Quantum Field Theory-I Problem Set n.

6
UZH and ETH, HS-2017 Prof. G. Isidori
M. Bordone, F. Buccioni, A. Karlberg, M. Zoller Due: 02.11.2017
http://www.physik.uzh.ch/en/teaching/PHY551/HS2017.html

Exercise 1: The massive vector field

i) The Euler-Lagrange equations are defined as

∂L ∂L
∂µ = . (1)
∂ (∂µ Vν ) ∂Vν
For the lhs and rhs one has
∂L
• = −V µν ,
∂ (∂µ Vν )
∂L
• = m2V V ν ,
∂Vν
thus the equations of motion read

∂µ V µν + m2V V ν = 0 . (2)

Making the V µ components explicit we get the Proca equation

 
∂µ V µν + m2V V ν = ∂µ (∂ µ V ν − ∂ ν V µ ) + m2V V ν = ∂µ ∂ µ + m2V V ν − ∂ ν ∂µ V µ = 0 . (3)

If we now take the derivative of eq. (2) wrt ∂ν we get

∂ν ∂µ V µν + m2V ∂ν V ν = 0 ⇒ ∂ν V ν = 0 , (4)

where we have exploited the fact that V µν is an antisymmetric tensor. If we impose the condition
(4) on the Proca equation (3) we get
 
∂µ ∂ µ + m2V V ν = 0 , (5)

which is equivalent to a set of Klein-Gordon equations for each component V ν . Note that eq. (4)
is basically the same as the Lorentz gauge fixing in the Maxwell Lagrangian for the photon. The
only difference so far lies in the mass of the vector field V µ . This means that not all the four
components of V µ are physical.

ii) Since Vµ (x) is a real massive field which satisfy a Klein-Gordon equation, the solution of eq. (5)
has the same form of the one for a real scalar field:
3 
d3 p~ 1 X
Z 
(λ) (λ) −ipx (λ) (λ) † +ipx
Vµ (x) = µ (~p)a (~ p)e + µ (~p)a (~ p) e , (6)
(2π)3 2Ep~ λ=0
p

where we decompose the vector field Vµ (x) onto a basis of polarization vectors (λ)
µ (~p). We choose
the basis so that the following orthonormality condition is satisfied:
0 0
(λ) (~ p) = g λλ .
p)(λ ) (~ (7)

An example of such a basis is:

(0) (~
p) = (1, ~0), (i) (~
p) = (0, ~ei ), i = 1, 2, 3 (8)
where {~ei } is the set of the three unit vectors along the directions of the euclidean space.
Imposing the condition in eq. (4) we get the equivalent equation in momentum space which
reads:
3
X
pµ (λ)
µ (~p) = 0 . (9)
λ=0
This equation helps in understanding that only three of the four polarizations are physical. To
this end consider the reference frame where the field Vµ (x) is at rest. The existence of such a
frame is guaranteed by the fact that Vµ (x) is massive. The momentum pµ then is:
 
pµ = mV , ~0 , (10)

from which it follows that

pµ (0)
µ (~p) 6= 0, pµ (i)
µ (~p) = 0, i = 1, 2, 3 . (11)

Therefore if we require eq. (9) to be satisfied we have to discard the non physical polarization
(0)
µ (~p). Thus the final form form for the Vµ (x) field is:
3 
d3 p~ 1 X
Z 
(λ) (λ) −ipx (λ) (λ) † +ipx
Vµ (x) = µ p
(~ )a p
(~ )e + µ p
(~ )a p
(~) e . (12)
(2π)3 2Ep~ λ=1
p

Let us now consider a reference frame where Vµ (x) is moving along the z-direction. The mo-
mentum in such a frame can be obtained by boosting the one in eq (10) along the z-axis:

p0µ = Λµ ν pν = Ep~ , 0, 0, |~


p| , (13)

where the boost read:

 
γ 0 0 βγ
Ep~ |~
p|
 
0 1 0 0
Λµ ν = , γ= , β= . (14)
0
 0 1 0  mV Ep~
βγ 0 0 γ
(1) (2)
The boost is orthogonal to ~e1 and ~e2 so the polarizations µ and µ do not change. As for the
(3)
longitudinal polarization µ we have:
|~
p| Ep~
 
0
 
ν (3),σ
(3)
µ = gµν Λ σ  = , 0, 0, . (15)
mV mV
Using these explicit expressions we can write down the sum over the polarizations:
p |2 Ep~ |~
p|
 
|~
m2V
0 0 m2V 

3  0 1 0 0
 
X
(λ) (λ) (1) (1) (2) (2) (3) (3)

µ (~p)ν (~p) = µ (~p)ν (~p) + µ (~p)ν (~p) + µ (~p)ν (~p) = 
 0
 . (16)
λ=1  0 1 0 

