to the
beam.
2.11. CROSS-SECTIONS
75
the target A called lab frame. Suppose for simpilcity that the beam B hits the target A over its entire
area A and that the densities of beam and target do not vary much. Then

# of events
A B lA l B A
=
= A B ~vLB ,
Volume Time
Volume Time
(2.173)
where the relevant interaction volume is is just Volume = A lA and the relevant interaction time is
what it takes for the beam to pass over a given slice in the target orthogonal to the beam direction, i.e.
(L)
lB
vB . Sometimes it is also useful to think in terms of the beam flux F defined as
Time = ~

(2.174)
B ~vLB =: F .
Since E = m and ~p = m~v we can use

L
~pL
~vB = B
EB
(2.175)

~pLB
# events
= A B
= A F .
Volume Time
EB
(2.176)
to obtain
What we actually compute in evaluating the S-matrix elements are not absolute numbers of events,
but rather QM probabilites. In order make the transition between both these concepts we replace the
particle number densities A and B by the quantum mechanical densities of the corresponding single
particles states, i.e. the probabilities of finding a particle A or B per given volume. If hpA |pA i = 1 this
probability would be 1/VR3 = hpA |pA i/VR3 . With our normalisation of momentum states
hpA |pA i = (2)3 2E A (3) ( ~pA ~pA ) = 2E A VR3 ,
(2.177)
we must replace
A
hpA |pA i
= 2E A and b 2E B .
VR3
(2.178)
( L)
Since we are in the rest frame of A we have 2E A = 2m. Therefore in the lab frame (~vA = 0)
fi =
QM probability
( L)
= 4 m pB .
Volume Time
(2.179)
Note that
( L)
( L)
( L)
( L)
4mpB = 4 E A E B |~vB | = 4E A E B |~vA ~vB |

( L)
(2.180)
( L)
in the lab frame. Finally, one can show that 4 E A E B |~vA ~vB | is invariant under Lorentz boosts
in direction A B. Therefore f i = 4 E A E B |~vA ~vB | is the correct general expression for the
transition rate valid in any frame 12 . To conclude, the differential cross-section is
X
2
(2)4
(4)
d =
d N pa + pB
ki M f i ,
4E A E B |~vA ~vB |
i
12 For
a more formal, but also considerably more complicated proof see Peskin-Schrder p.102 108.
(2.181)
76
where
d N
1 Y
N! n=1
d3 kn 1
.
(2)3 2En
(2.182)
For example consider 2 2 scattering as shown in Figure 2.9. On Assignment 7 we show that if all
Figure 2.9: 2 2 scattering.
four particles have the same mass, the differential cross-section is

d
1 1 1
=
|M|2 ,
d3
2! 642 s
(2.183)
where the relativistically invariant Mandelstam variable

s = ( p1 + p2 )2 = ( p3 + p4 )2
(2.184)
appears. Note that in 4 -theory |M|2 = 2 to first order in , i.e. for the maximally localised,
pointlike interaction given by the first Feynman diagram in Figure 2.4. Therefore
d 1
d
s
(2.185)
to first order in . This is a famous result, which in fact holds more generally:
The differential cross-section for hard scattering off a pointlike target (i.e. a target with
no substructure of length l 1/ s) falls off as 1/s.
This characteristic behaviour as observed in deep inelastic scattering experiments with hardons was a
crucial clue to the the parton structure of hadrons as you will surely recall from your particle physics
course.
Chapter 3
Quantising spin 12 -fields

3.1
The Lorentz algebra so(1, 3)
Relativistic fields as representations of the Lorentz algebra

Relativistic fields are classified by their behaviour under Lorentz transformations
x 7 x0 = x , S O(1, 3).
(3.1)
Quite generally a field a ( x) transforms as a representation1 of the Lorentz group S O(1, 3) - or, more
precisely, as we will see momentarily, of its double cover Spin(1, 3). This means that the classical
field a ( x) is a map
a : R1,3 V,
(3.2)
x 7 a ( x),
a = 1, . . . , dim(V )
(3.3)
with V a vector space such that the specific transformation behaviour of the field a ( x) under (3.1) is
given by
a ( x) 7 R()ab b (1 x0 ) = R()ab b ( x).
(3.4)
Here for every element S O(1, 3) the object R() is an automorphism (an invertible linear map)
acting on V in a manner compatible with the group action of S O(1, 3). Specifying the representation
in which the field transforms amounts to assigning such an automorphism R to every element
S O(1, 3), where compatibility with the group action of S O(1, 3) means that2
R(2 )ab R(1 )bc =R(2 1 )ac

a
R(1 )ab = R()1 .
(3.5)
1 The concept of Lie groups, Lie algebras and their representations has been discussed in detail in the course on Quantum
Mechanics. A good book in the present context is: Urbantke, Sexl: Relativity, Groups, Particles. As a quick reminder of the
main points see e.g. http://www.thphys.uni-heidelberg.de/$\sim$weigand/Skript-QM2011/skript.pdf.
2 In short, a representation R of a group G is a group homomorphism from G to Aut(V ) for some vector space V.
77
CHAPTER 3. QUANTISING SPIN 21 -FIELDS
78
The vector space V is also called representation space. Note that the index a refers to the components
of the fields with respect to a basis of the vector space V - called the representation space -, while ,
are spacetime indices. These two are in general completely different objects.
Consider the following examples:
For a real (or complex) scalar field ( x) the representation space V is just R (or C) and
R() = 1 .
(3.6)
The scalar field is said to transform in the trivial or scalar representation and describes particles with spin 0.
A vector field A ( x) (e.g. the gauge potential of electro-magnetism) transforms in the vector
representation: The representation space V is identified with spacetime R1,3 itself (or rather
its tangent space) and
R() = .
(3.7)
Since here V = R1,3 , we have in this case that a, b = , . A field in the vector representation
describes particles with spin 1 (as we will see later in this course when quantising such vector
fields).
An important concept in representation theory is that of an irreducible representation (irrep): An
Irreducible representation is one whose representation space does not split into a direct sum of two
vector spaces in a manner respected by the group action, i.e. it is not possible to find a basis of the
representation space in which
? 0
(3.8)
R() =
.
0 ?
Irreducible representations form the building blocks of which larger representations can be formed by
considering direct sums of representation spaces.
Spin 1/2 particles are described by fields in the spinor representation. To find this representation
our starting point will not be the irreducible representations of the Lorentz group S O(1, 3), but of
The Lorentz algebra so(1, 3)
This is the algebra of infinitesimal Lorentz transformations connected to the identity. This is analogous to the precedure applied in quantum mechanics to find spin 21 representations of the algebra of
spatial rotations so(3) ' su(2).
A Lorentz transformation can be written infinitesimally as
= + .
(3.9)
3.1. THE LORENTZ ALGEBRA S O(1, 3)
79
Since the metric must be invariant under a Lorentz transformation in the sense that
= ,
(3.10)
the infinitesimal transformations satisfy = . We introduce a basis of antisymmetric 4 4

matrices into which we would like to expand . This basis contains 6 elements. Let the basis be

MA
with A = 1, ..., 6.
(3.11)
Then

i
(3.12)
= A M A
2
for some A with summation over A understood. We introduce the double-index notation A =
with , = 0, 1, 2, 3 such that
( M ) = ( M )
(3.13)
is antisymmetric in . Therefore
i
= ( M ) .
2
(3.14)
So an infinitesimal Lorentz transformation is

i
= ( M ) .
2
(3.15)
A finite transformation is given by applying the infnitesimal version N times for N in the sense
( M )
1 i
( M )
= lim
N
N2
i

= e 2 ( M ) .
!N
(3.16)
This is what is meant by saying that the M are the generators of the Lie group S O(1, 3), or equivalently form a basis of the Lie algebra so(1, 3).
The structure of the Lie algebra so(1, 3) is encoded in the commutation relations of its basis elements.
To find these one expands the defining relation of the underlying Lie algebra S O(1, 3)
(3.17)
[ M , M ] = i ( M + M M M ) .
(3.18)
to second order in to conclude that
This defines the structure constants of the Lie-algebra so(1, 3). Recall that in general a basis T A of a
Lie algebra satisfies
X
[T A , T B ] =
i f AB C T C ,
(3.19)
C
where
f AB
are the structure constants. They obey
80
f AB C = f BA C
and the Jacobi identity
f AB D f CD E + f CA
f BD
+ f BC
f AD
= 0.
(3.20)
We view the commutator (3.18) as the defining relation for abstract objects M . An n-dimensional
representation of the Lie algebra so(1, 3) is an assignment that associates to each M an invertible
map
(R )ab = R( M )ab
(3.21)
acting on an n-dimensional vector space V such that the same relation (3.18) holds for the representation matrices (R )ab . The indices a, b = 1, . . . , n refer to a basis ea of V in the sense that v V is
expanded as v = va ea . Note again that in general a and b are unrelated to and .
Consider as a special case the vector representation by choosing V = R1,3 (viewed as the tangent
space to spacetime). In this case we do identify a, b , and set
(J ) := i( ).
(3.22)
One can check that this indeed satisfies the so(1, 3) relations (3.18) and that
Therefore
i
= (J ) .
2
(3.23)
i

= e 2 J
.
(3.24)
We can use this result to deduce the matrix representation of spatial rotations by an angle around an
axis ~n. The corresponding can be written as
i j = i jk nk .
(3.25)
E.g. for a rotation around the x1 -axis we have

0
1
~n = 0 =
0

0
0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0
0
.
(3.26)
The corresponding infinitesimal rotations are then of the form
= + =
0
0
1
0
0
0 0
0 0
,
1
(3.27)
3.2. THE DIRAC SPINOR REPRESENTATION
81
whose finite version is
=
0
3.2
0
0
0
1
0
0
.
0 cos sin
0 sin cos
(3.28)
The Dirac spinor representation
To find the spinor representation of so(1, 3) we start from the Clifford algebra Cliff(1, 3) defined
as the algebra spanned by n n-matrices ( )A B , = 0, 1, 2, 3 and A, B = 1, . . . , n such that the
anti-commutator is
{ , } := + = 2 1.
(3.29)
Reinstating for clarity the indices A and B the defining relation is
( )A B ( ) BC + ( )A B ( ) BC = 2 1AC .
(3.30)
if =

=
.
if ,
(3.31)
(0 )2 = 1, (i )2 = 1.
(3.32)
This implies

Therefore
The central point is that given ( )A B as above the objects
i
(S )A B := [ , ]A B
4
(3.33)
i

S , S k = i k S + S k S k k S ,
(3.34)
form a representation of so(1, 3), i.e.

h
therefore (3.18) holds. Thus we have constructed a representation of so(1, 3) from the Clifford algebra:
Every representation of Cliff(1,3) induces a representation of so(1,3).
82
One can prove this by direct computation. To this end note that
0
if =
i
S =
= ( ).

2
if ,
2
(3.35)
The claim then follows with the help of the anti-commutation relations (3.29) after some algebra as
worked out in the tutorial.
Now we want to find an explicit representation of the Clifford algebra. Since it is useful to know
the result for an arbitrary number of spacetime dimensions let us give the general result valid for
Cliff(1, d 1). The problem is therefore to find n n-matrices
( )A B with = 0, 1, 2, ..., d 1 and A, B = 1, ..., n
(3.36)
subject to (3.29). This will then also give a representation of the Lorentz algebra so(1, d 1). In the
tutorials we will prove the following famous theorem:
The irreducible representations of Cliff(1, d 1) are of dimension
d
n=
2 2 if d is even
.
1
n = 2 2 (d1) if d is odd
(3.37)
Let us now specialise to d = 4 as is relevant for QFT in four spacetime dimensions. In this case
n = 4. One choice of called chiral or Dirac representation is
0 i
0 12
0
i
,
, =
(3.38)
=
i 0
12 0
where i are the Pauli matrices
0 1
0 i
1 0
2
3
=
, =
, =
1 0
i 0
0 1
(3.39)
{i , j } = 2i j .
(3.40)
with
Given an invertible matrix U, every other choice U U 1 is also a representation of Cliff(1, 3). The
complex vector space on which ( )A B acts is called the space of Dirac spinors A , A = 1, ..., n with
n = 4 for d = 4.
Now, from the above it is clear that the A also form a representation of so(1, 3) because the
induce a representation of so(1, 3). More precisely, a Dirac spinor A transforms under a Lorentz
transformation
i

= e 2 J
(3.41)
as
i

A
A 7 e 2 S
B .
B
(3.42)
3.2. THE DIRAC SPINOR REPRESENTATION
83
A Dirac spinor field A ( x) transforms as

x 7 x0 = x,
(3.43)
A ( x) 7 [S ()] A B B (1 x0 ) = [S ()] A B B ( x)
(3.44)
i

A
[S ()]A B = e 2 S
.
(3.45)
with
The indices A = 1, ..., n, with n = 4 for Cliff(1, 3) are called spinor indices. Even though in 4
dimensions A happens to run from 1, . . . , 4, we must not cunfuse them at any time with spacetime
indices , .
Now that we found a new type of representation of the Lorentz algebra so(1, 3) we would like to
give it a physical interpretation. The important claim is that
A Dirac spinor field A ( x) behaves like a spin 21 -field.

To prove this we consider a spatial rotation around ~n with
i j = i jk nk
and
(3.46)
i
A
2 i j S i j
S [] = e
.
(3.47)
Now,
S ij
i
1
i j
k
0
i i j
= 2
= [ , ] = 2
4
0
2i i j
0
1 k
2
(3.48)
with (i jk) cyclic permutations of 123. The latter equations follows from the properties of the Pauli
matrices. So

ei 2 ~n ~
0
S [] =
(3.49)
.
0
ei 2 ~n ~
What is crucial is the factor of 12 , which indeed indicates a transformation as a spin 21 under the
subalgebra so(3) so(1, 3) of spatial rotations. In particular consider a rotation by = 2 around
~nT = (0, 0, 1),
i3
0
(3.50)
S [] = exp
= 1.
0
i3
Therefore
A 7 A
under a rotation by 2.
(3.51)
84
While we have found a representation of the Lorentz-algebra so(1, 3), this does not give a representation of the Lorentz-group S O(1, 3), but rather of its double cover Spin(1, 3). The latter is isomorphic
to S L(2, C), the group of complex 2 2 matrices with determinant 1 (not to confuse with S U (2), the
group of complex unitary such matrices). In the tutorial we will investigate this isomorphism and the
corresponding description of spinors.
A Dirac spinor forms a representation of Spin(1, 3) ' S L(2, C), not of S O(1, 3).
The reason is that S [ = 1] , 1, which is incompatible with the group law of S O(1, 3). In Spin(1, 3)
by contrast, a rotation around 2 does not correspond to the 1 because it is defined as the double cover
of S O(1, 3).3 This is the relativistic version of the statement familiar from Quantum Mechanics
that the j = 21 spinor representation of the algebra of spatial rotations so(3) does not furnish a
representation of the Lie group S O(3) but only of its double cover S U (2).
3.3
The Dirac action
We now want to construct Lorentz scalars and vectors out of A ( x) in order to construct a covariant
action. To do so we define the conjugate spinor := ( )T , i.e.

= (1 ) , (2 ) , (3 ) , (4 ) .
(3.52)
We now would like to know how ( x)( x) behaves under a Lorentz transformation , under which
x 7 x0 = x,
(3.53)
( x) 7 S () (1 x0 ),
(3.54)
( x) 7 ( x ) S ().
(3.55)
1 0
In order for ( x)( x) to transform as a Lorentz scalar, we would need S () = S 1 (). However,
i

S () = e[ 2 S ] = e 2 (S )
and
i h i
i h i
, =
, .
4
4
4
It is not possible to pick all hermitian at the same time since
(S
) =
i
[ , ]
(0 )2 = 1 real eigenvalues,
(i )2 = 1 imaginary eigenvalues.
Therefore, (S ) , (S ) and thus S () , S 1 ().
3 For
(3.56)
further reading see e.g. Urbantke, Sexl: Relativity, Groups, Particles.
(3.57)
(3.58)
3.3. THE DIRAC ACTION
85
Rather, it is possible to pick such that
(0 ) = 0 , (i ) = i ,
(3.59)
which is indeed satisfied by the Dirac representation above. In this case
( ) = 0 0 ,
(3.60)
because 0 0 = 1 and 0 i = i 0 . Therefore

i
i 0 h i 0
, = [ , ] = S
4
4
(3.61)
0 S [] 0 = S []1 .
(3.62)
0 (S ) 0 =
and so
Inspired by this result we define the Dirac conjugate spinor

:= 0 .
(3.63)
( x) 7 (1 x0 )S ()0 = (1 x0 )0 S 1 () = (1 x0 )S 1 ().
(3.64)
It transforms as
Thus the spinor bilinear ( x)( x) transforms as

( x)( x) 7 (1 x0 )S 1 ()S ()((1 x0 )) = (1 x0 )(1 x0 ).
(3.65)
So ( x)( x) is a scalar quantity. Furthermore one can show that ( x) ( x) transforms as a vector
because
( x) ( x) 7 (1 x0 )S 1 () S ()(1 x0 )
(3.66)
and
S 1 () S () = ,
(3.67)
as will be proven in the tutorials. This logic can be repeated for tensors of rank n.
We can now build an action for ( x), where we follow the principle of simplicity. The simplest
Lorentz scalars built from ( x) which include non-trivial dynamics (i.e. at least one derivative has to
appear) are
( x) ( x),
( x)( x).
(3.68)
So we take as the action for the free classical Dirac spinor field
Z
S =
where
d4 x ( x) [i m] ( x),
(3.69)
86
the factor i is required for the action to be real
and |m| will be the mass of the Dirac spinor particle.

This is the simplest action we can build. Interestingly - unlike in for the scalar field - it is possible to
construct a Lorentz invariant action with only one derivative. Furthermore note that ( x) has mass
dimension [mass]3/2 .
Since ( x) is complex we treat ( x) and ( x) as independent when deriving the equations of motion.
Varying with respect to ( x) yields the Dirac equation
(i m)( x) = 0,
(3.70)
which is linear in the derivatives. In order to see that this indeed describes a field with mass |m| we
note that
0 = (i + m)(i m)
= ( m2 )
1

= { , } + m2
2 {z }
|
(3.71)
and thus obtain the Klein-Gordon equation (1.29) for the spinor field ( x). Loosely speaking:
p
(3.72)
Dirac equation = Klein-Gordon equation.
This is a consequence of the particular manner how we constructed a representation of the Lorentz
algebra from the Clifford algebra. Equ. (3.71) also justifies the relative factor of i in the Dirac action,
for which we can take m to be real.
3.4
Chirality and Weyl spinors
The Dirac spinor representation of Cliff(1, 3) is not irreducible as a representation of Spin(1, 3).
Indeed for our special choice of Dirac matrices
0 12
0 i
i
0
(3.73)
=
, = i
12 0
0
A transforms under a spatial rotation as
i
e 2 ~n~
0

7
i
0
e 2 ~n~
and under a Lorentz boost with 0 j = j as
1
e 2 ~~
0
.
7
1
~
+
0
e 2
(3.74)
(3.75)
3.4. CHIRALITY AND WEYL SPINORS
87
Therefore the subspaces spanned by

T = (1 , 2 , 0, 0) and T+ = (0, 0, 3 , 4 )
(3.76)
transform separately. Irrespective of the concrete representation the reducibility of the Dirac spinor
repsentation as a representation of Spin(1,3) can be seen as follows: Define
5 = i0 1 2 3
(3.77)
(5 )2 = 1, {5 , } = 0, [S , 5 ] = 0
(3.78)
with the properties
following from the properties of the Clifford-algebra. Now consider the orthogonal projection operators
1
P := (1 5 )
(3.79)
2
with the properties
(P )2 = P , P+ P = 0 = P P+ , 1 = P+ + P .
(3.80)
:= P
(3.81)
P = 0.
(3.82)
Defining
yields
Now, since [S , 5 ] = 0 we have P S [] = 0, i.e. the subspaces transform separately under
Spin(1, 3). The are called positive/negative-chirality spinors.
In the special representation
0 12
0 i
12 0
i
5
, =
, =
=
0 12
12 0
i 0
(3.83)

0
u
= , + = .
u+
0
(3.84)
we find
The 2-component objects u are called Weyl-spinors. It is the Weyl spinors that form irreducible
representations of Spin(1,3).
It is instructive to rewrite the Dirac action in this language. The Dirac action decomposes as follows: Since 0 5 = 5 0 we have
0 P = P 0
(3.85)
.
= (P ) 0 = P 0 = P
(3.86)
and therefore
88
This means
P = 0,
= P
, 0
= P
(3.87)
and similary (using in addition that P = P )

