Solutions to Problems in Peskin and Schroeder,

An Introduction To Quantum Field Theory

Homer Reid
June 23, 2006
Chapter 9
Problem 9.1
Part a.
Part 1: Complex scalar propagator
The action for the scalars alone is
S[,

, J, J

] =
_
d
4
x
_

m
2

+ J

+ J

_
=
_
d
4
x
_

+ m
2

+ J

+ J

_
=
_
d
4
x{

O
KG
+ J

+ J

}
where the dierential operator O
KG
is
O
KG
=

+ m
2
.
Introduce shifted elds:
(x) =

(x) + i
_
d
4
yD
F
(x y)J(y)

(x) =

(x) i
_
d
4
yD

F
(x y)J

(y)
=

(x) + i
_
d
4
yD
F
(x y)J

(y)
where iD
F
(x y) is the solution to
O
KG
iD
F
(x y) =
(4)
(x y).
1
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 2
Then the action for the scalars becomes
S =
_
d
4
x
_

_

+ i
_
d
4
yD
F
(x y)J

(y)
_
O
KG
_

+ i
_
d
4
yD
F
(x y)J(y)
_
+ J

+ i
_
d
4
yD
F
(x y)J(y)
_
+ J
_

+ i
_
d
4
yD
F
(x y)J

(y)
_
_
=
_
d
4
x
_

O
KG

i
_
d
4
yJ(x)D
F
(x y)J

(y)
+ i
_
d
4
yJ

(x)D
F
(x y)J(y)
+ i
_
d
4
yJ(x)D
F
(x y)J

(y)
_
=
_
d
4
x

O
KG

+ i
_
d
4
xd
4
yJ

(x)D
F
(x y)J(y).
The generating functional is then
Z[J, J

] =
_
DD

e
iS[,

,J,J

]
= Z
0
exp
_

_
d
4
xd
4
yJ

(x)D
F
(x y)J(y)
_
,
where
Z
0
=
_
DD

e
i

O
KG

,
and the two-point function is
_
0

(x)(y)

0
_
=
1
Z
0
_
i

J(x)
_ _
i

J

(y)
_
Z[J, J

J=0
=
_
i

J(x)
_ _
i
_
d
4
xJ(x)D
F
(x y)Z[J, J

]
_

J=0
= D
F
(x y).
Part 2: Photon propagator
The action for the photon eld is
S[A

, j

] =
_
d
4
x
_

1
4
F

(x)F

(x) + j

(x)A

(x)
_
(1)
Integrate by parts as described pedantically in Appendix 1:
=
_
d
4
x
_
1
2
A

(x)
_

2
g

(x) + j

(x)A

(x)
_
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 3
Go over to momentum space:
=
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
_
1
2
A

(k)
_
k
2
g

+ k

(k) + j

(k)A

(k)
_
Go through mysterious FaddeevPopov procedure to come up with magical
factor of 1/ to desingularize the kernel of the kinetic term, which is otherwise
singular as illustrated by brute force in Appendix 2:
=
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
_
1
2
A

(k)
_
k
2
g

+
_
1
1

_
k

_
A

(k) + j

(k)A

(k)
_

_
d
4
k
(2)
4
_
1
2
A

(k)O
EM

(k) + j

(k)A

(k)
_
(2)
where the dierential operator O
EM

is
O
EM

=
2
g

_
1
1

or in momentum space
O
EM

= k
2
g

+
_
1
1

_
k

and has inverse

iD

=
1
k
2
_
g

(1 )
k

k
2
_
(3)
dened such that the 4x4 matrix equation
O
EM
iD = 1
is satised.
Now introduce shifted elds:
A

