Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/iii/paper-48/3/solution

Take initially to avoid an infrared divergence. A Schwinger parameterization and the Euclidean Gaussian integral give, in the convergent range ,
Integration over supplies the Gamma function. Its analytic continuation defines the answer in dimensional regularization:
Use near four dimensions and near six dimensions. The Gamma function recurrence implies and . Therefore
Both are simple poles. Equivalently their residues as functions of are at and at . The negative pole near six dimensions is a feature of analytic continuation; it is not a negative value of the original convergent positive integral. A massless zero-momentum integral is scaleless and cannot be used indiscriminately to extract these ultraviolet poles, because dimensional regularization then combines ultraviolet and infrared contributions.
For the following Feynman diagrams, specify the Euclidean action and additive counterterms explicitly so their signs are unambiguous. The four-dimensional interaction is , the six-dimensional interaction is , and the common free inverse scalar propagator is . Here or , respectively. The factors of give dimensionless renormalized couplings and change no leading pole residues. The cubic Euclidean theory is treated as a formal perturbation expansion about its massive quadratic scalar field theory; its real cubic potential is not bounded below.

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