P , 0
=
= 0.
The Dirac action can then be written as
Z
S = d4 x (i m)
Z
i
h
= d4 x + i + + i m(+ + + ) ,
or in Weyl-spinor notation as
Z
h
i
S =
d4 x u+ i u+ + u i
u m(u+ u + u u+ ) .
(3.88)
(3.89)
(3.90)
Here
(12 , i ) and
= (12 , i ).
(3.91)
From the decomposed Dirac equation we can draw the following important conclusions about the
underlying physics:
If m = 0, u+ and u decouple and describe independent degrees of freedom subject to the Weyl
equations
i u+ ( x) = 0, i
u ( x) = 0.
(3.92)
Both u+ and u transform in the s =
under spatial rotations
1
2
representation of SU(2) Spin(1, 3), in the sense that
x 7 R x,
u ( x) 7 e
2i ~n~
(3.93)
u (R1 x).
(3.94)
1
~p
~,
2
(3.95)
We define the helicity

h = i jk p i S jk =
which is the projection of the spin onto the momentum direction ~p . To solve the Weyl equations
of momentum p one makes the ansatz (see the next chapter for details)
u ( x) = u ( p)eipx
(3.96)
1
h u ( p) = u ( p),
2
(3.97)
and finds
where u+ corresponds to right-handed and u to left-handed spinors.
3.5. CLASSICAL PLANE-WAVE SOLUTIONS
89
If m , 0, u+ and u do not decouple. In this sense the full 4-component Dirac spinor is
needed to describe massive spin- 21 fields. Note for fields of mass m , 0 it is impossible to
define a Lorentz invariant notion of helicity because massive particles travel with a velocity
v < c and it is always possible to find a Lorentz frame in which the particle moves into the
opposite direction. This causes a change in the helicity.
3.5
Classical plane-wave solutions
To solve the classical equation of motion (3.70) we make the ansatz

( x) = u( ~p)eipx
(3.98)
p
with p = ( E p , ~p) and E p = ~p2 + m2 . Here we have used that the dispersion relation p2 m2 = 0
is satisfied because ( x) obeys the Klein-Gordon equation (3.71). Plugging this ansatz into the Dirac
equation yields
( p m)u( ~p) = 0.
(3.99)
For our choice of this is
p
u( ~p) = 0.
m
We make the ansatz
which leads to the relations
(3.100)

u1
u( ~p) = ,
u2
(3.101)
p u2 = m u1 ,
p
u1 = m u2 .
(3.102)
These are consistent because
( p )( p ) = ( p0 )2 pi p j |{z}
i j = m2 .
(3.103)
i j
The general solution can be parametrised by introducing some 2-component Weyl spinor 0 and writing
1
p 0
m
u( ~p) =
(3.104)
.
0
We make a conventional choice
0 =
(3.105)
with = 1. Here M denotes the matrix whose eigenvalues are the square root of those of M.
With this choice we find the so-called positive frequency solution
( x) = u( ~p)e
ipx
p
.
u( ~p) = p
p
(3.106)
90
Likewise
( x) = v( ~p)eipx
(3.107)
( p + m)v( ~p) = 0.
(3.108)
is a solution if
This yields the negative frequency solution

( x) = v( ~p)e
ipx
p
.
v( ~p) = p
p
(3.109)
Let us introduce a basis of the space of 2-spinors by s with

1
1 = ,
2
0

0
=
1
(3.110)
and therefore
s s0 = ss0 .
Note that s , viewed as a Weyl spinor, transforms in the s =
(3.111)
1
2
representation of SU(2). In particular
1
1
3 1 = 1 .
2
2
2 2
(3.112)
Correspondingly u s and v s with s = 21 describe spinors with spin 12 in direction x3 . In the tutorial
we will convince ourselves of the important identities
u s ( ~p)u s0 ( ~p) = 2m ss0 ,
us ( ~p)u s0 ( ~p) = 2p0 ss0 ,
v s ( ~p)v s0 ( ~p) = 2m ss0 , vs ( ~p)v s0 ( ~p) = 2p0 ss0 ,
(3.113)
u s ( ~p)v s0 ( ~p) = 0
and
X
u s ( ~p)u s ( ~p) = p + m,
(3.114)
v s ( ~p)v s ( ~p) = p m.
Let us consider the following example: Suppose we have chosen coordinates such that p = ( E, 0, 0, p3 ).
According to the above, the Dirac spinor solution u 1 ( ~p) with spin 21 along x3 is given by
2
p 1 E p3 1
2
2
= p
.
u 1 ( ~p) =
2
p 1 E + p3 1
2
(3.115)
3.6. QUANTISATION OF THE DIRAC FIELD
91
If m = 0, then E = p3 and

1
since 1 = .
2
0
0
u 1 ( ~p) = 2E u+ ( ~p)
2
1

0

0
The solution correspnding to 1 = is
2
1
p
E + p3 1 m=0
2
2E
u 1 ( ~p) = p
2
E p3 1
2

0

1
u ( ~p).
0

0
(3.116)
(3.117)
The helicity of the solutions is

1
u+ ( ~p) right-handed,
2
1
h u ( ~p) = u ( ~p) left-handed.
2
h u+ ( ~p) =
3.6
(3.118)
Quantisation of the Dirac field
So far our analysis of spinors has been classical. To define the quantum theory of spinor fields we
follow the same procedure as in the scalar case, but we will encounter a problem if we just impose the
same commutation relation as in the scalar case. Its resolution will prove the fermionic nature of spin
1
2 particles.
3.6.1
Using the commutator
Starting from the classical Lagrangian

Z
S =
d4 x (i m)
(3.119)
L
= iA .
A
(3.120)
we find the conjugate momentum density

A =
We promote ( x) and ( x) to Schrdinger picture quantum operators and expand these as

i
d3 p
1 h
i~p~x
i~p~x
~
~
~
~
a
(
p
)
u
(
p
)
e
+
b
(
p
)
v
(
p
)
e
,
p
s
s
s
s
(2)3 2E p
s
X Z d3 p
i
1 h
(~x) =
b s ( ~p)vs ( ~p)ei~p~x + as ( ~p)us ( ~p)ei~p~x ,
p
3
(2) 2E p
s
(~x) =
XZ
(3.121)
92
where u s and v s are the spinor-valued solutions to the classical equation (3.70) corresponding to the
ansatz (3.98). The quantum operators a s and b s are independent because the field is complex. This
expansion guarantees that the corresponding Heisenberg fields with ei~p~x 7 eipx satisfy the Dirac
equation as an operator equation.
We are now careful with operator orderings and proceed without specifying the commutation relations. The Hamiltonian density is
H = L = (i j j + m).
(3.122)
Now,
(i j + m) =
j
1
d3 p
( j p j + m)u s ( ~p)a s ( ~p)ei~p~x
p
3
(
2
)
2E
p
s

+ ( j p j + m)v s ( ~p)bs ( ~p)ei~p~x
XZ
(3.123)
because
k
j ei~p~x = j eipk x = ip j ei~p~x .
(3.124)
Now use that v s and u s solve the classical equation of motion, i.e.
( p m)u s ( ~p) = 0 ( j p j + m)u s ( ~p) = 0 p0 u s ( ~p),

( p + m)v s ( ~p) = 0 ( j p j + m)v s ( ~p) = 0 p0 v s ( ~p),
(3.125)
and therefore
(i j j + m) =
XZ
s
d3 p
(2)3

E p 0
a s ( ~p)u s ( ~p)ei~p~x bs ( ~p)v s ( ~p)ei~p~x .
2
(3.126)
d3 x 0 (i j j + m)
(3.127)
To compute the Hamiltonian

Z
H=
we furthermore exploit the spinor identities

vr ( ~p)u s ( ~p) = 0 , ur ( ~p)v s ( ~p) = 0,
ur ( p)u s ( p) = 2p0 rs = vr ( p)v s ( p),
(3.128)
which eventually give

Z
H=
Xh
i
d3 p
~
~
~
~
E
a
(
p
)
a
(
p
)
b
(
p
)
b
(
p
)
.
p
s
s
s
s
(2)3
s
(3.129)
So far no re-ordering of operators has been performed. Now, the naive guess would be to impose, at
the next step, canonical commutation relations as for the scalar field,
h
i ?
A (~x), B (~x0 ) = i AB (3) (~x ~x0 ),
h
i ?
(3.130)
A (~x), B (~x0 ) = AB (3) (~x ~x0 ),
h
i ?
A (~x), B (~x0 ) = 0.
93
We will now show why this is wrong. The commutation relations would imply for the modes
h
i
ar ( ~p), as (~q) = (2)3 , rs , (3) ( ~p ~q),
h
i
br ( ~p), bs (~q) = (2)3 , rs , (3) ( ~p ~q),
(3.131)

()
ar ( ~p), b s (~q) = 0.
Indeed we have
h
i
1
d3 p d3 q
~
~
a
(
p
)
,
a
(
q
)
ur ( ~p)u s (~q) ei( ~p~x~q~y)
[(~x), (~y)] =
p
r
s
3 (2)3
(
2
)
4E
E
p
q
r,s

h
i
i( ~p~x~q~y)
+ br ( ~p), b s (~q) vr ( ~p)v s (~q)e
.
XZ
(3.132)
P
P
Then, using s u s ( ~p)u s ( ~p) = p + m and s v s ( ~p)v s ( ~p) = p m, the commutator relations
(3.130) of the field would follow from the commutator relations (3.131) of the modes. Note that
[ar ( ~p), as (~q)] and [br ( ~p), b s (~q)]
(3.133)
appear on same footing in the commutator of the field. This ordering is the reason for the crucial
relative minus sign in (3.131). If this were correct, then we could reorder the Hamiltonian to find
Z
Xh
i
d3 p
H=
E
as ( ~p)a s ( ~p) bs ( ~p)b s ( ~p) + (2)3 (0) .
(3.134)
p
3
(2)
s
To give the mode operators a physical interpretation we observe that
[ H, a s ( ~p)] = E p a s ( ~p),
[ H, as ( ~p)] = E p as ( ~p)
(3.135)
and also
[ H, b s ( ~p)] = E p b s ( ~p),
[ H, bs ( ~p)] = E p bs ( ~p)
(3.136)
because the minus sign in the Hamiltonian cancels with the sign we pick up in the commutator. So as
in the scalar theory we would interpret
a s ( ~p), b s ( ~p)
annihilation operators
(3.137)
as ( ~p), bs ( ~p)
creation operators
(3.138)
and define |0i such that a s ( ~p) |0i = b s ( ~p) |0i. The creation operators give positive energy modes by
construction.
While at first sight everything looks fine, in actuality this whole construction is in deep conflict with
unitarity. The reason is that due to the minus sign in the commutator
h
i
br ( ~p), bs (~q) = (2)3 rs (3) ( ~p ~q)
(3.139)
94
the b-mode excitations are negative norm states. To see this note that
h0| [br ( ~p), bs (~q)] |0i = (2)3 rs (3) ( ~p ~q) h0| 0i.
(3.140)
Evaluated for r = s and ~p = ~q we conclude

0 > (2)3 (3) (0) = h0| [br ( ~p), br ( ~p)] |0i = h0| br ( ~p)br ( ~p) |0i = ||br |0i ||2 .
(3.141)
Therefore no positive norm Hilbert space interpretation is possible!

One might hope to avoid this problem by switching the interpretation of creation versus annihilation
operators for the b-modes. But then the energy spectrum becomes arbitrarily negative by exciting
more and more such states from the vacuum because of the minus sign in H b b!
We therefore conclude that this procedure results in
either loss of unitarity due to appearance of negative-norm states
or unboundness from below of H, i.e. instability of the vacuum.
The origin of this problem lies in the fact that the signs in the spinor theory conspire such that to
establish a commutation relation of the schematic form [, ] 1 we must impose
[a, a ] 1 and [b , b] 1 [b, b ] 1.
(3.142)
If instead we impose a relation symmetric in and this minus sign for the b-mode relation would
not occur. The task is therefore to promote the classical Poisson-bracket relations not to operator
commutation relations, but to an analogous bracket which is symmetric in both entries. The simplest
such bracket is the anti-commutator. It turns out that this procedure is successful.
3.6.2
Using the anti-commutator
The correct procedure for quantisation of spin- 12 fields is to impose the canonical anti-commutation
relations
{A (~x), B (~x0 )} = AB (3) (~x ~x0 ),
(3.143)
{A (~x), B (~x0 )} = 0 = {A (~x), B (~x0 )},
where {A, B} = AB + BA = {B, A}. This induces the mode relations
n
o
ar ( ~p), as (~q) = (2)3 rs (3) ( ~p ~q),
n
o
br ( ~p), bs (~q) = (2)3 rs (3) ( ~p ~q),

()
ar ( ~p), b s (~q) = 0.
Starting from H
(3.144)
a a bb we now find
Z
H=
Xh
i
d3 p
E
as ( ~p)a s ( ~p) + bs ( ~p)b s ( ~p) (2)3 (0) .
p
3
(2)
s
(3.145)
95
The divergent vacuum energy has opposite sign compared to a scalar theory. In theories with scalars
and spin- 12 fields cancellations in the vacuum energy are indeed possible.4
Since for this Hamiltonian the anti-commutation relations still imply the commutation relations (3.135)
and (3.136), the vacuum is again defined by a s ( ~p) |0i = 0 = b s ( ~p) |0i. From this vacuum we define
the Fock space of a- and b-mode excitations. Let us start with the a-modes, which we will call the
particle sector.
1-particle states
p
p
The state |~p, si := 2E p as ( ~p) |0i is a 1-particle state with momentum ~p, energy E p = ~p2 + m2
and spin s in the x3 -direction, normalized such that
h~p, s| ~q, ri = 2E p (2)3 (3) ( ~p ~q)rs .
(3.146)
N-particle states
The state
|p1 , s1 ; ...; pN , sN i =
N q
Y
2E pi as1 ( ~p1 )...asN ( ~pN ) |0i
(3.147)
i=1
is an N-particle momentum eigenstate. This allows us, in complete analogy to the scalar field, to state
the following theorem
The wavefunction of N-particle states of spin

exchange.
1
2
particles is anti-symmetric under particle
Indeed, if we exchange two particles, we pick up a minus sign due to the anti-commutation relations:
asi ( ~pi )as j ( ~p j ) = as j ( ~p j )asi ( ~pi ).
(3.148)
This leads to the following Corollary
Spin
1
2
particles obey Fermi-statistics, i.e. they are fermions.
In particular they obey the Pauli exclusion principle:
No two fermionic states of exactly the same quantum numbers are possible.
4 More
generally, scalars and spinors contribute with opposite signs in loops and theories with supersymmetry, i.e. with
an equal number of bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom, therefore have a chance to exhibit better UV properties.
96
The Pauli exclusion principle is again a result of the anti-commutation relation because
as ( ~p)as ( ~p) |0i = 0.
(3.149)
This exemplifies the much more general Spin-Statistics-Theorem5 :
Lorentz invariance, positivity of energy, unitarity and causality imply that:

Particles of half-integer spin are fermions and
particles of integer spin are bosons.
Excitations bs ( ~p) |0i describe the corresponding anti-particles. Indeed the Lagrangian
L = (i m)
(3.150)
enjoys a global U (1) symmetry because it is invariant under

7 ei ,
i ,
7 e
R.
(3.151)
The associated conserved Noether current will be found in the tutorial to take the form
,
j =
(3.152)
!
d3 p X
a s ( ~p)a s ( ~p) b s ( ~p)b s ( ~p) ,

(2)3 s
(3.153)
with Noether charge

Z
Z
Q=
d xj =
d x =
3
after dropping a normal ordering constant. The charge acts on the 1-particle state as follows:
Q as ( ~p) |0i = + as ( ~p) |0i , thus defining a fermion,
Q bs ( ~p) |0i = bs ( ~p) |0i , thus defining an anti-fermion.
(3.154)
Finally, a careful analysis of the angular momentum operator via Noethers theorem reveals that
J x3 as ( ~p = 0) |0i = s as ( ~p = 0) |0i ,
(3.155)
J x3 bs ( ~p = 0) |0i = s bs ( ~p = 0) |0i ,
(3.156)
but
with s = 21 , For details of the derivation see Peskin-Schrder, page 61. This shows that bs ( ~p = 0) |0i
has spin (in x3 -direction) s, while as ( ~p = 0) |0i has spin + s.
5 For
a general proof see Weinberg (1, 5.7).
3.7. PROPAGATORS
3.7
97
Propagators
As for the scalar fields, we now move to the Heisenberg picture by considering the time-dependent
free fields (with free mass denoted by m0 to avoid confusion)
i
1 h
d3 p
a s ( ~p)u s ( ~p)eipx + bs ( ~p)v s ( ~p)eipx ,
p
3
(2) 2E p
s
Z
X
i
1 h
d3 p
ipx
ipx
~
~
~
~
( x ) =
b
(
p
)
v
(
p
)
e
+
a
(
p
)
u
(
p
)
e
,
p
s
s
s
s
(2)3 2E p
s
( x) =
XZ
(3.157)
which, as noted already, satisfy the free Dirac equation as an operator equation.
To examine causality of the theory we define the anti-commutator
S A B ( x y) := {A ( x), B (y)}
(3.158)
and compute
S ( x y) =
XZ
s,r
d3 p 1
p
(2)3 E p
d3 q 1
p
(2)3 Eq

{a s ( ~p), ar (~q)} u s ( ~p)u r (~q)eipx eiqy
|
{z
}
(3.159)
sr (2)3 (3) ( ~p~q)

+ {bs ( ~p), br (~q)}v s ( ~p)v r (~q)eipx eiqy .
The identities
X
u s ( ~p)u s ( ~p) = p + m0 and
v s ( ~p)v s ( ~p) = p m0
(3.160)
imply that
Z
S ( x y) =
i
d3 p 1 h
( p + m0 )eip( xy) + ( p m0 )eip(yx)
3
(2) 2E p
(3.161)
or in a more compact form

S ( x y) = (i x + m) [ D(0) ( x y) D(0) (y x)].
Here
D
(0)
( x y) =
d3 p 1 ip( xy)
e
(2)3 2E p
(3.162)
(3.163)
is the propagator from the scalar theory with mass m0 . In particular this implies that S ( x y) = 0
for ( x y)2 < 0. This in turn guarantees that [O1 ( x), O2 (y)] = 0 for ( x y)2 < 0 for Oi ( x) any
Since all physical observables are bosonic this establishes
local expression of fermion bilinears .
causality of the Dirac theory.
98
The time-ordering symbol in the fermionic theory is defined as
( x) (y) if x0 y0 ,
T (( x) (y)) =
(y)( x) if y0 > x0 .
(3.164)
Note the crucial minus sign. It is required because if ( x y)2 < 0, we have
( x) (y) = (y)( x),
(3.165)
because S ( x y) = 0 for ( x y)2 < 0. Now, for ( x y)2 < 0 the question of whether x0 y0 or
x0 < y0 depends on the Lorentz frame we have chosen. To arrive at a Lorentz frame independent
definition of the time-ordering symbol T the expression for T (( x) (y)) for x0 y0 and y0 x0
must agree.
The Feynman propagator is
S F ( x y) = h0| T ( x) (y) |0i ,
(3.166)
h0| T ( x)(y) |0i = 0 = h0| T ( x) (y) |0i .
(3.167)
while
Now by the usual tricks one evaluates
S F ( x y) = ( x0 y0 ) h0| ( x) (y) |0i (y0 x0 ) h0| (y)( x) |0i
Z
d3 p 1
0
0
= ( x y )
( p + m0 )eip( xy)
(2)3 2E p
Z
d3 p 1
0
0
( p m0 )e+ip( xy)
(y x )
(2)3 2E p
(3.168)
(0)
= (i x + m) DF ( x y) ,
| {z }
free scalar theory
with
(0)
D F ( x y)
d4 p
i
eip( xy) .
4
(2) p2 m20 + i
(3.169)
d4 p i( p + m0 ) ip( xy)
e
.
(2)4 p2 m20 + i
(3.170)
This gives
Z
S F ( x y) =
Due to ( p + m0 )( p m0 ) = p2 m20 it is convenient to write
( p + m0 )
= ( p m0 )1 .
2
2
p m0
(3.171)
The Feynman propagator S F ( x y) is a Greens function in that it represents one of the 4 possible
solutions to
(i m)G ( x y) = i(4) ( x y).
(3.172)
The interpretation and closure procedure in the complex plane for these are as in the scalar theory.
3.8. WICKS THEOREM AND FEYNMAN DIAGRAMS
3.8
99
Wicks theorem and Feynman diagrams
The time ordering of several fields picks up a minus sign whenever 2 fermionic fields are exchanged,
e.g.
(1)1 3 2
if x10 > x30 > x20 ,
(1)2 3 1 2 if x30 > x10 > x20 ,