(x) = A

(x)
_
d
4
y iD

(x y)j

(y)
The action becomes
S =
_
d
4
x
_
1
2
A

(x)O
EM

(x) j

(x)A

(x) +
1
2
_
d
4
y j

(x)iD

(x y)j

(y)
+ j

(x)
_
A

(x)
_
d
4
y iD

(x y)j

(y)
_
_
=
1
2
_
d
4
xA

(x)O
EM

(x)
1
2
_
d
4
xd
4
y j

(x) iD

(x y)j

(y). (4)
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 4
Aside. Eective fermion-fermion interaction in QED.
I think it is interesting to see how this procedure may be used to integrate
the photon out of the QED lagrangian to give an eective electron-electron
interaction. If we wanted to calculate the expectation value of a product of
electron eld operators, say for example the electron density at a point x, we
would be led to consider an expression of the form
_
(x)
0
(x)
_
=
_
DDDA (x)
0
(x)e
iL[,,A]
_
DDDA e
iL[,,A]
(5)
where the QED lagrangian is the spacetime integral of the QED lagrangian
density,
L[, , A] =
_
d
4
xL[, , A] =
_
d
4
x
_

1
4
F

+ (i/ m) e

_
.
Then the photon part of the path integral is
_
DAexp
_
i
_
d
4
x
_

1
4
F

ej

__
where j

= e

is the electron current. The argument of the exponential

here is just the action (1). Transforming it into the form (4), the photon path
integral is
__
DA

exp
_
i
_
d
4
x
_
A

(x)O
EM

(x)
_
__
e

ie
2
2
R
d
4
xd
4
y j(x) iD

(xy)j(y)
The rst term is independent of the fermions, and since there are no photon
elds in the payload of the numerator in (6), this term cancels, leaving
_
(x)
0
(x)
_
=
_
DD (x)
0
(x)e
iL
eff
[,]
_
DD e
iL
eff
[,]
(6)
where the eective Lagrangian now contains a nonlocal term and hence cannot
be written as the space integral of a local density function:
L
eff
[, ] =
_
d
4
x
_
(x)(i/ m)(x)
_

e
2
2
_
d
4
x
_
d
4
y
_
(x)

(x) iD

(x y) (y)

(y)
_
.
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 5
To look at the interaction term in k-space, we put
(x) =
_
d
4
p
1
(2)
4
e
ip1x
(p
1
)
(x) =
_
d
4
p
2
(2)
4
e
+ip2x
(p
2
)
iD

(x y) =
_
d
4
q
(2)
4
e
iq(xy)
q
2
+ i
_
g

(1 )
q

q
2
_
(y) =
_
d
4
k
1
(2)
4
e
ik1y
(k
1
).
(y) =
_
d
4
k
2
(2)
4
e
+ik2y
(k
2
)
The fermion-fermion interaction term becomes

e
2
2
_
d
4
x
_
d
4
y
_
(x)

(x) iD

(x y) (y)

(y)
_
=
e
2
2
_
d
4
p
1
d
4
k
1
d
4
q
(2)
12
_
_
_
(p
1
q)

(p
1
)
_
g

(1 )
q

q
2
_
(k
1
+ q)

(k
1
)
q
2
+ i
_
_
_
.
The longitudinal part of iD

actually doesnt contribute here, because e.g.

(k
1
+q)/q(k
1
) = (k
1
+q)
_
(/k
1
+/q) /k
1
_
(k
1
) = (k
1
+q)
_
mm
_
(k
1
) = 0
so the interaction term reduces to

e
2
2
_
d
4
p
1
d
4
k
1
d
4
q
(2)
12
_
(p
1
q)

(p
1
)(k
1
+ q)

(k
1
)
q
2
+ i
_
.
This looks exactly like the interaction term you get when you write down the
hamiltonian for the interacting homogenous electron gas, although in that case
there are no

matrices and the k integrals are only over 3-dimensional space.

