Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-advanced-quantum-field-theory-for-particle-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/2/b/ii/solution
Past exam of the advanced quantum field theory for particle physics course of the University of Oxford 2019 2 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Label the four-momenta as . There is one tree-level Feynman diagram, the -channel photon exchange shown in the lower-left panel. The two lepton species are distinct, so there is no exchanged-final-lepton diagram. With , and , the Feynman rules giveThe massless fermion spin sum is . Averaging the two initial spins of each lepton supplies , soThe gamma matrix trace identities imply, for arbitrary null external four-momenta,To see the contraction, each trace is ; the terms proportional to cancel in four dimensions, leaving the displayed two products. Here and . ThereforeThe requested proportionality constant is , where is the fine-structure constant. Both numerator terms are required by the spin sum; no final-state statistical factor enters a squared scattering amplitude for distinct leptons.
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