T ( 1 2 3 ) =
(3.173)
(1)3 3 2 1 if x30 > x20 > x10 ,
...
We define normal-ordered products as expressions with all creation operators to the left of all annihilation operators, where, unlike in the scalar theory, each exchange of two operators induces a minus
sign, e.g.
: b s ( ~p)ar (~q)bv (~k) : = (1)2 ar (~q)bv (~k)b s ( ~p)
(3.174)
and so on. Then
T (( x) (y)) = : ( x) (y) : + ( x) (y),
(3.175)
( x) (y) = h0| T ( x) (y) |0i = S F ( x y)
(3.176)
( x)(y) = 0 = ( x) (y) .
(3.177)
with
and
Direct computation confirms that Wicks theorem goes through, with the understanding that we include the minus signs from operator exchanges. For instance
T (1 2 3 ) = : 1 2 3 : + : 1 2 3 :
: 2 3 :
| 1{z
}
(3.178)
3 2 : =S f ( x1 x3 ): 2 :
:1
With this in mind Wicks theorem becomes
T ( 1 2 3 ...) = : 1 2 3 ... + all contractions with signs :
(3.179)
In particular
h0| T
Y
i
( xi )
( x j ) |0i , 0
(3.180)
only for equal numbers of and fields. Physically this just reflects charge conservation.
To compute a 2n-point function of this type, we draw the corresponding Feynman diagrams, but
now
label the points xi associated with ( xi ) and x j associated with ( x j ) separately,
only connect xi with x j and
100
associate each directed line from x j to xi with a propagator S F ( xi x j ).
Be sure to always draw the arrow from x j to xi in order to account for the correct sign in S F ( xi x j ).
Apart from an overall sign (which is typically unimportant because we will eventually take the square
of the amplitude), the relative signs between the diagrams (which are important due to interference)
equal the number of crossing lines. For instance, for

h0| T ( x1 ) ( x2 )( x3 ) ( x4 ) |0i
(3.181)
this prescription gives (see Figure 3.1)
S F ( x1 x2 )S ( x3 x4 ) + (1)1 S F ( x1 x4 )S ( x3 x2 ).
(3.182)
Figure 3.1: Possible Feynman diagrams
3.9
LSZ and Feynman rules
We will examine interacting spin 21 fields in great detail in the context of Quantum Electrodynamics.
Another example of an interesting interacting theory is Yukawa theory, which couples a spin 12 field
to a real boson via a cubic coupling. Its form is given in the tutorial.
In this section we only briefly summarise the logic behind the computation of scattering amplitudes
with spin 12 . As in the scalar theory, in the presence of interactions we define asymptotic in- and
out-fields satisfying the free Dirac equation with mass m , m0 , where m0 is the mass in the free Dirac
action. We then express the creation and annihilation modes by the in- and out-fields, e.g. for the
3.9. LSZ AND FEYNMAN RULES
101
in-fields
1
ain,s (~q) = p
d3 x u s (~q)eiqx 0 in ( x),
2Eq
Z
1
ain,s (~q) = p
d3 x in ( x)0 eiqx u s (~q),
2Eq
Z
1
bin,s (~q) = p
d3 x in ( x)0 eiqx v s (~q),
2Eq
Z
1
bin,s (~q) = p
d3 x v s (~q)eiqx 0 in ( x).
2Eq
(3.183)
Using these one can perform exactly the same LSZ reduction procedure as in the scalar field case to
extract the S -matrix. In this process we make heavy use of the equations
( p m)u( ~p) = 0,
( p + m)v( ~p) = 0,
(3.184)
where now m is the fully renormalized physical mass. Consider incoming fermions |q, s, +i and antifermions |q0 s0 , i and outgoing fermions hp, r, +| and anti-fermions hq0 , r0 , |. The final result for the
S-matrix element is

h...( p, r, +)...( p0 r0 , )....| S |...(q, s, +)...(q0 , s0 , )...i connected
Z
Z
Z

n
n0 Z
21
4
4 0
4
21
= (iZ )
(iZ )
d x... d x ... d y... d4 y0
(3.185)
0 0
0 0
ei(qx+q x pyp y +...) u r ( ~p)(i y m)...v s0 (~q0 )(i x0 m)...
h| T ... (y0 )...(y)... ( x)...( x0 )... |i (i x m)u s (~q)...(i y m)vr0 ( ~p0 ).

Thus to compute the S-matrix we compute the Fourier transform of the amputated fully connected
associated Feynman diagram, where for each external particle we include
u s (~q) for an incoming particle of spin s,
v s0 (~q0 ) for an incoming anti-particle of spin s0 ,
u r ( ~p) for an outgoing particle of spin r,
vr0 ( ~p0 ) for an outgoing anti-particle of spin r0 .
Alternatively, the appearance of these spinor polarisations can also be deduced by the Interaction
picture procedure discussed in the tutorials. We will exemplify this for Yukawa theory in the tutorial
and later in the course for Quantum Electrodynamics.
102
Chapter 4
Quantising spin 1-fields

4.1
Classical Maxwell-theory
Let us first recall the main aspects of classical Maxwell theory.

The classical Maxwell equations are
~
~ E~ = B ,
~ E~ = ,
~
~ B
~ = ~j + E ,
(4.1)
~ B
~ = 0,
where the sources are subject to local charge conservation, i.e.
~ ~j = 0.
+
t
(4.2)
By virtue of the inhomogeneous Maxwell equations and Helmholtzs theorem the fields E~ and
~ can locally be expressed as
B
~
~ A ,
E~ =
t
~ A.
~=
~
B
(4.3)
~ is redundant because
This description in terms of the scalar potential and the vector potential A
~ are invariant under a gauge transformation, i.e. a transformation
E~ and B
( x ),
t
~ ( x ).
~ ( x) A
~ ( x)
A
( x) ( x) +
(4.4)
To establish a Lorentz invariant formulation we introduce the 4-vector gauge potential A and
the 4-current j as

A = ,
j = .
(4.5)
~
~j
A
103
104
CHAPTER 4. QUANTISING SPIN 1-FIELDS

~ are really components of the field strength tensor F ,
The fields E~ and B
F = A A ,
(4.6)
which in matrix notation reads
0
E1
E2
E3
E1
0
B
B
3
2
.
=
E2 B3
0
B1
E3 B2 B1
0
(4.7)
Using the field strength tensor the inhomogenous Maxwell equations can be written as
F = j .
(4.8)
The homogenous Maxwell equations are automatically satisfied because they were used to ex~ in terms of the potentials. Indeed they correspond to the Bianchi identity
press E~ and B
[ F] = 0,
(4.9)
where [ ] denotes all cyclic permutations. Note that j = 0 follows as a consistency condition
because F = 0 since we contract the symmetric tensor with the anti-symmetric
tensor F .
~ are invariant under a local gauge transformation
We stress again that F and thus E~ and B
A ( x) A ( x) + ( x).
(4.10)
Configurations related by gauge transformations are physically equivalent. Gauge symmetries

merely denote a redundancy in the description of the system. To determine the true local physical degrees of freedom we must be sure to divide out by this redundancy. This will be the main
difficulty in quantising the system.
The Maxwell equations follow as the equation of motion of A from the action
Z
S =
!
1
d x F F A ( x) j ( x) .
4
4
(4.11)
Note that S is gauge invariant if and only if j = 0. The equation of motion can be rewritten
as
A ( A ) = j .
(4.12)
Due to gauge invariance we can always pick A such that

A = 0.
(4.13)
4.2. CANONICAL QUANTISATION OF THE FREE FIELD
105
This partially fixes the gauge in Lorenz gauge, but we are still free to perform a residual gauge
transformation
A A + with = 0
(4.14)
without violating the Lorenz gauge condition. In Lorenz gauge the equation of motion is
A = j .
Lorenz gauge can be implemented by adding a Lagrange multiplier term in the action:
!
Z
4
S =
d x F F ( A) A j .
4
2
(4.15)
(4.16)
Therefore we now have two equations of motion, namely for A

A (1 ) ( A) = j
(4.17)
A = 0,
(4.18)
and for
where by equation of motion for we mean that the variation of S with respect to is proportional to A.
4.2
Canonical quantisation of the free field
We now set the current j = 0 and consider the free gauge potential. The free non-gauge fixed
Lagrangian is
1
1
L = F F = ( A A )( A A ).
(4.19)
4
4
It is not suitable for quantisation because the momentum density canonically conjugate to A is
=
L
= F0 ,
A
(4.20)
and since
0 = 0,
(4.21)
( A , ) are no good canonical variables. Instead quantisation starts from the gauge fixed Lagrangian
1
L = F F ( A)2 ,
4
2
(4.22)
= F0 0 ( A).
(4.23)
with
We could proceed for a general Lagrange multiplier , but for simplicity we set
= 1 corresponding to Feynman gauge.
(4.24)
106
Explicitly the Lagrangian in Feynman gauge is

1
L = A A
2
together with A = 0.
(4.25)
Since the Lagrangian multiplier has been integrated out by setting = 1, its equation of motion
A = 0 must now be imposed by hand as a constraint.
Note two important facts about the gauge fixed Lagrangian:
The Langrangian L = 12 A A is simply the Lagrangian of 3 free massless scalars Ai ,
i=1,2,3, but for = 0 the sign of the kinetic terms is wrong. This will be important in the
sequel.
The extra constraint A = 0 is a consequence of the underlying gauge symmetry of the system
and will ensure that a consistent quantization is possible despite the wrong sign for = 0.
The equation of motion for A which follows from (4.25) is
A = 0
together with A = 0.
(4.26)
With (4.25) as a starting point, the canonical momentum density is

= A .
(4.27)
We quantise the system by promoting A and to Heisenberg picture fields with canonical equaltime commutators
[ A (t, ~x), (t, ~y)] = i (3) (~x ~y)
(4.28)
[ A (t, ~x), A (t, ~y)] = i (3) (~x ~y),

[ A (t, ~x), A (t, ~y)] = 0 = [ A (t, ~x), A (t, ~y)].
(4.29)
and therefore
As observed above there is an odd minus sign for = = 0. Despite this issue we proceed and
consider the mode expansion
A ( x) =
3
h
i
d3 p
1 X
ipx
ipx
~
~
~

(
p
,
)
a
(
p
)
e
+
a
(
p
)
e
,
p
(2)3 2E p =0
(4.30)
which is compatible with the equation of motion A = 0 as an operator equation provided

p2 = 0 E p = |~p|.
(4.31)
Furthermore the vectors ( ~p, ), = 0, 1, 2, 3 are the 4 linearly independent real polarisation vectors
whose definition depends on the value of the lightlike vector p (satisfying p2 = 0). Our conventions
to define these are as follows: Let n denote the time axis such that n2 = 1.
4.2. CANONICAL QUANTISATION OF THE FREE FIELD
107
( ~p, 0) n is the timelike or scalar polarisation vector.

( ~p, i) for i = 1, 2 are called transverse polarisation vectors. They are defined via ( ~p, i) n =
0 = ( ~p, i) p and
( ~p, i) ( ~p, j) = i j .
(4.32)
( ~p, 3) is called longitudinal polarisation and is defined via ( ~p, 3) n = 0 = ( ~p, 3) ( ~p, i)
for i = 1, 2 and ( ~p, 3)2 = 1. Since p2 = 0 it can therefore be expressed as
( ~p, 3) =
p n( p n)
.
p+n
(4.33)
So altogether
( ~p, ) ( ~p, 0 ) = ,0 .
(4.34)
We stress that this basis of polarisation vectors depends on the concrete momentum vector p with
p2 = 0. Consider e.g. a momentum vector p = (1, 0, 0, 1)T , then

0
1
0
0

1
0
0
0
( ~p, 0) = , ( ~p, 1) = , ( ~p, 2) = , ( ~p, 3) = .

0
0
1
0

1
0
0
0
(4.35)
The canonical commutation relations imply for the modes
[a ( ~p), a0 ( ~p0 )] = 0 (2)3 (3) ( ~p ~p0 )
(4.36)
[a ( ~p), a0 ( ~p0 )] = 0 = [a ( ~p), a0 ( ~p0 )].
(4.37)
and
Note again the minus sign for timelike modes = 0 = 0.
The Hamiltonian is
Z
Z
h
i
1
3

H=
d x (A A L) =
d3 x A A + i A i A
2
(4.38)
and in modes
X
d3 p
a ( ~p)a ( ~p) ( ~p, ) ( ~p, )
|~
p
|
(2)3
Z
3
X
d p
~
~
~
~
a
(
p
)
a
(
p
)
a
(
p
)
a
(
p
)
=
|~
p
|
i
0
0
(2)3 i i
Z
H=
(4.39)
after dropping the vacuum energy. This leads to the following commutation relations (valid )
[ H, a ( ~p)] = + |~p| a ( ~p),

[ H, a ( ~p)] = |~p| a ( ~p).
(4.40)
108
We define again the vacuum |0i such that a ( ~p) |0i = 0 and the 1-particle states
|~p, i :=
q
2E p a ( ~p) |0i
(4.41)
as the states of momentum ~p and polarisation . The corresponding particles are called photons.
Two crucial problems remain though:
The previous analysis seems to suggest that the theory gives rise to 4 independent degrees
of freedom per momentum eigenstate, but from classical electrodynamics we only expect 2
transverse degrees of freedom.
Timelike polarisation states have negative norm,
h~p, 0| ~q, 0i h0| [a( ~p, 0), a (~q, 0)] |0i = (2)3 (3) ( ~p ~q).
(4.42)
Such negative norm states are called ghosts and spoil unitarity.
4.3
Gupta-Bleuler quantisation
The two above problems arose because the quantisation procedure so far is incomplete: The point
is that the constraint A = 0 has not been implemented yet. It is impossible to implement this
constraint as an operator equation for Heisenberg fields because then we would conclude
h
i
!
0 = [ A (t, ~x), A (t, ~y)] = A 0 (t, ~x), A (t, ~y) = i0 (3) (~x ~y).
(4.43)
The idea of the Gupta-Bleuler formalism is to implement A = 0 not at the level of operators, but
directly on the Hilbert space, i.e. as a defining constraint on the so-called physical states. The naive
guess would be to require
!
(4.44)
A |i = 0
for |i to be a physical state. Let us decompose
A ( x ) = A + ( x ) + A ( x ) ,
(4.45)
1 X
d3 p
( ~p, )a ( ~p)eipx ,
p
3
(2) 2|~p|
Z
d3 p
1 X
A ( x ) =
( ~p, )a ( ~p)eipx
p
(2)3 2|~p|
(4.46)
with
+
A ( x) =
so that the physical state condition would be

!
( A+ + A ) |i = 0.
(4.47)
4.3. GUPTA-BLEULER QUANTISATION
109
But this is still too strong because then not even the vacuum |0i would be such a physical state - after
all
A+ |0i = 0, but A |0i , 0.
(4.48)
However, the milder constraint
!
A+ |i = 0 = h| A
(4.49)
h| A |i = h| ( A+ |i) + (h| A ) |i = 0.
(4.50)
suffices to guarantee
So in the spirit of Ehrenfests theorem the classical relation A = 0 is realised as a statement about
the expectation value h| A |i = 0 in the quantum theory.
To summarise: Out of the naive Fock space we define the physical Hilbert space by
Hphys A+ |i = 0.
(4.51)
This is the Gupta-Bleuler condition.
It suffices to construct the physical 1-particle states of definite momentum since Hphys is spanned by
the tensor product of these. Consider a state |~p, i, i.e. 1 photon of polarisation , where we define a
general polarisation 4-vector
X
(4.52)
=
0 ( ~p, ).
,0
The state |~p, i is defined as

|~p, i :=
q
X
2|~p|
a ( ~p) |0i .
(4.53)
Therefore
h~q, | ~p, 0 i = (2)3 2|~p|(3) ( ~p ~q) 0 .
(4.54)
The physical state condition A+ |~p, i = 0 implies that p = 0 because

A+ |~p, i =
p
X
2|~p| X
d3 q
iqx
~
~
(
iq
)

(
q
,
)
e
a
(
q
)
a ( ~p) |0i
p
(2)3 2|~q|
|
{z
}
=(2)3
(3) ( ~p~q)|0i
(4.55)
= ip |0i .
Therefore
|~p, i Hphys p = 0.
(4.56)
Since p2 = 0 for a massless photon, such can be decomposed as
= T + S ,
(4.57)
110
with S = c p, S2 = 0 and ~T ~pT = 0, T2 < 0,. So |~p, i Hphys can be written as

|~p, i = |~p, T i + |~p, s i
(4.58)
where
|~p, T i describes 2 transverse degrees of freedom of positive norm, k |~p, T i k > 0,
|~p, S i describes 1 combined timelike and longitudinal degree of freedom of zero norm, k |~p, S i k =
0.
For example consider

1
0

0
1
p = T = 2 ,
0

1
0

1

0
s = c
0

1
(4.59)
and |~p, S i (a0 ( ~p) a3 ( ~p)) |0i. Up to now, the Gupta-Bleuler procedure has eliminated the negative norm states and left us with 3 polarisation states, but in fact one can prove the following theorem:
The state |~p, S i decouples from all physical processes.
Such a zero-norm state that decouples from all physical processes is called spurious, hence the subscript S . The meaning of this decoupling of null states is as follows:
For the free theory decoupling means that
h~p, S | O |~p, S i = 0
(4.60)
for all observables O. As an example it is easy to check that

h~p, S | H |~p, S i = 0.
(4.61)
Without loss of generality we take p = (1, 0, 0, 1)T and |~p, S i (a0 ( ~p) a3 ( ~p)) |0i and
confirm h~p, S | H |~p, S i = 0 by noting the structure of the Hamiltonian
X
H
ai ai a0 a0
(4.62)
i
and the relative minus sign in the commutation relations for timelike and spacelike modes.
Furthermore the spurious states decouple in the sense that |~p, S i has zero overlap with |~p, T i
because S T = 0.
The decoupling statement becomes actually non-trivial in the presence of interactions: As long
as the interactions respect gauge invariance, a spurious state |~p, S i decouples from the S -matrix
as an external (in or out) state. This follows from the Ward identities as will be discussed later.
4.3. GUPTA-BLEULER QUANTISATION
111
The conclusion is that only the 2 transverse polarisations are physically relevant as external states.
These have positive norm.
This does not mean that spurious states play no role at all:
Spurious states do appear as internal states in S -matrix processes and are important for consistency of the amplitudes.
Spurious states are required to establish Lorentz-invariance of the theory because T may pick
up a spurious component S by going to a different Lorentz frame.
Let |S i denote any multi-photon state constructed entirely out of spurious photons with polarization
S . Since it decouples in the above sense, we can add and substract it without affecting any physical
properties of a state. This establishes an equivalence relation on Hphys :
|1 i |2 i if | s i : |1 i = |2 i + |S i .
(4.63)
This is the analogue of the residual gauge symmetry in classical theory: Indeed, one can show that1
h s | A ( x) | s i = ( x)
(4.64)
( x) = 0.
(4.65)
for a function ( x) with
Therefore:
Adding | s i in |i |i + | s i is the quantum version of the residual transformation

A A + with = 0
(4.66)
in Lorenz gauge.
A more general perspective on massless Spin 1 fields
Our starting point was not an arbitrary massless vector field A ( x), but the very specific gauge potential that arises in Maxwell-theory. More generally we might ask: Given a general massless vector
field A ( x), how can we quantise it?
The definitive treatment of this question can be found in Weinberg, Vol. I, Chapter 8.1, which we
urgently recommend. Following this reference, the arguments are:
By Lorentz invariance alone, any massless vector field A ( x) must describe precisely two helicity or polarization states (the two transverse degrees of freedom we found above).
1 See
Itzykson/Zuber, p.132 for a proof.
112

On general grounds one can show that Lorentz vector fields describing two polarization states
transform under a Lorentz transformation as
A ( x) A (1 x) + ( x, )
(4.67)
for a spacetime-dependent function ( x, ). Therefore Lorentz invariance requires invariance

of the action under gauge transformations.
The Lagrangian L = 14 F F is the unique Lorentz invariant and gauge invariant Lagrangian
for a massless free vector field (i.e. up to quadratic order).
This proves the general statement:
Massless vector field theories must be gauge theories.
4.4
Massive vector fields
Theories of massive vector bosons on the other hand are consistent despite the lack of gauge invariance: Consider the Lagrangian for "massive electrodynamics"
1
1
L = F F + 2 A A
4
2
with the classical equation of motion, the so-called Proca equation,
F + 2 A = 0.
(4.68)
(4.69)
One can show that this Lagrangian is the unique Lorentz invariant Lagrangian for a free massive spin1 field (without any spin-0 components - see Weinberg I, 7.5 for a proof). The mass term explicitly
breaks gauge invariance. So it is not possible to arrange for A = 0 by gauge-fixing. However, the
Proca equation implies
0 = F +2 A A = 0.
(4.70)
| {z }
=0
Thus, if m , 0, the constraint A = 0 arises classically as a consequence of the equations of motion,

not of gauge invariance. In the quantum theory it can indeed be justified to impose A = 0 as
an operator equation.2 The physical Hilbert space now exhibits 3 positive-norm degrees of freedom
corresponding to the polarisations
|~k, i with k = 0 and k2 2 = 0.
(4.71)
Since no residual gauge transformation is available, there is no further decoupling of one degree of
freedom. To summarise:
Weinberg I, 7.5 for details. The main difference to the massless theory is that 0 0 now poses no problems
because, unlike in the massless case, we can solve A0 for the spacelike degrees of freedom and simply proceed with the
quantisation of ( Ai , i ). In more sophisticated terms, the system is amenable to quantisation with Dirac constraints, see
again Weinberg.
2 See
4.5. COUPLING VECTOR FIELDS TO MATTER
113
Massive vector fields have 3 physical degrees of freedom.