Part b.
The lowest-order diagram is
p + p

k
p
k

= (ie)
2
(p p

_
ig

(p p

)
2
_
u
s
(k)

v
s
(k

)
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 6
The squared, averaged matrix element is (ignoring the electron mass)
|M|
2
=
1
4
e
4
(p p

(p p

(p p

)
4
Tr
_
/k

/k

= e
4
(p p

(p p

(p p

)
4
_
k

+ k

(k k

)g

=
e
4
(p p

)
4
_
2
_
k (p p

)
_ _
k

(p p

)
_
(k k

)(p p

)
2
_
(7)
We work in a frame such that
k = (E, 0, 0, E), k

= (E, 0, 0, E)
and
p = (E, |p| sin , 0, |p| cos ), p

= (E, |p| sin , 0, |p| cos ).

Then (7) reads
|M|
2
=
e
4
E
2
2|p|
2
_
cos
2
+ 1

=
e
4
E
2
2|p|
2
sin
2
.
Inserting the kinematic factors from P&S equation 4.84,
d
d
=
e
4
256
2
|p||E|
sin
2

=
e
4
256
2
E

E
2
m
2
sin
2
.
The total cross section is
= 2
_

0
d
d
sin d
=
e
4
128E

E
2
m
2
_

0
sin
3
d
=
e
4
96E

E
2
m
2
.
Part c.
The two rst-order diagrams are
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 7
M
1
=
q
k + q
q
k

= (ie)
2
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
_
ig

q
2
_
(2k + q)

_
i
(k + q)
2
m
2
_
(2k + q)

_
i
k
2
m
2
_ _
ig

q
2
_
M
2
=
q q
k

= (2ie
2
)
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
_
ig

q
2
_ _
ig

k
2
m
2
_ _
ig

q
2
_
The sum of the diagrams is
M
1
+M
2
=
_
ig

q
2
_

(q)
_
ig

q
2
_
where

(q) = e
2
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
(2k + q)

(2k + q)

2g

_
(k + q)
2
m
2

[(k + q)
2
m
2
] [k
2
m
2
]
(8)
Rewrite the denominator:
1
[(k + q)
2
m
2
] [k
2
m
2
]
=
_
1
0
dx
{x[(k + q)
2
m
2
] + (1 x) [k
2
m
2
]}
2
=
_
1
0
dx
[k
2
+ 2xk q + xq
2
m
2
]
2
Shift variables to l = k + xq in (8):

(q) = e
2
_
dx
_
d
4
l
(2)
4
4l

+ (1 2x)
2
q

2g

_
l
2
+ (1 x)
2
q
2
m
2

[l
2
]
2
,
(9)
where we ignored numerator terms of odd order in l, and where
= x(1 x)q
2
+ m
2
.
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 8
Using l

1
d
l
2
g

under the integral sign, we rewrite this as

(q) = e
2
_
dx
_
g

I
1
() +
_
(1 2x)
2
q

2[(1 x)
2
q
2
m
2
]g

_
I
2
()
_
(10)
where
I
1
() =
_
4
d
2
__
d
d
l
(2)
d
l
2
(l
2
)
2
=
i
(4)
2
_
4
d
2
_
d
2

_
1
d
2
_

1
d
2
=
2i
(4)
2

_
2
d
2
_

2
d
2

(here we have used the fact that

_
1
d
2
_

_
1
d
2
_
=
_
2
d
2
_
) and
I
2
() =
_
d
d
l
(2)
d
1
(l
2
)
2
=
i
(4)
2

_
2
d
2
_

2
d
2
.
Then (10) is

(q) =
ie
2
(4)
2
_
dx

_
2
d
2
_

2
d
2
_
_
22(1 x)
2
q
2
+ 2m
2

+ (1 2x)
2
q

_
=
ie
2
(4)
2
_
dx

_
2
d
2
_

2
d
2
_
2(1 x)(1 2x)q
2
g

+ (1 2x)
2
q

_
=
ie
2
(4)
2
_
dx

_
2
d
2
_

2
d
2
_
_
_
(1 2x)
2
_
q
2
g

(1 2x)q
2
g

. .
0
_
_
_
where the last term in the curly brackets integrates to 0, being odd under
x (1 x) while the denominator, which involves , is even. Then the nal
result is
i

