Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-advanced-quantum-physics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/paper-1/1/c/i/solution

In a large periodic quantization volume , one wavevector state occupies in wavevector space. There are two transverse photon polarizations, and each oscillator contributes . A lower wavelength cutoff corresponds to , so the energy density is
For ,
The factor two is polarization, not an extra independent count of positive and negative frequencies. The continuum wavevector integral already counts independent travelling-wave modes in the usual field quantization convention. The quartic cutoff dependence also shows why an assumed shortest wavelength is crucial.

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