Massless vector fields have 2 physical degrees of freedom.
Some comments are in order:

One might be irritated that the constraint A = 0, which in this case rests on the equations of
motion, is imposed as a constraint in the quantum theory - quantisation must hold off-shell. For
the free theory this is not really a problem: We can take the classical on-shell relation A = 0
as a motivation to simply declare the physical Hilbert space to consist of the transverse polarisations only, thereby defining the quantum theory. That this remains correct in the presence of
interactions rests again on the Ward identities, which, for suitable interactions, still guarantee
that the - now negative norm - states with polarisation k decouple from the S-matrix. We
will discuss this in detail in the context of the Ward identities.
The procedure for quantising the Proca action breaks down if we set 0. A framework
where a smooth limit m 0 is possible is provided by the Stckelberg Lagrangian3
1
1
L = F F + 2 A A (A)2 .
4
2
2
4.5
(4.72)
Coupling vector fields to matter
We would now like to couple a vector field A ( x) to a matter sector, e.g. a Dirac fermion or a scalar
field. Let us collectively denote the matter fields by and the pure matter action (excluding any term
rest []. Then we would like to construct an action
involving the gauge fields) by S matter
rest
S = S 0A [ A] + S int [ A, ] + S matter
[]
(4.73)
that describes the coupling of this matter sector to a vector field A ( x) with free action (prior to
coupling) S 0A [ A] and interaction terms S int [ A, ]. Naively, we would think that we can simply write
down all possible Lorentz invariant terms in S int [ A, ] involving A and and then organize these
as a series in derivatives and powers of fields, as we have done when writing down the most general
interaction for a scalar field. This time, however, S int [ A, ] is subject to an important constraint: It
must be chosen such that the successful decoupling of negative norm states and zero norm states (in
the case of a massless vector) in the free vector theory is not spoiled by the interaction. More precisely,
if we denote by
M = ( k ) M
(4.74)
the scattering amplitude involving an external photon of polarisation vector (k) and momentum k,
then consistency of the interaction requires - at the very least - that
k M = 0.
(4.75)
Itzykson, Zuber, p. 136 ff. for details. Note that a priori this action does include spin-0 components in agreement
with the above claim that the Proca action is the most general action describing spin-1 degrees of freedom only.
3 Cf.
114
This is equivalent to the requirement that external photons of polarisation (k) = k decouple from
the interactions. As we will see this is necessary and also sufficient to ensure that if we start with
a physical photon state of positive norm, no negative or zero norm states (in the case of a massless
vector theory) are produced via the interaction.
Now, one can (and we will somewhat later in this course) prove very generally the following two
important theorems:
1.) The decoupling of unphysical photon states with polarisation (k) = k , i.e. equ. (4.75), is
equivalent to the statement that
S int [ A, ]
= j
A
(4.76)
for j the conserved current associated with a global continuous U (1) symmetry of the full action
S under which
( x) ( x) e ( x),
(4.77)
infinitesimally. Here we have rescaled the symmetry parameter by a coupling constant e to comply with later conventions. In particular, j = 0 on-shell. This is the statement that the vector
theory must couple to a conserved current. That coupling to a conserved current is equivalent to
(4.75) is ensured by the Ward identities to be discussed in detail later in this course.
2.) If the vector theory is massless, i.e. if S 0A [ A] is invariant under the gauge symmetry
A ( x) A ( x) + ( x),
(4.78)
then (4.76) is equivalent to the statement that the full action S is invariant under the combined
gauge transformation
( x) ( x) e ( x) ( x)
A ( x) A ( x) + ( x),
(4.79)
where in particular ( x) now transforms under a local symmetry since we have promoted the
constant appearing in (4.77) to a function ( x). This process of promoting the global continuous
symmetry (4.77) to a combined gauge symmetry as above is called gauging.
As indicated, for pedagogical reasons we postpone a proof of both these assertions and first exemplify
the consistent coupling of a massless vector theory to matter via gauging by discussing interactions
with a Dirac fermion and a complex scalar theory.
4.5.1
Coupling to Dirac fermions
Let us start with the free Dirac fermion action

Z
rest
S matter =
d4 x (i m0 ).
(4.80)
4.5. COUPLING VECTOR FIELDS TO MATTER
115
The only available vector Noether current of this action is due to the a priori global U (1) symmetry
( x) eie ( x),
( x) ( x)eie
R,
(4.81)
where R is the symmetry parameter and as above we have introduced a dimensionless coupling
constant e.
With the normalisation conventions of eq. (1.37), the corresponding Noether current is
and j = 0
j = e
(4.82)
on-shell for ( x). As prescribed by the above theorem we proceed by gauging this global U (1)
symmetry. This means that we promote the global U (1) symmetry to a local one, i.e. we promote the
constant R to a function ( x). Now the kinetic term is no longer invariant because
ie( x) (i m0 )eie( x)
(i m) 7 e
= (i ( ie ( x)) m0 )
(4.83)
= (i m0 ) + [ ( x)] j ( x).
However, we observe that the interaction term
(i m0 ) A j ,

j = e
(4.84)
( x) eie ( x) ( x), A A + ( x).
(4.85)
is invariant under the combined gauge transformation
Thus the interaction is gauge invariant off-shell and fully consistent. One can rewrite the interaction
in terms of the covariant derivative
D := + ieA .
(4.86)
( x) eie( x) ( x), A A + ( x)
(4.87)
Under a combined gauge transformation
the covariant derivative transforms as

D ( x) eie( x) D ( x).
(4.88)
Thus the Lagrangian

1
1
L = F F + (i D m0 ) = F 2 + (i m0 ) A j ,
4
4

j = e
(4.89)
is manifestly gauge invariant off-shell. In QED we set e = |e| equal to the elementary charge of one
electron such that
Q as ( ~p) |0i = |e| as ( ~p) |0i for an electron,
Q bs ( ~p) |0i = + |e| bs ( ~p) |0i for a positron,
.
(4.90)
116
where Q is the Noether charge associated with j .

Let us stress that global and gauge symmetries are really on very different footings:
A gauge symmetry is a redundancy of the description of the system.
A global symmetry is a true symmetry between different field configurations.
Note furthermore that, by construction, the gauge symmetry (4.87) reduces for ( x) = = const. to
the global symmetry
eie , A A,
(4.91)
from which, in turn, charge conservation follows. In particular the appearance of a combined U (1)
gauge symmetry of the system matter plus gauge fields requires an underlying global U (1) symmetry
of the matter system.
4.5.2
Coupling to scalars
Conserved vector currents are available only for complex scalars. Put differently, real scalars are
uncharged. Let us therefore consider a complex scalar theory, whose action prior to coupling to the
Maxwell field reads
rest
S matter
= ( x) ( x) m2 ( x)( x).
(4.92)
The Noether current of the free theory associated with the global U (1) symmetry eie with
R is jfree = ie ( ( )).
The naive guess for the coupling to the gauge sector would therefore be
Lnaive
= A jfree .
int
(4.93)
However - unlike in the fermionic case - this coupling does not exhibit off-shell gauge invariance
under
eie( x) , A A + ( x).
(4.94)
Let us instead follow the general route of replacing the usual derivative by the covariant derivative
D ( x) = ( + ieA ).
(4.95)
1

d4 x F 2 + ( D ) D m2 .
4
(4.96)
and consider the action

Z
S =
The interaction which follows by expanding D = + ieA is

Z

S int [ A, ] = d4 x ie( ( )) A e2 A A .
(4.97)
4.6. FEYNMAN RULES FOR QED
117
The last term quadratic in A is required for gauge invariance and was missed in the naive guess (4.93).
To see what had gone wrong in the naive guess (4.93) note that for constant gauge parameter R
the combined gauge transformation (4.94) reduces to a U (1) global symmetry of the full action (4.96).
One can check that the Noether current associated with this global U (1) symmetry of (4.96) is just

j = 2e2 A + ie ( ) = ie( D ( D ) )
(4.98)
and this does agree with the formula
S int. [ A, ]
= j .
A
(4.99)
The point is that in general the Noether current may itself depend on A once the coupling to the
gauge field is taken into account because S int. [ A, ] may depend not just linearly on A. Therefore
rest
only is in general not
merely writing A jfree with jfree the conserved current associated with S matter
the right thing to do.
We conclude that generally the correct way to define gauge invariant interactions is by replacing
D . This is called minimal coupling. In section 5.2 we will show that gauge invariance of
the combined matter and gauge sector is necessary and sufficient to define a consistent theory with in
particular consistent interactions.
4.6
Feynman rules for QED
We are finally in a position to study the interactions of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), whose
Lagrangian is given by
1
.
L = F F ( A)2 + (i m0 ) eA
4
2
(4.100)
This theory describes the coupling of the Maxwell U (1) gauge potential to electro-magnetically
charged spin 21 particles of free mass m0 .
The Feynman rules for the U (1) gauge field are simple to state:
The Feynman propagator for the gauge field in Feynman gauge ( = 1) can easily be computed
as

Z

d4 p i ip( xy)
(
0
)
=
h0| T A ( x) A (y) |0i = DF ( x y)
e
(4.101)
m2 =0
(2)4 p2 + i
0
by plugging in the mode expansion for the quantised spin 1 field in the Heisenberg picture and
proceeding as in the scalar field case.
For completeness we note that for arbitrary the propagator is

p p 1
Z
d4 p i + p2 ( 1) ip( xy)
h0| T A ( x) A (y) |0i =
e
.
p2 + i
(2)4
(4.102)
118

This is proven most easily in path-integral quantisation as will be discussed in detail in the
course QFT II.
gg
Graphically we represent the propagator of a gauge field as follows:

y
(0)
DF ( x y).
To determine the Feynman rules we must go through the LSZ analysis for gauge fields. By
arguments similar to the ones that lead to the appearance of the spinor polarisation in the spin
1/2 case one finds that external photon states |~p, i come with polarisation factors
( ~p, )
for ingoing
|~p, i
(4.103)
( ~p, ) for outgoing

Here we allowed for complex polarisation vectors.4
This leads to the following Feynman rules of QED:

To compute the scattering amplitude iM f i defined in equ. (2.165) of a given process we draw all
relevant fully connected, amputated Feynman diagrams to the given order in the coupling constant e
and read off iM f i as follows:
Each interaction vertex has the form
gGg
faf
(with the arrows denoting fermion number flow) and carries a factor ie ,
each internal photon line
each internal fermion line

fermion) number flow carries a factor
carries a factor pi
2 +i ,
with the arrow denoting fermion (as opposed to anti-
i(p+m0 )
,
p2 m20 +i
momentum conservation is imposed at each vertex,

we integrate over each (undetermined) internal momentum with the usual measure
d4 p
,
(2)4
each ingoing photon of polarisation carries a factor ( ~p, )ZA2 ,
each outgoing photon of polarisation carries a factor ( ~p, )ZA2 ,

1
each ingoing fermion of spin s carries a factor u s ( ~p)Ze2 ,
each ingoing anti-fermion of spin s carries a factor v s ( ~p)Ze2 ,

4 For instance, sometimes it is useful to consider ( p)
polarisation, which coincide with helicity 1 states).
= 1 ( ( p, 1) i ( p, 2)) to describe photon states of circular

2
4.6. FEYNMAN RULES FOR QED
119
1
each outgoing fermion of spin s carries a factor u s ( ~p)Ze2 ,
each outgoing anti-fermion of spin s carries a factor vs ( ~p)Ze2 .

The overall sign of a given diagram is easiest determined directly in the interaction picture. If
2 diagrams are related by the exchange of n fermion lines, then the relative sign is (1)n . If we
are only interested in |iM f i |2 this is often enough to determine the cross-section.
We will now give some important examples of leading order QED processes:
Electron scattering
Electron-scattering corresponds to the process
e e e e .
(4.104)
To leading order in the coupling e this process receives contributions from the two following fully
connected, amputated diagrams:
q0 , r0
q, r
q0 , r 0
q, r
ie
t0
ie
p, s
p0 , s0
p, s
p0 , s0
Figure 4.1: Leading order Feynman diagrams for electron scattering.
According to the Feynman rules

i
iM f i = (ie)2 u r0 (q0 ) ur (q) 2
u s0 ( p0 ) u s ( p)
t + i

i
u s0 ( p0 ) ur (q) 02
u r0 (q0 ) u s ( p) ,
t + i
(4.105)
q t q0 = 0 t = q q0 and t + p p0 = 0 p0 = p + q q0
(4.106)
where
in the first diagram and

t0 = q p0 and q0 = q p0 + p
(4.107)
in the second diagram. Note the relative minus sign between both diagrams due to the crossing fermion
line!
120
Electron-positron annihilation
Electron-positron annihilation is the process
e+ e 2.
(4.108)
The two leading-order diagrams are
p0 ,
p, s
p0 ,
p, s
ie
t0
ie
q 0 , 0
q, r
q0 , 0
q, r
Figure 4.2: Electron-positron annihilation leading-order diagrams.
Then the Feynman rules yield

i(t m0 )
iM f i =(ie)2 v r (q) 2
u s ( p) (q0 , 0 ) ( p0 , )
t m20 + i

i(t0 + m0 )
0
0 0
u
(
p
)

(
p
,
)

(
q
,
)
,
+ v r (q) 02
s
t m20 + i
(4.109)
where momentum conservation implies

t = p p0 ,
t 0 = p q0 ,
q0 = p p0 + q,
p0 = p q0 + q.
(4.110)
e+ e - scattering (Bhabha scattering)

The process
e + e e + e
(4.111)
is described by the leading order diagram 4.3.

Compton scattering
Compton scattering corresponds to
e + e +
with leading order diagram 4.4.
(4.112)

4.7. RECOVERING COULOMBS POTENTIAL
121
Figure 4.3: Bhabha scattering at leading order.
Figure 4.4: Compton scattering at leading order.
Non-linearities
As an interesting new quantum effect, loop diagrams induce an interaction between photons. For
example, at one loop two photons scatter due to a process of the form
Figure 4.5: Photon scattering is not allowed in classical Electrodynamics, but it is in QED.
Such effects are absent in the classical theory, where light waves do not interact with each other due to
the linear structure of the classical theory. It is a fascinating phenomenon that such QED effects break
the linearity of classical optics. In high intensity laser beams, where quantum effects are quantitatively
relevant, such non-linear optics phenomena can indeed be observed.
4.7
Recovering Coulombs potential
As we have seen QED interactions are mediated by the exchange of gauge bosons. It is an interesting
question to determine the physical potential V (~x) induced by the exchange of such gauge bosons.
This will teach us how the concept of classical forces emerges from the QFT framework of scattering.
122
To derive V (~x) the key idea is to consider the non-relativistic limit of the electron scattering process
e + e e + e
(4.113)
with distinguishable out-states corresponding to the Feynman diagram 4.6.
p0
k0
Figure 4.6: Electron scattering with distinguishable out-states.
This is then compared to the non-relativistic scattering process |~pi |~p0 i of two momentum eigenstates off a potential V (~x).
In non-relativistic quantum mechanics, the scattering amplitude A(|~pi |~p0 i) for scattering of
an incoming momentum eigenstate |~pi to an outgoing momentum eigenstate |~p0 i in the presence
of a scattering potential V is computed in the interaction picture as
0
A(|~pi |~p i) 1 = h~p | e
dt0 VI (t0 )
Z
0
|~pi 1 i h~p |
dt0 VI (t0 ) |~pi + . . . ,
where we take the potential to be constant in time. As derived in standard textbooks on Quantum
Mechanics this equals to first order
A(|~pi |~p0 i) 1 = (2)( E p E p0 )(i) h~p0 | V |~pi .
(4.114)
This result goes by the name Born approximation and reads more explicitly in position space
A(|~pi |~p i) 1 = (2)( E p E p0 )(i)
d3 r V (~r ) ei( ~p~p )~r .

0
(4.115)
This is to be compared with the non-relativistic limit of

Z

d3 k i~k~r0 0 0
e
hp , k | S |p, ki
,
conn.
(2)3
(4.116)
123

is the connected part of the S-matrix element of the scattering process
where hp0 , k0 | S |p, ki
conn.
(4.113). Here the idea is to identify the electron with momentum p and p0 with the scattering
states in the Quantum Mechanics picture and to view the other electron as a fixed target at ~r0 off
which |~pi scatters. The localisation of the fixed target at ~r0 in space is achieved by integrating
R d3 k ~
over all Fourier modes, hence explaining the factor (2
eik~r0 . Without loss of generality we
)3
will set ~r0 0 in the sequel. Recalling the connection between the S-matrix element and the
scattering amplitude iM, for which our Feynman rules are formulated, we find

= (2)4 (4) ( p f pi )(ie)2
hp0 , k0 | S |p, ki
conn.
(4.117)

i
0
u s0 (k ) u s (k) .
u r0 ( p ) ur ( p)
( p p0 )2 + i
In the the non-relativistic limit we have m0 |~p| and m0 |~k| and thus approximate p
(m0 , ~p) + O( ~p2 ). Then
p

p
p r

0 m0 r
p
= m0 r
ur ( ~p) = p
r
p r
0 m0 r
(4.118)
and
2m0 rr0
u r0 ( ~p ) ur ( ~p)
0
0
if = 0,
otherwise.
(4.119)
Furthermore ( p p0 )2 = |~p ~p0 |2 + O(|~p|4 ) and therefore in the non-relativistic limit

e2
hp , k | S |p, ki
(2m)2 ( E f Ei )(2)4 (3) ( ~p f ~pi ).
' i
conn.
|~p ~p0 |2 i
0
(4.120)
The factor (2m)2 is due to the different normalisation of momentum eigenstates in QFT and in
QM and must therefore be neglected in comparing the respective expressions for the amplitude.
Putting all pieces together we can now identify
Z
d3 r V (~r ) ei( ~p~p )~r =

0
e2
.
|~p ~p0 |2 i
(4.121)
Thus the Coulomb potential is

qr cos()
V (~r ) =
z}|{
Z
d3 q
e2
e2
q2 eiqr eiqr
~
i ~
q
r
e
=
dq
iqr
42
q2 i
(2)3 ~q2 i
0
e2
Z
dq
42 ir
eiqr .
(q + i )(q i )
(4.122)
124
Note that i = ei/4 lies in the upper complex half-plane. We interpret the integral as a complex
contour integral in the complex upper half-plane because we can close the contour in the upper halfplane as the contribution above the real axis vanishes in the limit |q| . We then pick up the residue
at q = +i and afterwards take the limit 0. This leads to

e2
i i ir
e2
=
V (~r ) = 2 2i e
.

4r
4 ir
2 i
=0
(4.123)
Since V is positive the potential for scattering of two electrons is repulsive as expected. If we replace
one e by e+ and consider instead the process
e + e+ e + e+ ,
(4.124)
this amounts to replacing
2m0 rr0
u r0 ( p ) ur ( p) by v r0 ( p ) vr ( p)
0
0
if = 0,
otherwise.
(4.125)
However, a careful analysis of the scattering amplitude in the interaction picture shows that one picks
up one relative minus sign in the amplitude. Indeed, establishing the absolute sign of the amplitude
will be the task of Assignment 11. Thus we confirm the expected result that the potential mediated
by exchange of a spin-1 particle yields an attractive potential for oppositely charged particles and a
repulsive potential for identically charged particles.
4.7.1
Massless and massive vector fields
It is instructive to compare the interaction of massless and massive vector fields:

The Coulomb potential due to exchange of a massless spin-1 particle leads to a long-range
force as the potential dies off only like 1/r. If on the other hand the exchanged spin-1 particle
is massive, the interaction is short-ranged. To see this suppose the photon has mass . All that
changes is a mass term in the phton propagator. Thus
V (~r ) =
e2
e2 r
d3 q
i~q~r
e
=
e .
4r
(2)3 ~q2 + 2 i
(4.126)
Therefore massive vector bosons lead to short-range forces of range 1 .