(q) = (q
2
g

)i(q
2
)
i(q
2
) =
e
2
(4)
2
_
1
0
(1 2x)
2
(2
d
2
)

2
d
2
dx
=
e
2
(4)
2
_
1
0
(1 2x)
2
_
const. log
_
dx
where
const. =
2

+ log 4
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 9
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
q
2
/m
2
_
1
0
(
1

2
x
)
2
l
o
g
_
m
2
m
2

x
(
1

x
)
q
2
_
d
x
Figure 1: Integral in (11) as evaluated by numerical quadrature.
is innite but q-independent at d = 4. Isolating the q-dependence of , we have
i(q
2
) i(0) =
e
2
(4)
2
_
1
0
(1 2x)
2
log
_
m
2
m
2
x(1 x)q
2
_
dx. (11)
Values of this integral are plotted in Figure 1. The divergence at q
2
= 4m
2
is
clear.
Appendix: Integration-by-parts of kinetic term in photon Lagrangian
Someday I hope to be able to perform in my head the kind of manipulations
that are needed to go from the rst to the second lines of P&S equation 9.51.
However, at the moment I need to work it all out in detail. The Lagrangian
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 10
density is
L =
1
4
F

=
1
4
(

)(

)
=
1
2
(
0
A
1

1
A
0
)(
0
A
1

1
A
0
)

1
2
(
0
A
2

2
A
0
)(
0
A
2

2
A
0
)

1
2
(
0
A
3

3
A
0
)(
0
A
3

3
A
0
)

1
2
(
1
A
2

2
A
1
)(
1
A
2

2
A
1
)

1
2
(
1
A
3

3
A
1
)(
1
A
3

3
A
1
)

1
2
(
2
A
3

3
A
2
)(
2
A
3

3
A
2
).
I get scared whenever I see something like A

or

because I know there are a

bunch of hidden minus signs in there and they confuse me. To make sure that
all minus signs are explicit, lets rewrite F

with all minus signs displayed

explicitly. Basically we just go through and replace
0
=
0
,
i
=
i
, A
0
= A
0
,
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 11
A
i
= A
i
. This gives
L =
1
2
(
0
A
1

1
A
0
)(
0
A
1
+
1
A
0
)

1
2
(
0
A
2

2
A
0
)(
0
A
2
+
2
A
0
)

1
2
(
0
A
3

3
A
0
)(
0
A
3
+
3
A
0
)

1
2
(
1
A
2
+
1
A
2
)(
1
A
2
+
1
A
2
)

1
2
(
1
A
3
+
1
A
3
)(
1
A
3
+
1
A
3
)

1
2
(
2
A
3
+
2
A
3
)(
2
A
3
+
2
A
3
)
= +
1
2
_
(
0
A
1
)
2
+ (
1
A
0
)
2
+ 2(
0
A
1
)(
1
A
0
)
_
+
1
2
_
(
0
A
2
)
2
+ (
2
A
0
)
2
+ 2(
0
A
2
)(
2
A
0
)
_
+
1
2
_
(
0
A
3
)
2
+ (
3
A
0
)
2
+ 2(
0
A
3
)(
3
A
0
)
_

1
2
_
(
1
A
2
)
2
+ (
2
A
1
)
2
2(
1
A
2
)(
2
A
1
)
_

1
2
_
(
1
A
3
)
2
+ (
3
A
1
)
2
2(
1
A
3
)(
3
A
1
)
_

1
2
_
(
2
A
3
)
2
+ (
3
A
2
)
2
2(
2
A
3
)(
3
A
2
)
_
.
The next step is to integrate by parts, which entails making replacements like
(
1
A
3
)(
3
A
1
) A
3