 E |~p |
p
~
Ep~2 
m2V
0 0 m2V

In the same way we can write down the explicit form of the rhs of eq. (6) of the exercise sheet
using pµ as in equation (13):
p |2 Ep~ |~
p|
 
 Ep~ Ep~ |~
p|  |~
−1 + 0 0 m2V
0 0 m2V 
 m2V m2V  
  0 1 0 0

pµ pν  0 1 0 0   
− gµν + 2 = = . (17)

mV  0 0 1 0   0 0 1 0 
  
Ep~2

Ep~ |~
p| p |2
|~  E |~p |
p
~

m2V
0 0 1+ m2V 0 0
m2V m2V
 We derived this relation in a special frame, but it holds also in any other reference frame. The
reason is that both the left and right hand sides of the identity transform in the same way under
a Lorentz transformation.

iii) The propagator of the field V µ (x) is defined as

Dµν,V (x − y) = h0| T [Vµ (x) Vν (y)] |0i . (18)

Inserting the expression in (12) we have:

3
d3 p~ d3 ~q
Z  
X
(λ) (λ) −ipx (λ) (λ) † +ipx
Dµν,V (x − y) = h0| T µ (~p)a (~ p)e + µ (~p)a (~ p) e
(2π)6 4Ep~ Eq~ λ,λ0 =1
p

 
0 0 0 0 †
(λ )
ν (~ q )a(λ ) (~q)e−iqy + (λ )
ν (~ q )a(λ ) (~q) e+iqy |0i . (19)

0
The operators a(λ) (~
p) and a(λ ) (~q) annihilate the vacuum, hence they give no contribution when
they act on |0i, so we can discard these contributions.
We shall now focus only on the integrand: using the time ordering operator we get
 
0 0 †
(λ)
µ (~p)(λ )
ν (~ p)a(λ ) (~q) e−i(px−qy) |0i +
q ) h0| T a(λ) (~
 
0 † 0
(λ)
µ (~p)(λ )
ν (~ p) a(λ ) (~q)e−i(qy−px) |0i =
q ) h0| T a(λ) (~

0 0 †
(λ)
µ (~p)(λ )
ν (~ p)a(λ ) (~q) |0i e−i(px−qy) +
q ) θ(x0 − y0 ) h0| a(λ) (~

0 †
p) |0i e−i(px−qy) +
θ(y0 − x0 ) h0| a(λ ) (~q) a(λ) (~

0 † 0
(λ)
µ (~p)(λ )
ν (~ p) a(λ ) (~q) |0i e−i(qy−px) +
q ) θ(x0 − y0 ) h0| a(λ) (~

0 †
p) |0i e−i(qy−px) =
θ(y0 − x0 ) h0| a(λ ) (~q)a(λ) (~
0 0 †
(λ)
µ (~p)(λ )
ν (~ p)a(λ ) (~q) |0i e−i(px−qy) +
q )θ(x0 − y0 ) h0| a(λ) (~
0 0 †
(λ)
µ (~p)(λ )
ν (~ p) |0i e−i(qy−px) ,
q )θ(y0 − x0 ) h0| a(λ ) (~q)a(λ) (~ (20)
0
where in the last identity we exploited once again the fact that a(λ) (~
p) and a(λ ) (~q) annihilate
the vacuum. We now use the canonical commutation relations on the vacuum to get:
0 †
h0| a(λ) (~
p)a(λ ) (~q) |0i = δλλ0 (2π)3 δ 3 (~
p − ~q), (21)
0 †
h0| a(λ ) (~q)a(λ) (~
p) |0i = δλλ0 (2π)3 δ 3 (~q − p~), (22)

and plugging them into eq. (20) we have

0 0
 
(2π)3 δ 3 (~q − p~)(λ)
µ (~p)(λ )
ν (~ q )δ λλ θ(x0 − y0 )e−i(px−qy) + θ(y0 − x0 )e−i(qy−px) . (23)

In passing we note that p~ = ~q implies Ep~ = Eq~. Plugging the result above into eq. (19) and
integrating over ~q yields:

d3 p~ 1 
Z 
−ip(x−y) −ip(y−x)
Dµν,V (x − y) = θ(x 0 − y0 )e + θ(y 0 − x 0 )e Pµν (~
p), (24)
(2π)3 2Ep~
 where we define the tensor Pµν (~
p) as the sum over the polarizations:
3
X pµ pν
Pµν (~
p) = (λ)
µ (~p)(λ)
ν (~p) = −gµν + . (25)
λ=1
m2V

It is convenient to use an integral representation of the θ function, i.e.

