Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-advanced-quantum-field-theory-for-particle-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2025/1/a/solution

The scalar field path integral integrates over real field histories with vacuum boundary conditions. With , the partition function is
The constant fixes the desired vacuum normalization. A generating functional adds to the action; the required partition function is its zero-source value. Equivalently, a Wick rotation gives , with the positive-sign kinetic and potential terms in the Euclidean action when and .

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