3
A
1
.
Also, we break up the terms with prefactors of 2 into two separate terms, each of
which we integrate by parts in a dierent way. This gives a dierent Lagrangian
that integrates to the same thing as the old Lagrangian did, so we will just call
the new Lagrangian L as well:
L =
1
2
_
A
1

2
0
A
1
+ A
0

2
1
A
0
+ A
1

0
A
0
+ A
0

1
A
1
_

1
2
_
A
2

2
0
A
2
+ A
0

2
2
A
0
+ A
2

0
A
0
+ A
0

2
A
2
_

1
2
_
A
3

2
0
A
3
+ A
0

2
3
A
0
+ A
3

0
A
0
+ A
0

3
A
3
_
+
1
2
_
A
2

2
1
A
2
+ A
1

2
2
A
1
A
2

1
A
1
A
1

2
A
2
_
+
1
2
_
A
3

2
1
A
3
+ A
1

2
3
A
1
A
3

1
A
1
A
1

3
A
3
_
+
1
2
_
A
3

2
2
A
3
+ A
2

2
3
A
2
A
3

2
A
2
A
2

3
A
3
_
.
Homer Reids Solutions to Peskin and Schroeder Problems: Chapter 9 12
I will think of this as a kind of bilinear form between 4-dimensional vectors:
L =
1
2

A
0
A
1
A
2
A
3

0
B
B
@
(
2
1
+
2
2
+
2
3
) 01 02 03
10 (
2
0
+
2
2
+
2
3
) 12 13
20 21 (
2
0
+
2
1
+
2
3
) 23
30 31 32 (
2
0
+
2
2
+
2
1
)
1
C
C
A
0
B
B
@
A
0
A
1
A
2
A
3
1
C
C
A
Appendix 2: Convincing the skeptics among us that k
2
g

+ k

is
singular, but k
2
g

+ (1
1

)k

is invertible with inverse given by

(3)
These should all work in both octave or matlab.
octave:1> g=[1 0 0 0; 0 -1 0 0; 0 0 -1 0; 0 0 0 -1];
octave:2> ku=rand(4,1) % k with raised index
ku =
0.880788
0.157326
0.075570
0.481218
octave:3> kl=g*ku; % k with lowered index
octave:4> k2=kl * ku
k2 = 0.51375
octave:5> kmat=-k2*g + kl * kl
kmat =
0.262033 -0.138571 -0.066562 -0.423851
-0.138571 0.538505 0.011889 0.075708
-0.066562 0.011889 0.519465 0.036366
-0.423851 0.075708 0.036366 0.745324
octave:6> rank(kmat)
ans = 3
Sure enough, the matrix has less than full rank! The problem is the existence
of an eigenvector with eigenvalue 0, namely k

itself.
octave:7> kmat*ku
ans =
5.5511e-17
-1.3878e-17
0.0000e+00
-5.5511e-17
On the other hand, the matrix modied to contain the magical Fadeev-Popov
factor is nonsingular:
octave:8> xi=rand
xi = 0.35839
octave:9> kmat2=-k2*g + (1-1/xi)*kl*kl
kmat2 =
-1.902603 0.248076 0.119162 0.758798
0.248076 0.469442 -0.021285 -0.135536
0.119162 -0.021285 0.503530 -0.065104
0.758798 -0.135536 -0.065104 0.099185
octave:10> rank(kmat2)
ans = 4
Moreover, its inverse is just the matrix (3):
octave:11> iD=-(g - (1-xi)*ku*ku/k2) / k2
iD =
-0.060627 0.336846 0.161802 1.030323
0.336846 2.006626 0.028901 0.184036
0.161802 0.028901 1.960341 0.088400
1.030323 0.184036 0.088400 2.509375
octave:12> kmat2*iD
ans =
1.00000 -0.00000 -0.00000 -0.00000
0.00000 1.00000 0.00000 0.00000
0.00000 0.00000 1.00000 0.00000
0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 1.00000
13