While the vector boson of QED is massless5 , the weak nuclear forces in the Standard Model
are mediated by massive vector bosons (the three massive vector bosons W + , W and Z of
spontaneously broken S U (2) gauge symmetry of mass of order 100 GeV). So this effect is
5A
Yukawa-type deviation of the electromagnetic potential would be directly measurable and constrains the mass of the
photon to be below 1014 eV, see E. R. Williams, J. E. Faller, and H. A. Hill, Phys. Rev. Lett. 26, 721-724 (1971). In
addition, a variety of cosmological and astrophysical constraints imply that the photon mass is at best 1018 eV, as reviewed
e.g. in http://arxiv.org/pdf/0809.1003v5.pdf
125
indeed highly relevant in particle physics and explains why in everyday physics at distances
bigger than (100 GeV)1 only the electromagnetic force can be experienced.6
The concept of forces mediated by exchange bosons is not restricted to spin-1 theories.
If we replace the vector boson of QED by a scalar boson of mass we arrive at Yukawa
theory defined by
L=
1 2 1 2 2
+ (i m0 ) e
.
|{z}
2
2
(4.127)
Yukawa int.
The Feynman rules are very similar to those in QED except for two important changes: First, the
interaction vertex carries no factor and second the scalar boson propagator must be modified
from
i
i
2
.
(4.128)
2
2
p + i
p 2 + i
This amounts to a crucial sign change in the non-relativistic limit because
i
i00
.
|~p|2 2 + i
|~p|2 2 + i
(4.129)
Combining these two changes yields the universally attractive Yukawa potential
V (r ) =
e2 r
e .
4r
(4.130)
Perturbative gravity can be understood at the level of field theory as a theory of massless spin-2
particles, the gravitons, whose exchange likewise yields a universally attractive force. Since the
gravitational potential is of the form 1/r (at least for conventional Einstein gravity), gravitons
must be massless.7
To summarise the potential induced by the exchange of bosons of different spin acts on fermions ( f )
and anti-fermions ( f) as follows:
Spin 0 (Yukawa theory)

Spin 1 (Gauge theory)
Spin 2 (Gravity)
6 The
ff
f f
f f
attractive
repulsive
attractive
attractive
attractive
attractive
attractive
repulsive
attractive
remaining Standard Model forces mediated by the eight massless gluons of S U (3) gauge theory is also shortranged, but this is because of confinement.
7 Current
constraints imply that the graviton mass must be smaller than 1020 eV,
see
http://arxiv.org/pdf/0809.1003v5.pdf.
126
Chapter 5
Quantum Electrodynamics
5.1
QED process at tree-level
d
As an example for a typical tree-level QED process we compute the differential cross-section d
for
+
the scattering e e . We describe both the electron/positron and the muon/anti-muon by a

Dirac spinor field of respective free mass me and m which we couple to the U (1) gauge field.
p0
k0
e+
Figure 5.1: e+ e + reaction.
In this protypical example and in many similar processes one proceeds as follows:
5.1.1
Feynman rules for in/out-states of definite polarisation
Apply the rules from the previous chapter and obtain:

iM( p, s; p0 , s0 k, r; k0 , r0 ) = (ie)2 v s0 ( p0 ) u s ( p)
i
u r (k) vr0 (k0 ),
q2 + i
(5.1)
where q = p + p0 = k + k0 . Thus
iM =
ie2
v s0 ( p0 ) u s ( p)u r (k) vr0 (k0 ).
q2
127
(5.2)
128
5.1.2
CHAPTER 5. QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS
Sum over all spin and polarisation states
Often we do not keep track of the polarisation states of in and out states but are interested in the
unpolarised amplitude-square
2
1 X 1 X X X
iM( p, s; p0 , s0 k, r; k0 , r0 ) ,
2 s 2 s0 r r0
(5.3)
P P
where 12 s 21 s0 averages over the initial state polarisation as is appropriate if the incoming beam is
P P
not prepared in a polarisation eigenstate. The sum r r0 over the final state polarisations is required
in addition if the detector is blind to polarisation. With
(v s0 u s ) = us 0 v s0 = u s v s0
| {z }
(5.4)
=0
one finds
.
0 u s )(v
0 ur )(u
0 )
(
u
v
)(
v
v
s
s
s
r
r
1 e2
1 X
|M|2 =
4 Spins
4 q4
(5.5)
s,s0 ,r,r0
Now we want to make use of the completeness relations

X
u s ( ~p)u s ( ~p) = p + me
v s ( ~p)v s ( ~p) = p m .
(5.6)
To do so it is first useful to make the spinor indices explicit1 , e.g.

u s v s0 =
(u s )A A B v s0B ,
(5.7)
A,B
which shows that the expression can be reordered as

1 X
1 e2 X
A
|M|2 = 4
u s ( p)D u s ( p)A B v s0 ( p0 ) B v s0 ( p0 )C C D
4 Spins
4 q s,s0 ,r,r0

vr0 (k0 )H v r0 (k0 )E EF ur (k)F u r (k)G GH

1 e2
= 4 tr ( p me ) ( p + me )
4q

tr ( k0 + m ) ( k m ) .
In order to proceed further we need to evaluate the traces over the matrices.
1 Recall
that the indices , are completely unrelated to the spinor indices, c.f. section 3.2.
(5.8)
5.1. QED PROCESS AT TREE-LEVEL
5.1.3
129
Trace identities
The following identities are very important to proceed further. We will prove them in general fashion
on exercise sheet 10. The only thing to do is: insert a 1 cleverly, e.g. 5 5 and use the properties of
the Clifford algebra as well as the cyclicity of the trace.
tr = 0, because:
tr = tr 5 5 = tr5 5 = tr 5 5 = tr .
|{z}
(5.9)
The trace of an odd number of -matrices vanishes, since
tr1 ...n = tr5 5 1 ...n = (1)n tr1 ...n .
(5.10)
tr = tr(2 ) = 2 tr1 tr( ) .

| {z }
(5.11)
h
i
tr = 4 + .
(5.12)
tr5 = tr0 0 5 = tr0 5 0 = tr5 .
(5.13)
tr5 = tr5 = tr5 = 0.
(5.14)
tr = 4 , because
=tr
Similarly one finds
tr5 = 0 since
Likewise one can prove
tr5 = 4i , because the result must be antisymmetric in all indices and in particular
tr5 0 1 2 3 = i tr 5 5 = 4i.
(5.15)
Further useful identities are
= 2 .
= 4 ,
(5.16)
= 2 .
Applied to the present case these identities yield
h
i
tr ( p me ) ( p0 + me )

= 4p p0 +
m2e 4 + tr(odd number of s) me ...
h
i
= 4 p p0 + p p0 ( p p0 + m2e )
(5.17)
130
and similarly
h
i
h
i
tr ( k0 + m ) ( k m) = 4 k0 k + k0 k (k k0 + m2 ) .
(5.18)
Since the ratio of m and me is about 200 we can drop me . Then altogether after a few cancellations
i
e4 h
1 X
|M|2 = 8 4 ( p k)( p0 k0 ) + ( p0 k)( p k0 ) + ( p p0 )m2 .
4 Spins
q
5.1.4
Centre-of-mass frame
(5.19)
Switch to the c.o.m. frame and rotate the coordinate frame such that p points in z-direction and p0 in
z-direction (see Figure 5.2).
p0
k0
Figure 5.2: Centre-of-mass frame, p in z-direction.
Introducing the angle between p0 and k and taking the relativistic limit, i.e. m2e |~p|2 , yields

, k = E , ~k z = |~k| cos .
(5.20)
p = , p0 =
~
k
Ez
Ez
Therefore
q2 = ( p + p0 )2 = 2p p0 = 4E 2 ,
p k = E 2 E|~k| cos = p0 k0 ,
(5.21)
p k0 = E 2 + E|~k| cos = p0 k.
Plugging this in and eliminating |~k|2 using |~k|2 = E 2 m2 yields
m2
m2 2
1 X
2
4
|M| = e 1 + 2 + 1 2 cos .
4 Spins
E
E
5.1.5
(5.22)
Cross-section
To this end recall the general formula for a 2-2 scattering event. For this we had derived the expression
d =
(2)4
d2 (4) ( p + p0 k k0 )|M f i |2
4E p E p0 |v p v p0 |
(5.23)
5.1. QED PROCESS AT TREE-LEVEL
131
with
d2 =
Note that no factor of
generally have
1
2
1
d3 k d3 k 0
.
3
3
(2) (2) 2Ek 2Ek0
is required here since + and are distinguishable. In the c.o.m. frame we
d2 (2)4 (4) ( p + p0 k k0 ) =
q
with Ek =
(5.24)
|~k|2 + m2k and Ek0 =
d|~k||~k|2 d
( Ecom Ek Ek0 )
(2)3 4Ek Ek0
(5.25)
q
|~k|2 + m2k0 and
~k| 1
|~k|
|
~
.
d|k|( Ecom Ek Ek0 ) = +
Ek
E k0
(5.26)
|~k|
1
d
=
|M f i |2 .
d
4E p E p0 |v p v p0 | 162 Ecom
(5.27)
Then, altogether
Note that, if all 4 particles had equal masses and the outstates were indistinguishable, this would
correctly reduce to the famous expression encountered earlier
1 1 1
d
=
|M f i |2
d
2! 642 s
(5.28)
2 . Applied to the present case (5.27) yields, with

with s = Ecom
E p = E p0 = E =
1
Ecom , |v p v p0 | = 2,
2
(5.29)
the differential cross-section

1
1
|~k| 1 X
d
=
|M f i |2 .
2
d
Ecom 4 Spins
322 Ecom
(5.30)
Introducing the fine-structure constant

:=
e2
1
4 137
(5.31)
leaves us with
2
d
=
2
d
4Ecom
m2
m2 2
m2
1 2 1 + 2 + 1 2 cos
E
E
E
for the differential cross-section. Thus for the total cross-section
r
2
m
42
1 m
=
1 + 2 1 +
.
3Ecom
2 E2
E
(5.32)
(5.33)
The first term reflects the purely kinematic and thus universal energy dependence, while the second
term represents the correction due to specifics of the QED interaction and is thus characteristic of the
concrete dynamics involved in this process.
132
5.2
The Ward-Takahashi identity
Consider a QED amplitude M(k) involving an external photon of momentum k with k2 = 0 and
polarisation (k). We thus can write the scattering amplitude as
M ( k ) = ( k ) M ( k ) .
(5.34)
Then the Ward-Takahashi identity for QED is the statement that

k M (k) = 0.
(5.35)
To appreciate its significance recall from Gupta-Bleuler quantisation that the constraint
A+ |phys i = 0
(5.36)
implies k = 0 for states |k, i Hphys . This left 2 positive norm transverse polarisations T and 1
zero norm polarisation s = k. (5.35) proves that the unphysical zero-norm polarization state |k, s i
decouples from the S -matrix as an external state, as claimed.
(5.35) follows from a more general from of the Ward identity. Consider a theory with arbitrary spin
fields a ( x) with a global continuous symmetry
a ( x) a ( x) + a ( x),
R,
(5.37)
and a conserved Noether current j ( x) such that classically

j = 0
(5.38)
holds on-shell. Then in the quantum theory the general Ward-Takahashi-identity is a statement
about current conservation inside a general n-point function:
0 = h| T j ( x)a1 ( x1 )...an ( xn ) |i
n
X
+i
h| a1 ... a j ( x j )a j ( x j )(4) ( x x j )...an ( xn ) |i ,
(5.39)
j=1
where a j ( x j ) is omitted. (5.39) can be proven as follows:

For definiteness and simplicity consider a scalar theory. For the free theory, the classical equation of motion is
L
L
S
:=

= (2 + m2 )( x) = 0.
( x)
( x)
( ( x))
This equation is satisfied by the Heisenberg quantum fields as an operator equation.
(5.40)
5.2. THE WARD-TAKAHASHI IDENTITY
133
With the help of this operator equation, one finds that
(2x + m2 )i h0| T ( x)( x1 ) |0i = (4) ( x x1 )
(5.41)
for a 2-point-function. The -distribution occurs due to the action of x0 on ( x x0 ) appearing

in the time-ordering prescription symbolized by T . More generally one finds
(2x + m2 )i h0| T ( x)( x1 )...( xn ) |0i

n
X
h0| T ( x1 )... ( x j )(4) ( x x j )...( xn ) |0i .
=
(5.42)
j=1
This can be written as the Schwinger-Dyson equation

h0| T
n
X
S
( x1 )...( xn ) |0i = i
h0| T ( x1 )... ( x j )(4) ( x x j )...( xn ) |0i .
( x)
j=1
(5.43)
By Noethers theorem, if ( x) ( x) + ( x) is a global continuous symmetry, then the

Noether current enjoys
!
L
L
S
j =

( x)
(5.44)
( x)
( x)
( ( x))
( x)
off-shell. Plugging this into the Schwinger-Dyson equation yields:
h0|T j ( x)( x1 )...( xn ) |0i
n
X
+i
h0| T ( x1 )... ( x j )( x)(4) ( x x j )...( xn ) |0i = 0.
(5.45)
j=1
In interacting theories the reasoning goes through - all that changes is that the equations of
motion involve extra polynomial terms due to the interactions, which however do not alter
the conclusions. This yields the corresponding statements about the full correlation functions
h| ... |i.
The Schwinger-Dyson equation and the Ward-identity show that the classical equation of motion and
current conservation hold inside the correlation functions only up to so-called contact terms, which
are precisely the extra terms we pick up if the insertion point x of the operator S( x) or j ( x) coincides with the insertion point x j of one of the other fields inside the correlator.
Caveat:
It is important to be aware that the n-point correlator h| ... |i involves in general divergent loopdiagrams to be discussed soon. The Ward identity only holds if the regularisation required to define
these divergent intergrals respects the classical symmetry. We will see that for QED such regulators
can be found. On the other hand, if no regulator exists that respects the Ward-identity for a classical
134
symmetry, this symmetry is anomalous - it does not hold at the quantum level. Such anomalies will
be studied in great detail in QFT II.
It remains to deduce (5.35) from (5.39):
Following LSZ, the scattering amplitude M(k) involving an external photon |k , (k)i and n
further particles is given by
Z
1/2
h f | ii = iZA (k) d4 x eikx 2x ... h| T A ( x) |{z}
...
|i
(5.46)
(n other fields)
In Feynman gauge the full interacting QED Lagrangian reads

1
L = A A A j + (i m0 ),
2
.
j = e
(5.47)
The classical equation of motion for A is

2 A = j
(5.48)
2x h| T A ( x)... |i = h| T j ( x)... |i + contact terms,
(5.49)
and therefore
where the contact terms include (n 1) fields inside h| ... |i. Being correlators only of (n 1)
fields, these contact terms cannot have precisely n poles in the momenta of the n fields and thus
do not contribute to h f | ii according to the LSZ formalism.
Now we are left with
h f | ii =
i ZA1/2
Z
d4 xeikx h| T j ( x)... |i .
For = k we find
Z
Z
k d4 x eikx h| T j ( x)... |i = i d4 x ( eikx h| T j ( x)... |i
Z
= i d4 x eikx h| T j ( x)... |i ,
(5.50)
(5.51)
where we used that surface terms vanish (because, as in LSZ, we are really having suitable
wave-packets in mind). According to (5.39) this is
0 + contact terms.
(5.52)
Also in this case the contact terms do not contribute to h f | ii because we are essentially trading one A ( x) field against one matter field ( x) inside the correlator so that the resulting pole
structure is not of the right form, in and (5.35) is proven.
5.2. THE WARD-TAKAHASHI IDENTITY
5.2.1
135
Relation between current conservation and gauge invariance
The proof of k M (k) = 0 only requires that A ( x) couples to a conserved current in the sense that
rest
S = S 0A [ A] + S int [ A, ] + S matter
[]
(5.53)
S int [ A, ]
= j
A
(5.54)
with
the Noether current associated with a global continuous symmetry of the full interacting action S .
For a massless vector theory, which, as a free theory, must always be gauge invariant, (5.54)
is in fact equivalent to invariance of the theory under combined gauge transformations of the
vector and the matter sector.
To prove that (5.54) implies gauge invariance, our point of departure is the existence of a global
continuous symmetry ( x) ( x) + ( x) with R constant, which leaves the full action S invariant. If we perform instead a local transformation ( x) ( x) + ( x)( x) with
varying ( x), then S is in general no longer zero. Since it vanishes for constant , S must
be proportional (to first order) to ( x). In fact, Lorentz invariance implies that there exR
R
ists a 4-vector j ( x) such that S = j ( x) = ( j ) ( x). This identifies j with
j , the conserved current (because for constant, the Noether current has the property that
R
R
S int
( j ) = ( S
) S - see equ. (5.44)). Now, since by assumption A = j we
R S
rest [], the fact that S 0 [ A]
have ( Aint + j ) ( x) = 0. Writing S = S 0A [ A] + S int [ A, ] + S matter
A
is gauge invariant for a massless vector theory implies that this is just the variation of S with
respect to the combined gauge transformation
A A + ( x),
( x) ( x) + ( x)( x).
(5.55)
The theory is thus gauge invariant.

rest []
To prove the other direction, suppose (5.55) leaves the action S 0A [ A] + S int [ A, ] + S matter
invariant (where again S 0A [ A] is separately gauge invariant). Then there exists some conserved
R
int
j ( x) such that ( S
A + j ) ( x) = 0, and we conclude (5.54).
To conclude, massless vector theories are consistent if and only if the vector couples to a
conserved current. This is the necessary and consistent condition for gauge invariance and for
the Ward identities.
If we couple a massive vector, whose action is never gauge invariant, to a conserved current as
in (5.54), then k M = 0 still holds. The fact that in a massive vector theory the Ward identities
are still satisfied provided that theory couples as in (5.54) is crucial for its consistency: Recall
that in a massive vector theory (k2 > 0), the negative norm states are the states
|k , i with = k .
(5.56)
136

Restriction to with k = 0 removes these. This is only justified in the interacting theory
as long as no dangerous states |k , = k i are produced, as is guaranteed thanks to k M = 0
for couplings to conserved currents.
5.2.2
Photon polarisation sums in QED
To evaluate the consequences of the Ward identities we can take, without loss of generality, the photon
4-momentum to be

1

0
k = k
(5.57)
0

1
and consider the corresponding basis of polarisation vectors

1

0
(k, 0) = ,
0

0

0

1
(k, 1) = ,
0

0

0

0
(k, 2) = ,
1

0

0

0
(k, 3) = .
0

1
(5.58)
The Ward identity k M (k) = 0 then implies M0 (k) = M3 (k). In physical applications we often
need to sum over the two transverse polarisation vectors = 1, 2 of an external photon involved in a
scattering process. By the Ward identity this becomes
2
X
=1
| (k, )M (k)|2 =
2
X
(k, ) (k, )M (k)(M (k)) = |M1 (k)|2 + |M2 (k)|2
=1
1
= |M (k)|2 + |M2 (k)|2 + |M3 (k)|2 |M0 (k)|2

= M (k)(M (k)) .
(5.59)
P
Thus in sums over polarisations of the above type we can replace 2=1 (k, ) (k, ) by . This
will be used heavily in deriving the Klein-Nishina formula for Compton scattering in the tutorials.
5.2.3
Decoupling of potential ghosts
So far we have merely shown that the zero-norm states with polarization k decouple from the Smatrix and are thus not produced in scattering experiments. But what about the status of timelike
polarisation states, which correspond to the even more dangerous negative norm ghosts? Even if we
declare Hphys not to contain them, we must prove that no such states are created as outgoing states
from physical in-states in scattering processes. Otherwise the interactions would render the theory
inconsistent.2
2 Note
that this is only a question for massless vector fields. For massive vector fields the negative norm states are just
the photons with polarization k (as k2 > 0) and these obviously decouple by the Ward identity.
5.3. RADIATIVE CORRECTIONS IN QED - OVERVIEW
137
In fact, it is again the Ward identity that guarantees that no ghosts are created as external states in
interactions. The argument relies on the relation
2
X
(k, ) (k, )M (k)(M (k)) = M (k)(M (k))
(5.60)
=1
derived above and is sketched as follows: It suffices to show that the restriction of the S-matrix S to
the space of transverse polarisations is unitary. This means that we lose no information by considering
only transverse in and out-states and thus guarantees that no unphysical states can be produced out
of transverse incoming states. Let P denote the projector onto these states of transverse polarisations.
The relation (5.60) amounts to the statement
S PS = S S .
(5.61)
Since S S = 1, this implies that ( PS P) ( PS P) = P. This is precisely the statement that the restriction of S to the state of transverse polarisation is unitary.
5.3
Radiative corrections in QED - Overview
We now enter a quantitative discussion of radiative corrections in Quantum Field Theory as exemplified by loop corrections to QED. As we will see it is sufficient to study the following types of loop
corrections modifying the QED building blocks.
Corrections to the fermion propagator

We recall that the Feynman propagator of the free fermion field is
Z
d4 p ip( xy) p + m0
e
.
S F ( x y) =
(2)4
p2 m20 + i
| {z }
pmi
(5.62)
0 +i
fafpf
f f|af f|aff|af
f f
fpf
Taking into account corrections due to QED interactions we have instead

h| T ( x) (y) |i = y
x+
Let
+...
(5.63)
x.
1PI

B i(6 p)AB
(5.64)
denote the amputated 1PI diagram. By Dyson resummation the full propagator then takes the form
Z
d4 p ip( xy)
i
y
x=
e
,
(5.65)
P
4
(2)
p m0 (6 p) + i
P
where (6 p) is called self-energy of the electron.
138
Corrections to the photon propagator

The Fourier transform of the photon propagator, denoted by
mation from the 1-PI diagram
g g
gpg
, derives by Dyson resum-
i (q2 ) = self-energy of the photon or vacuum polarisation.

