Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-field-theory-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/1/c/solution
Past exam of the quantum field theory course of the University of Oxford 2021 1 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
In the convention of iii, the invariant decay amplitude is . Including the common overall in the definition changes no squared decay amplitude. An unpolarized ensemble is an incoherent equal mixture of the two initial spin states; hence take a spin average over and a spin sum over the unobserved final . Different final spin states are orthogonal outcomes, so their probabilities, rather than their decay amplitudes, add.
Using the Dirac adjoint and the fermion spin sum givesThe gamma-matrix trace identities used here are and . The mass-shell conditions and , together with four-momentum conservation, implyThereforeIn the parent's rest frame this also says .
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