e−ixτ
Z ∞
i
θ(x) = lim dτ , (26)
ε→0+ 2π −∞ τ + iε
which in eq. (24) would give:
!
d3 p~ i e−i(p(x−y)+(x0 −y0 )τ ) e−i(p(y−x)+(y0 −x0 )τ )
Z Z
Dµν,V (x − y) = dτ + Pµν (~
p) . (27)
(2π)4 2Ep~ τ + iε τ + iε

If we now rename p~ into ~k and perform the change of variable τ = k 0 − E~k , keeping in mind that
p0 = E~k we have:
0 ~ 0
d3~k dk 0 i
!
e−i(k (x0 −y0 )−k(~x−~y)) e−i(k (y0 −x0 )−~p(~y−~x))
Z
Dµν,V (x − y) = + Pµν (~k)
(2π)4 2E~k k 0 − E~k + iε k 0 − E~k + iε
d3~k dk 0 i
!
1 1
Z
0 ~
= − 0 e−i(k (x0 −y0 )−k(~x−~y)) Pµν (~k)
(2π)4 2E~k 0
k − E~k + iε k + E~k + iε
!
d4 k i 1 1
Z
= − 0 e−ik(x−y) Pµν (~k), (28)
(2π)4 2E~k 0
k − E~k + iε k + E~k + iε

where in the last identity we naturally introduced the four momentum k µ = (k 0 , ~k).
Using the relations q
k 2 = (k 0 )2 − |~k |2 , E~ = m2 + |~k |, k V (29)
and making Pµν explicit we finally have for the propagator
!
d4 k −i kµ kν
Z
Dµν,V (x − y) = 4 2 2 gµν − 2 e−ik(x−y) . (30)
(2π) k − mV + iε mV

iv) We now want to show that the propagator is a Green function of the Proca equation. Using the
expression in (30) for the propagator we have:
h   i
δ µ ν ∂ρ ∂ ρ + m2V − ∂ µ ∂ν Dνσ (x − y)
!
d4 k −i δ µ ν −k 2 + m2V + k µ kν kν kσ
Z


= g νσ
− 2 e−ik(x−y)
(2π)4 k 2 − m2V + iε mV
! !!
d4 k i kµ kσ k2
Z
= g µσ
− (k − 2
m2V ) +k k µ σ
−1 e−ik(x−y)
(2π)4 k 2 − m2V + iε m2V m2V
d4 k k 2 − m2V
Z
= ig µσ
e−ik(x−y) = ig µσ δ 4 (x − y) . (31)
(2π)4 k 2 − m2V + iε
We recall that the propagator for a massive scalar field of mass m reads:
d4 k i
Z
D(x − y) = e−ik(x−y) (32)
(2π) k − m2 + iε
4 2

which is well defined in the limit m → 0.

On the other hand one cannot take a naive massless limit of the propagator for the Vµ (x) field
to extract for example the one for the photon. In fact the term k µ k ν /m2V is singular in this
limit. The latter comes from the sum over the polarizations and for a massive spin-1 field one
has three physical states, while the photon has only two. Hence one could extract the photon
propagator using an appropriate tensor Pµν (k) which results as the sum over the only two
transverse polarizations.
In momentum space for the Proca field Vµ (x) and the photon field Aµ (x) we have
!
i kµ kν
D̃Vµν (k)
=− 2 g µν
− , (33)
k − m2V + iε m2V
i kµ kν
 
µν µν
D̃A (k) = − 2 g − (1 − ξ) 2 . (34)
k + iε k

Taking in consideration the longitudinal polarization in eq. (15) in the high energy limit we have
 q 
|~k | |~k | m2V + |~k |2 |~k | |~k |
! ! !
~ E~ mV
(3)
µ (k) = , 0, 0, k = , 0, 0, ' , 0, 0, +O , (35)
mV mV mV mV mV mV |~k |

which can also be written more generally as

!
~ kµ mV
(3)
µ (k) = +O . (36)
mV |~k |

Thus the longitudinal polarization becomes increasingly parallel to the momentum and it is the
dominant one. As a consequence, in the sum over the polarizations the kµ kν term is the most
relevant one. In the high energy limit we can neglect the mass mV of Vµ (x), so for the propagator
we have: !
µν i kµ kν
D̃V (k) = 2 . (37)
k + iε m2V
Therefore even if the mass can be neglected and the Proca field treated as massless, counter-
intuitively, the most dominant polarization is the longitudinal one, as opposite to the really
massless photon field.
µν
We also observe that the photon propagator in momentum space D̃A (k) vanishes in the limit
2
of high (infinite) k . The same does not hold for the massive Vµ (x) as one can see by simple
power-counting arguments in equation (37).
Please also note that there’s no choice of gauge that, starting from the photon propagator, would
give us the Proca propagator in the high energy limit, thus preventing it from vanishing at high
k 2 . A potential choice would be ξ → ∞, but then photon propagator would itself be divergent
for any k.