1PI

(5.66)
Corrections to the interaction vertex

Loop corrections modifiy the cubic interaction vertex. We will find it useful to define an effective
vertex by summing up all loop-corrections. Schematically,

p p0
p p0
+... =
' ie ( p, p0 ).
We will compute these corrections to 1-loop order. The diagrams will exhibit
ultraviolet (UV) divergences from integrating the momenta of particles in the loop up to infinity
and
infra-red (IR) divergences if the diagram contains massless particles - i.e. photons - running in
the loop.
The general status of these singularities is as follows:
IR divergences in loop-diagrams cancel against IR divergences from radiation of soft, i.e. lowenergy photons and thus pose no conceptual problem.
UV divergences require regularisation of the integral and can be absorbed in a clever definition
of the parameters via renormalisation.
5.4
Self-energy of the electron at 1-loop
faf f|af
At 1-loop order the electron propagator takes the form

h| T ( x) (y) |i = y
x + y
|
=
where the integrand (I) is given by the diagram

(I) p
f|af
k
p.
{z
x
}
(5.67)
d4 p ip( xy)
e
(I)
(2)4
(5.68)
5.4. SELF-ENERGY OF THE ELECTRON AT 1-LOOP
139
The photon in the loop carries momentum p k. By means of the Feynman rules,
(I) =
i( p + m0 )
i ( p + m0 )
(
i
(
6
p
))
.
2
2
p2 m0 + i
p2 m20 + i
(5.69)
The amputated 1-loop contribution corresponds to omitting the two outer fermion propagators and
is thus given by
Z
i
d4 k i(6 k +mo )
2
i2 (6 p) = (ie)
2
.
(5.70)
2
4
(2)
k m0 + i ( p k)2 + i
It will turn out that the integral is divergent near k = 0 if p 0. This is an IR divergence. A
careful analysis reveals that it will cancel in all amplitudes against similar such IR divergences from
other diagrams involving soft photons and thus poses no harm. For the present discussion we could
just ignore it, but for completeness we introduce a ficticious small photon mass to regulate the IR
divergence:
Z
d4 k i(6 k +mo )
i
2
i2 (6 p) = (ie)
2
.
(5.71)
2
4
2
(2)
k m0 + i ( p k) 2 + i
The evaluation of such typical momentum integrals proceeds in 3 steps:
5.4.1
Feynman parameters
1
with A = ( p k)2 2 + i and B = k2 m20 + i.
The integrand contains a fraction of the form AB
It turns out useful to write this as (...1)2 and to complete the square in k. To this end we exploit the
elementary identity
Z1
1
1
.
(5.72)
= dx
AB
( xA + (1 x) B)2
0
x is called a Feynman parameter. Applying this identity yields in the present case
1
=
AB
Z1
dx
0
1
( x(( p k)2 2 + i ) + (1 x)(k2 m20 + i ))2
Z1
dx
(k 2
2xk p +
( l2
1
,
+ i )2
xp2
x2
Z1
dx
0
1
(1 x)m20 + i + x2 p2 x2 p2 )2
(5.73)
where l = k xp and = x(1 x) p2 + x2 + (1 x)m20 . Then

Z1
2
i2 (6 p) = e
Z
dx
d4 l (6 k +m0 )
.
(2)4 (l2 + i )2
(5.74)
140
The term in the numerator can be simplified with the help of the gamma-matrix identity
k = (2 )k = k (2 )
(5.75)
and, in d-dimensions, = d. Therefore altogether (keeping d arbitrary for later purposes)

(6 k +m0 ) = (2 d )(6 l + x 6 p) + dm0 .
(5.76)
Now for symmetry reasons

l
d4 l
=0
(2)4 (l2 )2
(5.77)
and thus, if d 4,
Z1
2
i2 (6 p) = e
Z
dx
d4 l 2x 6 p +4m0
.
(2)4 (l2 + i )2
(5.78)
Remark: For more general loop integrals one makes use of the identity
1
=
A1 ...An
Z1
0
dx1 ...dxn (
xi l)
(n 1) !
,
( x1 A1 + ... + xn An )n
(5.79)
which can be proven by induction.
5.4.2
Wick rotation
R d4 l
1
As we have seen, we encounter loop-integrals of the typical form (2
. This integral
)4 (l2 +i )n
would be relatively easy to perform if it were defined in Euclidean space. The Wick rotation relates it
to such a Euclidean integral.
Indeed, as the i factors remind us, the l0 integral is in fact a complex contour integral along the real
axis. The value of this integral is unchanged if we deform the contour without hitting any pole. Therefore we can rotate the contour by 90 counter-clockwise to lie along the imaginary axis. Introducing
the Euclidean 4-momentum lE = (l0E , ~lE ) as
l0 = il0E , ~l = ~lE
such that l2 l2E
Z
i 2
i (l E ) ,
(5.80)
we can write the integral as
d4 l
1
= i(1)m
(2)4 (l2 + i )m
d4 l E
1
.
(2)4 (l2E + i )m
(5.81)
Since we wont need the i any longer we can omit it at this stage. We can now peform the integral as
a spherical integral in R4 .
5.4.3
141
Regularisation of the integral
The integral
Z
I4 =
d4 l E
1
=
2
4
(2) (lE + )2
|lE |3 d|lE |
(2)4
Z
d4
(|lE
|2
1
+ )2
(5.82)
is divergent due to integration over the UV region |lE | . To isolate the divergence we regularise
the integral. The 3 most common methods for regularisation are
Momentum cutoff: Isolate the UV divergence as a divergence in the upper momentum limit
by writing
Z
Z
. . . = lim
....
(5.83)
Following this procedure we can evaluate the integral in an elementary fashion as

Z
Z
I4 =
d4 lim
1
d4 lim
2
d|lE |
|lE |3
(2)4 (|lE |2 + )2
Z
0
|lE |2
d|lE |2
(2)4 (|lE |2 + )2
(5.84)
1 1
+ log(|lE |2 + )
4
2 (2)
+ |lE |2
!
#
"
Z
1 1
2
1 .
= d4 lim
log
2 (2)4
"
#2
d4 lim
l2 = 0
The loop leads to a log-divergence as . The problem is that this regularisation procedure
is not consistent with the Ward identities, as we will see when computing the photon propagator,
and is therefore not a useful regularisation method in QED.
Dimensional regularisation (dimReg) is probably the most common method. We first evaluate
the integral in d dimensions; writing d = 4 then isolates the divergence as a pole in as
0.
Let us therefore consider
dd l E
1
Id =
=
(2)d (l2E + )2
dd
(2)3
Z
d|lE |
0
The volume of the unit sphere in d-dimensions is

Z
2d/2
dd =
( d2 )
|lE |d1
.
(|lE |2 + )2
(5.85)
(5.86)
where
(z) =
dy yz1 ey
0
(5.87)
142

is the Euler -function. This is because

d
Z
Z
Pd
d
2
2
x
( ) = dxe = dd xe i=1 xi
d|x||x|d1 e|x|
dd
(5.88)
1
dd
2
d( x2 )( x2 )d/21 ex .
The -function has the properties

(n) = (n 1)! for n N+ as can be shown by integration by parts.
(z) has analytic poles at z = 0, 1, 2, 3, ...; for a proof we refer to standard textbooks
on complex analysis.
Continuing with our integral we write
Z
0
|lE |d1
1
d|lE |
=
2
2
2
(|lE | + )
and substitute
x=
Z
d|lE |2
0
(|lE |2 )d/21
(|lE |2 + )2
|lE |2 =
x
|lE +
|2
with
(5.89)
(5.90)
.
+ )2
(5.91)
dx x1d/2 (1 x)d/21 .
(5.92)
dx = d|lE |2
(|lE
|2
Then the integral (5.89) becomes

1 1
=
2
!2d/2 Z1
0
As a last ingredient we need the Euler -function

B(, ) :=
Z1
dx x1 (1 x)1 =
() ()
,
( + )
(5.93)
where the last identity is non-trivial and proven again in textbooks on complex analysis.
We can rewrite (5.92) in terms of B(, ) with = 2 d/2 and = d/2. Together with
(2) = 1 we arrive at
1 1
2
!2d/2 Z1
dx x
0
1d/2
(1 x )
d/21
1 1
=
2
!2d/2
(2 d/2)(d/2).
(5.94)
143
Therefore
1
1
dd lE
1
Id =
=
(2 d/2)
2
d
d/2
2
(2) (lE + )
(4)
!2d/2
(5.95)
We now apply this to Id with d = 4 and note that we encounter a singularity from (0). To
isolate the singularity we define
d = 4
(5.96)
and would like to write I4 lim0 I4 . However I4 is dimensionless because
[lE ] = [mass],
(5.97)
we can
whereas I4 has dimension [mass] . If we introduce a compensating mass scale M,
write
!/2
1
1

(/2)
I4 = lim M I4 = lim M

0
42/2
(5.98)
!/2
2
4 M
1
= lim 2 (/2)
.
0 4
Finally we use
(/2) = 2 + O( ), where 0.5772 is the Euler-Mascheroni number and we refer
again to the complex analysis literature for a proof;

x/2 = 1 + 2 log( x) + O( 2 ), which is just a Taylor expansion in since x/2 = e 2 log( x) .
With this input
!
!
2
1
2
4 M
I4 = lim
+ log
+ O( )
0 (4)2
(5.99)
!
!
1
2
M2
I4 = lim
+ log
+ O( ) ,
0 (4)2
(5.100)
and therefore
2.
where M 2 = 4e M
The final result for the electron self-energy at 1-loop is
i2 (6 p) = (i)
2
Z1
0
2
M2
dx ((2 /2)m0 (1 /2) x 6 p) + log

(5.101)
0
where M is some as yet arbitrary mass-scale. We will understand its significance soon.
Pauli-Villars (PV) regularisation: We subtract a diagram with a ficiticious massive particle in
the loop - here a photon - of mass , i.e. we compute
p
|
f|af f|af
involves
{z
i
( pk)2 2 +i
p
|
involves
{z
i
( pk)2 2 +i
(5.102)
144

Subtracting the second diagram subtracts the divergence because for infinite momenta the mass
of the particle in the loop becomes irrelevant and both diagrams asymptote to the same divergent
value. If the contribution of the subtracted vanishes and we recover the actual diagram.
The divergence reappears therefore as a divergence in as .
Subtracting both diagrams yields
i2 (6 p) = lim (computation with computation with )
= ...
i2 (6 p) = lim (i)
Z1
0
(5.103)
!
x2
dx(2m0 x 6 p) log
,
where the omitted steps are elementary and similar to the integration performed in (5.84). We
can rewrite this by introducing again an arbitrary mass scale M as
i2 (6 p) = lim (i)
Z1
0
!
!!
M 2
x2

+ log
dx(2m0 x 6 p) log

M2
(5.104)
Comparing (5.101) and (5.104) we note that the momentum-dependent terms are in both regularisation approaches the same, while the 1 -divergence in dimReg corresponds to a logarithmic
divergence in PV or in momentum cutoff regularisation.
5.5
Bare mass m0 versus physical mass m
Before dealing with the UV divergence of the electron-propagator, let us recall the non-perturbative
information encoded in the 2-point function. By the Klln-Lehmann spectral representation we have
Z
iZ2
i
!
=
+ terms analytic at m.
(5.105)
d4 x eipx h| T ( x) (0) |i =
6 p m0 (6 p) 6 p m
The physical mass m is the location of the lowest-lying analytic pole and can thus be computed by
solving

6 p m0 (6 p)6 p=m = 0,
(5.106)
while the wavefunction renormalisation of the electron - called Z2 - is the residue of the propagator at
6 p= m. To find this residue we perform a Taylor expansion of
f (6 p) :=6 p m0 1 (6 p)
(5.107)

d f
+ O (6 p 6 p 0 )2
f (6 p) = f (6 p 0 ) + (6 p 6 p 0 )
d 6 p
6 p0
!

d(6 p)

= 0 + (6 p m 1) 1
+ O (6 p m)2 .
d6 p
(5.108)
around 6 p 0 = m 1. Then
6 p=m1
5.5. BARE MASS M0 VERSUS PHYSICAL MASS M

Therefore
"
1
res
6 p m0 (6 p)
6 p=m
145
d(6 p)
= 1
d6 p
!1

=: Z2
(5.109)
6 p=m
and thus
Z21

d(6 p)

= 1
d 6 p
(5.110)
6 p=m
We can now compute m to order , where

(6 p) = 2 (6 p) + O(2 ).
(5.111)
m m0 2 (6 p= m) = 0
(5.112)
m := m mo = 2 (6 p= m) + O(2 ).
(5.113)
Then to order
and thus
Note that if we trade m by m0 in 2 (6 p= m), the error will be O(2 ) and thus we can also write
m := m mo = 2 (6 p= m0 ) + O(2 ).
(5.114)
In dimReg we find
m m0 =
m0
2
Z1
0
2
2
M

dx (2 x) + ( x 1) + log
2
2
2
2

(1 x) m0 + x

(5.115)
and in PV
m m0 =
m0
2
Z1
0
!
2
2
M
x
.
+
log
dx(2 x) log
M2
(1 x)2 m20 + x2
|
{z
}
!
log
(5.116)
x2
(1x)2 m2 + x2
0
Note that m m0 > 0: This is because what we are computing is literally the self-energy of the
electron, i.e. the mass shift due to the (positive!) energy stored in its own electric field. Recall from
classical electrodynamics that also classically this quantity is divergent due to the pointlike structure
of the electron. Not surprisingly, the divergence remains in QED.3
Likewise we can compute Z2 to order by evaluating (5.110) at order , the result being
Z2 = 1 +
2
Z1
"
dx x log
!
#
x(1 x)m2
x2
+ 2(2 x )
+ O(2 ).
(1 x)2 m2 + x2
(1 x)2 m2 + x2
(5.117)
0
3
Indeed, the fundamental reason for this divergence is because in QFT the fundamental objects are still pointlike, i.e.
they have no substructure. In string theory, on the other hand, the fundamental objects do have an intrinsic substructure (as
1-dimensional strings instead of points) and correspondingly this theory is free of UV divergences.
146
5.5.1
Mass renormalisation
We thus encounter an obvious problem: m m0 is divergent due to the UV divergence of the propagator. What saves the day are the following crucial observations:
Only m, the physical mass, is a physical observable. Namely m is the rest mass of an electron
as measured in experiments.
By contrast, m0 , the so-called bare mass, is merely a parameter that appears in the Lagrangian
and per se cannot be measured directly. Rather the Lagrangian produces for us, via the Feynman
rules, measurable quantities, the scattering amplitudes, which depend on m0 .
This suggests the following solution to the divergence of m: The divergence can be absorbed in the
definition of m0 by interpreting the equation (5.113) for m as an equation for m0 in terms of the
measured physical mass m and the cutoff or . Concretely in PV regularisation (to be specific)
Z1
+ O(2 ) = m0 ().
(5.118)
dx(2 x) log
m0 = m 1
2
(1 x)2 m20 + x2
0
This means that we take the parameter m0 in the Lagrangian to be divergent. We compute scattering
amplitudes etc. in terms of this divergent object m0 () and at the end plug in the above equation
for m0 () to express everything via m. If through this procedure all physical quantities in the end
are independent of , the theory is said to be renormalisable. Indeed QED is renormalisable.We will
discuss how one can see this more systematically later.
Rather than being systematic here, let us exemplify this in the following trivial example: Compute
the mass m at 1-loop. Well, this means we take the equation for m in terms of m0 at 1-loop and plug
in (5.118). Obviously we find m = m. This demonstrates that absorbing the divergence in the bare
mass comes at a price: We lose predicitivity for the physical mass. In other words, we must now take
m directly from experiment. In a renormalisable theory we retain, however, predicitivity for all but a
finite number of quantities.
5.6
The photon propagator
g g
The building block to compute radiative corrections to the photon propagator is the 1PI amputated
diagram

:= i (q).
(5.119)
1PI

q
On general grounds we can make the following statements:

By Lorentz invariance its tensorial structure can only depend on and q q .
The Ward identity further implies transversality,
q (q) = 0,
(5.120)
5.6. THE PHOTON PROPAGATOR
147
because we can view as a 1 1 scattering amplitude.4 Thus

!
q q
i (q) = 2 f (q2 ).
q
Note in particular that the Ward identity implies that no terms of the form
as these would destroy transversality.
(5.121)
q q
m20
or the alike arise
Finally, i (q) cannot have an analyic pole at q2 = 0,5 because this would require a singleparticle massless intermediate state (whose propagator vanishes at zero momentum), but no
such intermediate states occur for the 1 PI diagram relevant for the photon propagator.
Figure 5.3: Possible diagrams: The first loop carries only massive particles. In the second diagram the photon in the loop is
massless, but it does not arise as a single-particle due to the accompanying electron line.
Therefore,

i (q) = q2 q q (q2 ),
(5.122)
such that (q2 ) is regular at q2 = 0. It is useful to define the projection operator onto momenta
orthogonal to q ,
q q
(5.123)
P (q) = 2
q
with
q P (q) = 0 and P (q) P (q) = P (q).

(5.124)
gpg gg g g g g g
By Dyson resummation the Fourier transform of the full propagator takes the form

+
+ ...
1PI
1PI
1PI

!
q q
i
i q q
= 2
2 + 2 2 ,
2
q
q q
q (1 (q ))
(5.125)
where the final result follows with the help of (5.124) as will be discussed in the tutorial. Note that
this holds in Feynman gauge = 1. In general gauge we would get6
!
i
q q
i q q
= 2
.
(5.126)
q2
q2 q2
q (1 (q2 ))
gpg
fact, this argument applies to the fully resummed propagator rather than to (q). However, given the relation
between both via Dyson resummation it is not hard to see that the Ward identity carries over to q (q) = 0 because it
must hold order by order in the coupling constant.
5 To avoid confusion, think of computing the diagram for finite cut-off or > 0. The statement is that apart from the
UV divergence as the cutoff is removed, i (q) exhibits no analytic pole at q2 = 0.
6 We will see this via an easy path-integral proof in the course QFT 2.
4 In
148
This identifies the -dependent term as pure gauge. We can omit it by going to Landau gauge = 0,
in which

!
q q

i
= 2
2 .
(5.127)

q
q (1 (q2 ))
Landau
gpg
This result has two important consequences:

Since (q2 ) is regular at q2 = 0 (again in the sense that for finite cutoff, there is no analytic
pole) the pole at q2 = 0 is unaffected by the radiative corrections. Thus the photon remains
massless as required by gauge invariance. This is a consequence of the Ward identity, which
had lead to this form of i (q).
The photon field strength renormalisation is simply
Z3 =
1
.
1 (0)
(5.128)
To obtain the result at order we procced in a similar manner as for 2 (6 p). We denote by 2 (q2 ) the
1-loop contribution to (q2 ) (just like 2 (6 p) denotes the 1-loop contribution to (6 p)). To compute
2 (q2 ) we must consider the diagram
gcg
q
(5.129)
and bring the result into the form (5.121) with 2 (q2 ) instead of (q2 ).
This computation is most conveniently carried out in dimensional regularization. We merely quote
the final result
!
Z1
2
2
M
2
,
2 ( q2 ) =
(5.130)
dx x(1 x) + log

0
0
where = m20 x(1 x)q2 .

To conclude this section we state without proof that if we were to compute the 1-loop corrected
R
R
propagator with a naive momentum cutoff 0 dp 0 dp, then we would find a divergent term of
the form
i2 (q) 2 + P (...).
(5.131)
This would violate q (q) = 0 and thus the Ward identity. This shows, as claimed, that momentum cutoff regularisation breaks gauge invariance and is thus not useful in QED. Note that from our
derivation of the Ward identities, it may not be completely obvious why cutoff regularization leads to
a breakdown of the Ward identities. Next term we will get to know a very simple derivation of the
Ward identities in the path integral quantization approach and interpret the breakdown of the Ward
identities as due to the fact that the cutoff-regularised measure of the path integral is not invariant
under the U(1) symmetry of the classical action.
5.7. THE RUNNING COUPLING
5.7
The running coupling
149
Radiative corrections to the photon propagator are responsible for an important phenomenon in QED,
the running of the electric coupling. To see this we consider a scattering process with an intermediate
photon of the form
Taking into account the appearance of e0 at each vertex, it is clear that the amplitude involves a factor
of
(ie0 )2 i( q q /q2 )
.
(5.132)
q2
1 (q2 )
We can absorb the correction term (1 (q2 ))1 into the coupling and define an effective coupling
e ( q2 ) : = p
e0
1 (q2 )
(5.133)
This obviously depends on q2 , the energy transferred by the photon in the scattering process. When
measuring the physical charge of an electron, we therefore need to specify the energy scale at which
the measurement is performed. Let us define the physical coupling or renormalised charge as the
effective charge as measured at q2 = 0, i.e.
p
e0
= e0 Z3 .
(5.134)
e := lim e(q2 ) = p
2
q 0
1 (0)
Note that (0) is a divergent constant. E.g. at 1-loop in perturbation theory it takes the form in
dimensional regularisation
2
(0) = 2 (0) + O( ) =
Z1
2
2
M
dx x(1 x) + log 2 + O(2 ).

m0
(5.135)
Note that at this order in , m0 and m can be exchanged (because the difference is itself of O()).
We proceed as we did when defining the physical electron mass and absorb the divergence into the
definition of the bare coupling e0 . This can be done because only e is a physical observable, whose
finite value we take from experiment. We define the bare coupling as
q
e0 = e 1 (0) e0 () or e0 ( ),
(5.136)
depending on the regularisation method we used (Pauli-Villars or dimensional regularisation). The
effective coupling at energy q2 is therefore
2
e (q ) =
e20
1 ( q2 )
e20
1 2 (q2 )
+ O(2 ) =
e2 (1 2 (0))
+ O(2 ),
1 2 (q2 )
(5.137)
150
where 1 2 (0) =
1
1+ 2 (0)
+ O(2 ). Thus
e2 ( q2 ) =
e2
+ O(2 ),
1 (2 (q2 ) 2 (0))
(5.138)
where e2 e2 (q2 = 0) is the physical charge at q2 = 0. We conclude that the effective coupling at
q2 , 0 is
e2
e2 (q2 ) =
+ O ( 2 ) ,
(5.139)
2
1 2 (q )
2 (q2 ) = 2 (q2 ) 2 (0) finite and independent of . Concretely,
with
2 (q ) = 2
Z1
!
m2
.
dx x(1 x) log 2
m x(1 x)q2
(5.140)
The effective coupling of QED increases logarithmically with the energy scale at which the experiment
is performed. The physical interpretation of this is that the charge of an electron is screened by virtual
e+ e pairs so the effective charge decreases at long distance corresponding to small energy. Thus the
QED vacuum appears like a polarisable medium. This explains the name vacuum polarisation for
the radiatively corrected photon propagator.
A comment on the Landau pole
Note that from this analysis, the effective coupling increases indefinitely as we increase the energy.
This phenomenon is called the Landau pole of QED and casts doubt on the validity of the theory at
arbitrarily high energies. We will find in QFT II that suitable non-abelian gauge theories such as QCD
exhibit precisely the opposite phenomenon: they become asymptotically free and are thus perfectly
well-defined in the UV. One proposed solution to the Landau pole problem of QED is therefore that
the electromagnetic gauge group, which is part of the Standard Model, might in fact emerge as part of
a unified non-abelian gauge group, whose dynamics takes over at high energies.
5.8
The resummed QED vertex
We define the amputated resummed cubic QED vertex as

p0
ieo ( p0 , p)
amputated
For later purposes we point out that in diagrams with external fermions this resummed vertex is
dressed with suitable factors of Z2 . For instance the amplitude associated with the diagram
5.8. THE RESUMMED QED VERTEX
p0
151
k0
is of the form
iM u ( p0 ) (ie0 Z2 ( p0 , p)) u( p)
i( q q /q2 )
u (k0 ) (ie0 Z2 (k0 , k)) u(k).
q2 (1 (q2 )
(5.141)
Perturbatively the cubic vertex can be expanded as
p0
p0
+ O(2 )
By Lorentz invariance and the Ward identity, which implies that
q u ( p0 ) ( p0 , p)u( p) = 0,
(5.142)
one can show that it must take the form

( p0 , p ) = F 1 ( q2 ) + i
S q
F 2 ( q2 ) ,
2m0
(5.143)
where F1 (q2 ) and F2 (q2 ) are called form factors and S = 4i [ , ]. The form factors can be
computed perturbatively via loop-integrals. We merely quote the following results:
F1 (q2 ) is given by:
F1 (q2 ) = 1 + F1 (q2 ) + O(2 ),
(5.144)
where F1 (q2 ) is a UV divergent function, which, e.g. in PV regularization, is given by

Z1
F1 (q ) =
dx dy dz ( x + y + z 1)
2
0
"
#
z2
1
2
2
2
log
+ (1 x)(1 y)q + (1 4z + z )m0 ,
(5.145)
with = xyq2 + (1 z)2 m20 + 2 z. Here shows up to regulate the IR divergences that will
cancel eventually.
152
For F2 (q2 ) = 0 + F2 (q2 ) + O(2 ) one finds in PV regularisation
F2 (q ) =
2
Z1
2m20 z(1 z)
dx dy dz ( x + y + z 1)
,
(5.146)
which is finite. This finiteness of F2 (q2 ) persists to all orders in perturbation theory.
In the limit p0 p, i.e. q 0, we expect the loop corrections to vanish, i.e. as far as the vertex
corrections are concerned e.g.
p0
k0
k0
p0
Indeed one can show that
lim Z2 ( p + q, p) = .
q0
(5.147)
Note the appearance of the factor Z2 due to the external fermion legs, as pointed out before. We can
prove (5.147) in two ways:
By direct inspection in perturbation theory one finds
!

S q
F2 (q2 )
Z2 ( p + q, p) = (1 + Z2 + O(2 )) 1 + F1 (q2 + O(2 ) + i
2m0
(5.148)
i
2
2
2
= (1 + Z2 + F1 (q ) + O( )) +
S q F 2 ( q ) ,
2m0
where F1 (q2 ) and Z2 are related as
F1 (0) = Z2 .
(5.149)
This implies (5.147) because F2 (q2 ) is finite.

In fact one can prove (5.147) non-perturbatively via the Ward identities. One defines a quantity
Z1 by
lim ( p + q, p) = Z11 .
(5.150)
q0
As we will prove on Assignment 12, the Ward identities imply that Z1 = Z2 and thus
lim Z2 ( p + q, p) = .
q0
(5.151)
In turn this proves that the relation (5.149) must hold order by order in perturbation theory.
5.8. THE RESUMMED QED VERTEX
5.8.1
153
Physical charge revisited
Since the cubic vertex contains information about the coupling strength, one might wonder whether
the structure of radiative corrections included in ( p0 , p) is consistent with our previous definition
of the effective coupling given in section (5.7) based only on the photon propagator.
To investigate this consider a typical fully resummed diagram of the form
ie0 ( p0 ,p)Z2 1 ie0 (k0 ,k)Z2
2
1(q2 ) q
1(q2 )
As q2 0 we find ( p + q, p) Z11 (see eq. (5.150)) and thus as q2 0 the amplitude

reduces to (ignoring polarizations of external fields)
ie0
ie0
Z2 1
Z2
2 p
.
p
Z
Z
q
1 (0) 1
1 (0) 1
(5.152)
Since Z2 /Z1 = 1 by the Ward identites, the physical charge at q2 = 0 is e0 Z3 as we found before.
5.8.2
Anomalous magnetic moment
It is very instructive to study the the non-relativistic limit of the radiatively corrected vertex and
compare the interactions it induces with quantum mechanical scattering amplitudes in Borns approximation. This analysis is performed in detail e.g. in Peskin-Schrder, p.187/188. The computation
~
is described, in the
shows, amongst other things, that the coupling of an electron to an external B-field
non-relatvistic limit, by a potential
~ (~x),
V (~x) = ~ B
~ = g
e ~
S,
2m
(5.153)
where ~ represents the magnetic moment of the electron and S~ denotes the quantum mechanical spin
operator. The Land factor comes out as
g = 2(( F1 (0) + Z2 1) + F2 (0)) = 2 + 2F2 (0) .
| {z }
(5.154)
=O()
The value g = 2 follows already from relativistic Quantum Mechanics, in which the Dirac equation is
interpreted as an equation for the wavefunction of the electron. Crucially, F2 (0) yields QED loop corrections to g = 2. These can be computed order by order in perturbation theory and are in impressive
agreement with experiment.
154
5.9
Renormalised perturbation theory of QED
For a systematic treatment of UV divergent diagrams, it suffices to consider all amputated, 1PI UVdivergent diagrams. All divergent diagrams in a QFT are given either by these diagrams or possibly
by diagrams containing these as subdiagrams.
In QFT II we will find a simple way to classify the divergent 1PI amputated diagrams in a given QFT.
Applied to QED, this classification will prove that in QED the UV divergent 1PI amputated diagrams
are precisely the three types of diagrams which we have studied in the previous sections:
g g faf faf

1PI

1PI

Let us recap their properties.

p+q
1PI
(5.155)
At 1-loop order we have found the following structure of UV divergences:
!
q q
i (q ) = i 2 2 (q2 ).
q
(5.156)
Expanding 2 (q2 ) as a Taylor series in q2 yields

(1)
2 (q2 ) = c0 log
+ finite O(q2 ).
M
(5.157)
That is, the UV divergence appears at order (q2 )0 and is characterized by a constant coefficient
(1)
c0 independent of q2 .
The remaining two diagrams at 1-loop order have the following structure:
(1)
i2 (6 p) = ao mo log
(1)
+ a1 6 p log
+ finite terms
and
p0
(1)
i2 ( p0 , p) = b0 log
+ finite
Therefore the UV divergences are specified, at 1-loop order, by altogether 4 divergent constants.
5.9. RENORMALISED PERTURBATION THEORY OF QED
155
In QFT II we will argue that this structure persists to all orders in perturbation theory, i.e.
+ a1 6 p log + finite O(6 p 2 )

M
M
(1)
(2)
(1)
(2)
a0 = a0 + a0 +...
a1 = a1 + a1 + . . .
|{z} |{z}
i(6 p) = a0 m0 log
O()
O(2 )
+ finite O(q2 ) + ...

M
(1)
(2)
c0 = c0 + c0 + ...
(q2 ) = c0 log
(5.158)
+ finite O(( p0 p)2 )

M
(1)
(2)
b0 = b0 + b0 + ...
i2 ( p0 , p) =b0 log
Thus at each order in perturbation theory, we encounter 4 constants that multiply UV divergent terms
in the above 1PI diagrams. One can absorb these 4 divergent constants order by order in perturbation
theory by a procedure called renormalisation.
There are two different, but equivalent ways to perform this procedure, which we now discuss in the
context of QED.
5.9.1
Bare perturbation theory
So far we have worked in bare perturbation theory, which works as follows:

We start with the bare Lagrangian
L = L0 ( e 0 , m 0 ) ,
(5.159)
where e0 and m0 are the so-called bare charge and mass.

We compute the above three 1PI amputated UV divergent amplitudes to a given order in perturbation theory as functions of e0 and m0 and a cutoff or . We keep the cutoff finite (or
non-zero) for the time being so that all computations are perfectly well-defined.
From these amplitudes we deduce
m = m ( m 0 , e0 , )
as the physical electron mass,
e = e(m0 , e0 , )
as the physical coupling at q2 = 0
(5.160)
and also
Z2 = Z2 (m0 , e0 , ),
the wavefunction renormalisation of the electron
Z3 = Z3 (m0 , e0 , ),
the wavefunction renormalisation of A .
(5.161)
The renormalisation step amounts to interpreting (5.160) as an equation for the bare mass m0
and the bare coupling e0 in terms of the finite physical quantities m and e, i.e. we write
m0 = m0 (e, m, ),
e0 = e0 (e, m, ).
(5.162)
156

Thus 2 linear combinations of the 4 UV divergent constants are now contained in m0 and e0 .
We plug the expression for e0 and m0 back into L. The resulting renormalized Lagrangian is
now cuttoff dependent,
L = L(e0 (m, e, ), m0 (m, e, ))
(5.163)
and in particular divergent if we take . This is not a problem because the Lagrangian
per se has no physical meaning - only physical observables computed from L must be finite to
make sense.
The remaining 2 linear combinations of divergent constants which are not contained in m0 and
e0 are contained in the expressions for Z2 , Z3 . Even though these do not appear in L in the
present formulation, they enter the computation of scattering amplitudes via the Feynman rules.
We now compute a given observable from L in perturbation theory to given order as functions
of e0 and m0 , Z2 , Z3 and . The UV divergent terms in cancel in all final expressions and all
observables are finite expressions of m and e plus terms in which vanish as we take 0.
For this to work it is crucial that we compute the observable to the same order in perturbation
theory to which we have computed (5.160) and (5.161). E.g. if we evaluate (5.160) and (5.161)
at 1-loop order, then we must compute all remaining scattering amplitudes to 1-loop order as
well.
At the very end we take or 0. All observables remain finite.

The cancellation of works because in all amplitudes we have just the correct numbers of Z2 , Z3 etc.
so that all divergences drop out. Rather than give a general proof we demonstrate this for one of the
diagrams contributing to Compton scattering, including radiative corrections:
Z21/2
Z21/2
Z31/2
Z31/2
Ignoring boring polarisation factors, we can organize the amplitude as follows:
(Z31/2 ie0 Z2 )
We note the following crucial points:
e0 Z31/2 = e is finite.
i
1
(Z 1/2 ie0 Z2 ).
Z2 6 p m0 (6 p) 3
(5.164)
157
( p + q, p)Z2 is also finite. To see this recall that divergence in ( p + q, p) arises as the
q2 -independent term as parametrized in (5.158) and is thus already contained in limq2 0 ( p +
q, p). Since Z2 is independent of q2 it thus surfices to consider limq2 0 ( p + q, p)Z2 . But as
discussed around equ. (5.151) this is finite to all orders in perturbation theory by means of the
Ward identities.
Explicitly, this can be confirmed perturbatively from
( p + q, p) = F1 (q2 ) + i
S q
F2 (q2 ).
2m0
(5.165)
Concerning the second term, F2 (q2 ) is finite as function of m0 and e0 . To a given order in
perturbation theory we can replace e0 by e and m0 by m as the difference is relevant only at the
next order and thus the second term is finite, order by order in perturbation theory. Concerning
the first term,
F1 (q2 ) = 1 + F1 (q2 ) + O(2 )
(5.166)
F1 (q2 ) = F1 (0) + f (q2 ),
(5.167)
with
where F1 (0) carries all UV divergences, while f (q2 ) is finite as a function of m0 . Furthermore
we have
Z2 = 1 + Z2 + O(2 )
(5.168)
and
Z2 ( p + q, p) = (1 + Z2 + F1 (0) + f (q2 ) + O(2 ) + ...finite).
|
{z
}
(5.169)
=0
Therefore the divergence has cancelled out, because F1 (0) = Z2 . This persists to all orders.
What remains is the term

!
1
i
1 iZ2
+ terms analytic at 6 p= m .
=
Z2 6 p m0 (6 p)
Z2 6 p m
(5.170)
Crucially, the terms analytic at 6 p= m do not contain any divergence in the cutoff. This follows
from the Taylor expansion (5.108), according to which these terms are given by the second
derivative of (6 p), together with the fact that in i(6 p) all terms quadratic in 6 p and higher are
UV finite. The Z2 factors in the first term cancel and the entire expression is finite.
Finally let us outline the generalization and consequences of this renormalisation procedure:
Consider a general QFT. The theory is called renormalisable if only a finite number of resummed amputated 1PI diagrams is UV divergent.
158

Suppose the renormalisable QFT contains m different fields and suppose that the UV divergent
1PI diagrams give rise to n divergent constants order by order in perturbation theory. Then (n
m) of these constants can be absorbed in the definition of (n m) unphysical parameters, the
so-called bare couplings. This procedure requires specifying the outcome of (n m) physical
observables as external input. The remaining m constants can be absorbed in the definition of
the kinetic terms of the m fields without reducing the predictability of the theory further.
Thus in a renormalisable theory only a finite number (n m) of physical observables must be
specified order by order in perturbation theory, and predictive power is retained for all remaining
observables, which can be computed and are finite as we remove the cutoff.
However, the price to pay for the appearance of the UV divergences in the first place is that
the (n m) observables cannot be computed by the theory even in principle!For instance, QED
cannot make any prediction whatsoever for the absolute value of the electron mass or the charge
at q2 = 0.7 As a result the renormalized QFT necessarily contains free parameters that must be
fitted to experiment. Another example for such an observable for which no prediction can be
made in a QFT with divergent partition function is the vacuum energy (cosmological constant).
From a modern and widely accepted point of view (introduced by K. Wilson), a non-UV finite,
but renormalisable QFT is an effective theory: The UV divergences hint at a breakdown of
the theory at high energies, where it does not describe the microscopic degrees of freedom
correctly. Renormalisation hides our ignorance about the true physics at high energies in
the (n m) observables and we can fit the theory to experiment as one typically does with
a phenomenological model.
If we want to go beyond this and describe a truly fundamental (as opposed to effective) theory,
we need a theory that is UV finite even before renormalisation. As of this writing the only
known theory with this property which also includes gravity is string theory. It has indeed no
free parameters.
5.9.2
Renormalised Perturbation theory
An equivalent treatment is given by so-called renormalised perturbation theory. The aim is to

organise perturbation theory directly in the physical parameters m and e and without the need of
including Z2 and Z3 in the Feynman rules. This comes at the expense of certain divergent counterterms
in the renormalised Lagrangian. The systematics is as follows:
Start again with the bare Lagrangian
1
A .
L = F 2 + (i 6 m0 ) e0
4
7 However,
(5.171)
once we take e(q2 = 0) from experiment, QED does predict the logarithmic running of the effective charge
as a function of q2 .
159
Recall that the 2-point functions are normalised such that
gpg
fpf
iZ3 ( + ...)
+ analytic terms,
q2
iZ2
=
+ analytic terms.
6 p m
(5.172)
We can absorb Z2 and Z3 into the fields by renormalising the field strengths as
A =: Z31/2 Ar ,
(5.173)
=: Z21/2 r
such that no factor Z2 and Z3 appears in the propagators of r and Ar ,
h| T Ar Ar |i
i + . . .
+ ...,
q2
h| T r r |i
i
+...
6 p m
(5.174)
We can write the same Lagrangian in terms of the renormalised fields as

1
L = Z3 Fr2 + Z2 r (i 6 m0 )r Z2 Z31/2 e0 r r A .
4
(5.175)
To compute an amplitude, we apply the Feynman rules but with m0 replaced by Z2 m0 and e0
replaced by Z2 Z31/2 e0 , and no factors of Z21/2 or Z31/2 for external particles in the S-matrix. It is
important to appreciate that
Renormalising the field strengths does not change any physics if we modify the Feynman rules accordingly.
We can further rewrite this same Lagrangian as follows:
!
1 2
L = Fr + r (i 6 m)r e r r Ar
4
!
1
2
+ 3 Fr + r (i2 6 m ) e1 r r Ar
4
(1)
(5.176)
(2)
Lr + Lr ,
where
3 = Z3 1, 2 = Z2 1, m = Z2 m0 m, 1 =
e0
Z2 Z31/2 1 =: Z1 1.
e
(1)
(5.177)
(2)
This is only a rewriting of L in the form (5.175) by adding and subtracting Lr . Lr contains
the so-called counterterms. Note that we have defined Z1 by Z1 e = e0 Z2 Z31/2 . At this stage m
and e are just arbitrary parameters to be fixed soon.
The Feynman rules associated with the form (5.176) of the Lagrangian are now as follows:
(1)
Associated with Lr are the usual Feynman rules, but with the correct couplings as appearing
160
(1)
gag
faf
in Lr :
i
(in Feynman gauge),
q2 + i
i
in terms of m, not m0 ,
6 p m + i
ie ,
(5.178)
in terms of e, not e0 .
(2)
The counterterms in Lr give rise to additional diagrams (counterterm diagrams). Their

(2)
structure becomes evident if we view the terms in Lr as extra couplings leading to amputated
diagrams. In deriving the Feynman rules note that a derivative in position space will give
rise to a factor of ip in the momentum space Feynman rules.
Thus the counterterm
r (i2 6 m )r
fafxfaf
gives rise to
i(6 p 2 m ).
(5.179)
(5.180)
The coupling of a photon to two fermions, i.e. e1 r r Ar , gives rise to

ie 1 .
(5.181)
1
1
3 Fr Fr = 3 Ar ( 2 + ) Ar
4
2
(5.182)
i( q2 q q )3 .
(5.183)
The coupling of two photons
gives rise to
We compute diagrams with the above rules and stress again that no factors of Z2 and Z3 appear
for external particles because these are already contained in the counterterms.
The above procedure is merely a reorganisation of perturbation theory. The result for an amplitude is
the same irrespective of whether the computation is performed
either starting from L as given in (5.171) with the original Feynman rules including all Z-factors
as before,
(1)
(2)
or from Lr + Lr in terms of Ar and r , including counterterm diagrams, and hence without

Z-factors for external particles.
161
This reflects the ambiguity in setting up perturbation theory.

As an example, let us compute the relevant 1-loop 1PI diagrams using the renormalized Feynman
rules.
fpf
The fully resummed propagator of the renormalised electron field takes the form
r
f f
i
.
6 p m r (6 p)
(5.184)
At 1-loop level, i.e. at order in perturbation theory,

(1)
|1loop = ir (6 p)|1loop = i2 (6 p) + i(6 p 2 m )| .

1PI

(1)
(1)
Here i2 (6 p) is computed from Lr
(5.185)
in terms of m and e, i.e. it has the form (5.101) with e0

(2)
and m0 replaced by e and m. The term i(6 p 2 m ) is due to the counterterm present in Lr .
As we will see momentarily, m and 2 depend on (as do the remaining counterterms 1 and
3 ). At 1-loop level only terms up to and including order are to be included.
The photon propgator reads (in Landau gauge for simplicity)

q q
i + q 2
= 2
.
r
q (1 r (q2 ))
gpg
gg
(5.186)
At 1-loop level, r (q2 ) is computed via

2

2
1PI
r |1loop = ir (q)|1loop = i(q q q )( 2 (q ) 3 | )

(1)
(1)
with 2 (q2 ) computed from Lr

The full vertex is
(1)
(5.187)
and 3 | ) the counterterm expanded up to order .
p + q
= ier ( p + q, p).
(5.188)
Again at 1-loop level it takes the form
ier ( p + q, p)|1loop = ie(1) ( p + q, p) ie 1 | .
(5.189)
fpf gpg
Finally the 4 counterterm couplings are fixed by the renormalisation conditions as follows:
Two conditions arise because
and
must not involve Z-factors
r
r
at the physical mass poles. This is because we had defined r and Ar by this condition, i.e. we
had declared that in the renormalised Feynman rules no factors of Z2 and Z3 appear.
Two more conditions arise by specifying the meaning of e and m. This is arbitrary in principle.
One possible choice (out of infinitely many) is that m represents the physical mass and e the
physical charge measured at q = 0.
162
fpf
Combining all of these four conditions translates into the following equations:
!
i
!
+ terms analytic at m.
=
6
p
m
r
(5.190)
Therefore we find

!
r (6 p) = 0 m is the physical mass
6 pm
(5.191)

d
= 1 residue is 1.
1
r (6 p)
6 p=m
d6 p
(5.192)
and
Identifying e as the physical charge at q2 = 0 amounts to requiring that
p + q
= ier ( p + q, p)
ie .
p
q0
q
Therefore
(5.193)
ier ( p, p) = ie .
!
(5.194)
gpg
Note that (5.192) has already been used. The last condition is
!
! i
= 2 + terms analytic at q = 0
q
r
(5.195)
and thus
!
1 r (0) = 1.
(5.196)
The conditions (5.191), (5.192), (5.194) and (5.196) are the 4 renormalisation conditions. We can
solve these perturbatively, order by order in perturbation theory. At 1-loop order we find for
condition (5.191)
!
(1)
2 (m) (m 2 m ) = 0
(5.197)
and therefore
(1)
m = m 2 2
= m 2
2
Z1
0
conditon (5.192)
!

2
M2
dx 2
m 1
x m + log
,
2
2

d (1)
2 =
(6 p) ,
m
d6 p 2
(5.198)
(5.199)
condition (5.194)
(1)
1 = F1 (0),
(5.200)
163
condition (5.196)
3 =
(1)
2 (0)
2
=
Z1
!
2
M2
dx x(1 x) + log 2 .

m
(5.201)
Thus indeed the counterms depend on , as anticipated above.

To conclude the 1-loop renormalised Lagrangian takes the form
!
1 2
L = F + (i 6 m) e A
4
!
1
A ,
+ 3 F 2 + (i2 6 m ) e1
4
(5.202)
where we have dropped the subscript r for the renormalised fields. We summarize:
e and m are finite quantities to be taken from experiment - the physical coupling and mass.
1 , 2 , 3 and m are cutoff-dependent functions, i = i (e, m, ) in PV (or i = i (, e, m) in
dimReg), which are divergent for (or 0). Since we have renormalised to 1-loop
order, each i so far is of O().
When computing an amplitude, we take into account both the Feynman rules (5.178) and the
counterterms. Since we have computed the counterterms only to order O() it is only consistent
to compute all other diagrams to that same order, where we must take into account that the i
are of order O(). Thus, as in the computation of the 1PI diagrams, a loop diagram is always
accompanied by a counterterm diagram, but to order no counterterm diagrams appear inside
a loop (as this would be order 2 ).
The Feynman rules (5.178) give rise to a divergent expression in terms of m, e, . The counter
term coefficients i (m, e, ) will precisely cancel these divergences. All physical amplitudes
are therefore independent of in the end, so we can take .
If we wish to compute a quantity to order 2 we first need to compute the divergent 1PI terms
to order 2 , and impose again the renormalisation conditions. In this computation we must take
into account, in addition to usual 2-loop diagrams from (5.178), also 1-loop diagrams on top of
O() counterterms, as well as diagrams involving only counterterms with coefficients expanded
to order 2 . We will discuss this more systematically in a 2-loop example in QFT II.
The perturbative cancellation of divergences works only because the counterterms are of the
same form as the terms in the bare Lagrangian, i.e. they do not introduce any qualitatively new
interactions. This is guaranteed because at each order in perturbation theory, no qualitatively
new UV divergent 1PI diagrams arise, but the same 1PI diagrams merely receive higher-loop
contributions. This leads to a readjustment of the counterterm coefficients order by order such
as to absorb the new divergences.
164
The renormalisation scheme

The renormalisation conditions (5.191) and (5.194) are arbitrary: We could define m and e to be
any function of the physical mass m or e, thereby changing the i accordingly. This ambiguity
will cancel in all final amplitudes.
Conditions (5.192) and (5.196) are fixed by the Feynman rules, which do not contain any Zfactors. However, it is possible to change (5.192) and (5.196) if at the same time we modify
the Feynman rules accordingly. I.e. we can include arbitrary Z-factors

for external states in the
Feynman rules, provided we change (5.192) and (5.196). This reflects our freedom in normalising the fields in a manner consistent with the Feynman rules.
The concrete choice of renormalisation condition is called renormalisation scheme.
5.10

Infrared divergences
Loop diagrams with massless particles may exhibit infrared divergences from integration over loop
momenta k 0.
In QED at 1-loop order the IR divergent 1PI diagrams are
Indeed, we had introduced a small fictitious photon mass to regulate the IR divergences.
These IR divergences cancel in all cross-sections against another source of IR divergences from
radiation of soft photons (Bremsstrahlung). Consider e.g.
k
As k 0 these processes are divergent. This is the case already in classical electrodynamics
and called infrared catastrophe of electrodynamics. The reason why this divergence is not
that catastrophic after all is that no detector can measure a photon below a certain threshold.
Thus we can include all possible Bremsstrahlung photons for k 0 to a given process (because
as k 0 the soft photons cannot be measured. It now so happens that the resulting infrared
divergences precisely cancel the IR divergences from the above loop diagrams oder by order in
, in the cross-section . For details we refer to Peskin-Schrder 6.1, 6.4, 6.5.
Chapter 6
Classical non-abelian gauge theory

6.1
Geometric perspective on abelian gauge theory
We had approached U (1) gauge symmetry from the perspective of massless vector fields:
A consistent Lorentz invariant quantum theory of free massless spin-1 field A ( x) must be a
gauge theory - see our discussion around equ. (4.67) based on Weinberg I, 8.1.
At the level of interactions consistency requires that A ( x) couples to a conserved current j ( x).
This is equivalent to the gauging of a global symmetry in the matter sector - see our discussion
around (5.54) .
An alternative perspective on U (1) gauge symmetry is as follows:
Start from a matter theory with a global U (1) symmetry, e.g.
L = (i 6 m),
(6.1)
which is invariant under ( x) 7 eie ( x) for constant R.

In a local QFT it is natural to consider local symmetries, i.e. to promote this to a local transformation
( x) 7 eie( x) ( x) =: U ( x)( x).
(6.2)
The logic behind such a modification is that a symmetry transformation at spacetime point y far
away from x should not affect the field at x. Note that in QFT global symmetries, though, from
this perspective, unnatural, are of course fully consistent. By contrast, it is conjectured that in
presence of gravity all symmetries must be local and that no global symmetries exist. In any
case we are motivated to consider the consequences of the transformation (6.2).
There is an immediate problem: The ordinary derivative ( x), defined via
1
[( x + n ) ( x)]
0
n ( x) := lim
165
(6.3)
166
CHAPTER 6. CLASSICAL NON-ABELIAN GAUGE THEORY

is not a good object with respect to (6.2) because in (6.3) two objects with very different transformation behaviour under (6.2) appear, i.e.
( x) 7 U ( x)( x), but ( x + n ) 7 U ( x + n )( x + n ).
(6.4)
To define a better notion of derivative we introduce the object C ( x, y) - the so-called comparator
or Wilson line - such that under (6.2)
C (y, x)( x) 7 U (y)C (y, x)( x).
(6.5)
Then we can define the covariant derivative D via

1
[( x + n ) C ( x + n, x)( x)] .
0
(6.6)
D ( x) 7 U ( x) D ( x).
(6.7)
n D ( x) := lim
Its transformation under (6.2) is
Let us now construct the Wilson line starting from the requirement (6.5), which implies that
under (6.2)
(6.8)
C (y, x) 7 U (y)C (y, x)U 1 ( x).
Furthermore we impose C (y, y) = 1 for obvious reasons. Note that for the U (1) symmetry
under consideration U ( x) is a pure phase, and it thus suffices to take C (y, x) as a pure phase.
We will soon generalize this.
Taylor expansion of C (y, x) yields
C ( x + n, x) = 1 ieA ( x)n + O( 2 )
(6.9)
for some vector field A ( x). Therefore

D = + ieA ( x)( x).
(6.10)
The transformation behaviour of the Wilson line is

C ( x + n, x) 7 U ( x + n)C ( x + n, x)U 1 ( x)
(6.11)
and to order therefore

1 ieA ( x)n 7 (U ( x) + n U ( x)) (1 ieA ( x)n ) U 1 ( x).
(6.12)
Thus the vector field A transforms as

i
A ( x) 7 U ( x) A ( x)U 1 ( x) + U ( x)U 1 ( x).
e
For U ( x) = eie( x) we recover A ( x) 7 A ( x) + ( x) as expected.
(6.13)
6.2. NON-ABELIAN GAUGE SYMMETRY
167
The vector field A ( x) is therefore a direct consequence of the existence of a local symmetry. It
is called a connection. A ( x) is a local field and thus has dynamics in its own right.
Consider [ D , D ] interpreted as acting on ( x). Since
D ( x) 7 U ( x) D ( x)
(6.14)
we have
[ D , D ]( x) 7 U ( x)[ D , D ]( x) = U ( x)[ D , D ]U 1 ( x)U ( x)( x)
(6.15)
and thus
[ D , D ] 7 U ( x)[ D , D ]U 1 ( x).
(6.16)
[ D , D ]( x) = [ + ieA ( x), + ieA ( x)] ( x)

= ie A ( x) A ( x) + ie[ A ( x), A ( x)] ( x)
(6.17)
The term
leads to the definition of the field strength or curvature

F :=
1
[ D , D ] = A A + ie[ A , A ].
ie
(6.18)
For our U (1) theory with U ( x) = eie( x) ,

F = A A
(6.19)
and F is invariant under U (1). Therefore

1
L = F F + (i D m)
4
(6.20)
is invariant.
6.2
Non-abelian gauge symmetry
We now generalise all of this to a non-abelian symmetry group. Consider a Lie group H of dimension
dim( H ). An element h H can be written as
dim
(H )
a
a
(6.21)
H 3 h = exp ig
T ,
a=1
where g R takes the role of e, a R and T a form a basis of the Lie algebra Lie( H ), i.e. the algebra
of infinitesimal group transformations. Viewed as an abstract Lie algebra, Lie( H ) is determined by
the commutation relations
[T a , T b ] = i f abc T c ,
(6.22)
168
where a sum over c is understood. Without proof we state here that the structure constants f abc are
totally antisymmetric in the indices a, b, c and thus in particular invariant under cyclic permutations
of a, b, c.
For example:
The Lie group H = U (1) has dim( H ) = 1 and its generator is simply T a T R. Therefore
[T , T ] = 0 and H is an abelian Lie algebra.
The Lie group H = S U ( N ), viewed as an abstract group, is defined as the group of volumeelement preserving linear transformations on CN which leave the sesqui-linear form
C 3 u, v C : (u, v) 7
N
N
X
u i vi
(6.23)
i=1
invariant. We can identify H with the group of V CN,N such that

V = V 1
and
det V = 1
(6.24)
by assigning h H a matrix V (h) as above. Lie( H ) is then the algebra of T a CN,N such that
T a = T a
and
trT a = 0.
(6.25)
The dimension of Lie( H ) is N 2 1. For instance, the generators of H = S U (2) are typically
normalised to be
1
T a = a
(6.26)
2
with a = 1, 2, 3 and a the Pauli matrices. The structure constants of S U (2) are then
f abc = abc .
(6.27)
Other Lie groups of relevance in physics include O( N ), S O( N ), S p(2N ), E6 , E7 , E8 . For example, O( N ) (S O( N )) is the group of (volume element preserving) linear transformations on RN
which leave the bilinear form ui i j v j , i, j = 1, . . . N, invariant and can be identified with real
orthogonal N N-matrices (of determinant one). S p(2N ) is the group of linear transformations
on R2N that leave the anti-symmetric symplectic form ui i j v j , i, j = 1, . . . 2N invariant.
Consider now a matter Lagrangian with matter fields ( x) transforming in a unitary representation of
H such that L is invariant under global transformations
( x) 7 R(h) ( x),
with h H. Two examples are the following:
R(h) = R(h)1
(6.28)
6.2. NON-ABELIAN GAUGE SYMMETRY
169
Take H = S U ( N ) and ( x) a Dirac spinor field in the fundamental representation, i.e. we

consider a CN -valued spinor field such that, suppressing spinor indices,
1 ( x)
x : ( x) i ( x) = ... ,
R(h) ( x) Vi j (h) j ( x).
(6.29)
N ( x)
The Lagrangian
L = (i 6 m) =
N
X
i (i 6 m)i
(6.30)
i=1
is invariant under a global S U ( N ) transformation (6.28) because

(h)(i 6 m)R(h) = R (h)R(h)(i 6 m).
(i 6 m) 7 R
| {z }
(6.31)
=1
By the dimension of a representation we mean the dimension of the vector space in which the
matter field takes its value. The (complex) dimension of the fundamental representation of
S U ( N ) is thus N.
Take H = S U ( N ), but ( x) now in the adjoint representation, i.e. we consider now a spinor
field valued in the Lie algebra Lie(H) viewed as a vector space. This means that, with spinor
indices suppressed,
o
n

(6.32)
x : ( x) i j ( x) CN,N ( x) = ( x), tr ( x) = 0
and the transformation behavior is given by the adjoint action of the Lie group H on its Lie
algebra,

R(h) := V (h)V (h)1 V (h)i j jk V 1 (k) ,
kl
(6.33)

1
1
R (h) := V (h) V (h) = V (h)V (h).
The real dimension of the adjoint representation coincides with dim( H ).
Now consider
L = tr (i 6 m) tr [i j (i 6 m) jl ] i j (i 6 m) ji .
(6.34)
This is invariant because

tr (i 6 m) 7 tr (VV 1 ) 0 (i 6 m)VV 1

(i 6 m)VV 1
= tr V V
= tr |{z}
V V (i 6 m) |{z}
V V ,
=1
=1
where cyclicity of the trace was used to go from the second to the third line.
(6.35)
170
We can now repeat all the steps involved in the gauging of U (1) in this more general setting. For
definiteness we work with a Dirac spinor field in the fundamental representation of S U ( N ). Consider
the gauge transformation
( x) 7 U ( x)( x)
(6.36)
with
dim(H )
a
a
U ( x) = exp ig
( x) T V (h( x)).
(6.37)
a=1
Now it turns out that the compensator must take values in the representation of H. It can therefore be
expanded as
dim
(H )
X
C ( x + n, x) = 1 ig
Aa ( x)T a n + O( 2 ).
(6.38)
a=1
This defines dimH vector fields
Aa ( x).
The object
A ( x)
Aa ( x) T a
(6.39)
is then an N N matrix-valued vector field. The covariant derivative takes the form
X
D ( x) = ( x) + ig
Aa ( x)T a ( x),
(6.40)
where T a ( x) T iaj j ( x). The gauge transformation on A ( x) is still

i
A ( x) 7 U ( x) A ( x)U 1 ( x) + U ( x)U 1 ( x),
g
but now U ( x) A ( x) U 1 ( x) , A ( x). Expanding
X
U ( x) = 1 ig
a ( x)T a + O(a ( x)2 ),
(6.41)
(6.42)
one can read off that

A ( x) 7 A ( x) + a ( x)T a ig
a ( x) [T a , A ( x)],
(6.43)
where [T a , A ( x)] = [T a , Ab ( x)T b ] = Ab ( x) [T a , T b ] = i f abc Ab ( x)T c . Therefore

Ac ( x) 7 Ac ( x) + c ( x) + g f abc a ( x) Ab ( x).
The field strength F =
1
ig [ D , D ]
(6.44)
F ( x)a T a is
F ( x) = A ( x) A ( x) + ig[ A ( x), A ( x)],

a
F
( x) = Aa ( x) Aa ( x) g f abc [ Ab ( x), Ac ( x)].
(6.45)
6.3. THE STANDARD MODEL
171
It transforms under a gauge transformation as

F ( x) 7 U ( x) F ( x)U 1 ( x)
so F ( x) is not invariant. Rather F ( x) transforms in the adjoint representation. Thus

tr ( F F ) 7 tr UF |{z}
U 1 U F U 1 = tr F F U 1 U ) = tr( F F ).
(6.46)
(6.47)
=1
Typically one normalises the generators T a such that

trT a T b =
1 ab
.
2
(6.48)
Then
1
L = tr( F F ) + (i D m)
2
1 X a a
F F + i (i m)i g i Aa T iaj j

4 a
(6.49)
defines the so-called Yang-Mills Lagrangian. The crucial difference to U (1) gauge theory is that the
Yang-Mills gauge field exhibits cubic and quartic self-interactions which are contained in the term
1 X a a
F F .
(6.50)
4 a
Diagrammatically, these interactions between the gauge bosons are of the form
In QFT2 we will learn how to quantise such an intrinsically self-interacting theory.
6.3
The Standard Model
As a quick application let us briefly sketch that structure of the the Standard Model (SM) of Particle
Physics, which is formulated as a Yang-Mills theory specified by the following data:
The gauge group is
G = S U (3) S U (2) U (1)Y ,
(6.51)
where S U (3) represents QCD and its 8 gluons, S U (2) describes the weak interactions via W + ,
W and Z and U (1)Y denotes hypercharge. S U (2) and U (1)Y are broken spontaneously to
U (1)e.m , whose gauge field is the photon .
The representations of fermionic matter are given as follows: The SM is a chiral theory, i.e.
left- and righthanded fermion fields L PL and R PR transform in different representations. The Standard Model comprises 3 families of
172

S U (3)
lefthanded QL
righthanded uR /dR
R /lR
S U (2)

u

d

l
U (1)Y
1
6
1
2
1
3
2
3
.
0 1
In addition there is 1 complex scalar field ( x) in representation

S U (3)
,
S U (2)
,
U (1)Y
1
2
The interactions are - apart from the Yang-Mills interactions that follow from the above representations - given by
the Higgs potential
V () = 2 ( )2 ,
(6.52)
with hi , 0, which leads to spontaneous breaking of S U (2) U (1)Y U (1)e.m. ,

and the gauge invariant Yukawa interactions, very roughly of the form i i , which yield
fermion masses if hi , 0.

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Quantum Field Theory I

Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University

corrections and improvement suggestions please send a mail to reischke@stud.uni-heidelberg.de.

The free scalar field

Why Quantum Field Theory? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Classical scalar field: Lagrangian formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Quantisation in the Schrdinger Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Fock space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Some important technicalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

On the vacuum energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The complex scalar field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.10 Quantisation in the Heisenberg picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.11 Causality and Propagators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.11.3 The Feynman-propagator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.11.4 Propagators as Greens functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Interacting scalar theory

Klln-Lehmann spectral representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

S-matrix and asymptotic in/out-states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The LSZ reduction formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Correlators in the interaction picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

From the interacting to the free vacuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Position space Feynman-rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Momentum space Feynman-rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.10 Scattering amplitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.10.1 Feynman-rules for the S -matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Quantising spin 12 -fields

The Lorentz algebra so(1, 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Dirac spinor representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Dirac action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chirality and Weyl spinors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Classical plane-wave solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Quantisation of the Dirac field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using the commutator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using the anti-commutator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wicks theorem and Feynman diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

LSZ and Feynman rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Quantising spin 1-fields

Classical Maxwell-theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Canonical quantisation of the free field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Gupta-Bleuler quantisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Massive vector fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Coupling vector fields to matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Coupling to Dirac fermions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Coupling to scalars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Feynman rules for QED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Recovering Coulombs potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Massless and massive vector fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

QED process at tree-level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Feynman rules for in/out-states of definite polarisation . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Sum over all spin and polarisation states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Trace identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Centre-of-mass frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Classical non-abelian gauge theory

The free scalar field

Why Quantum Field Theory?

In (non-relativistic) Quantum Mechanics, the dynamics of a particle is described by the time-evolution

(t, ~x) = H(t, ~x),

G (~x, ~y) = h~y| e h Ht |~xi .

CHAPTER 1. THE FREE SCALAR FIELD