Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-field-theory-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2025/2/a/solution

Independent global phase symmetries would rotate and . The cubic interaction vertex preserves only modulo . The continuous internal symmetry of a classical field theory is therefore the circle group
Normalize the Noether charge so that . Then , and . The Noether current is
where . For example, the Euler-Lagrange field equations give
which cancel with the relative coefficient . The quartic interaction vertex separately preserves both original phase rotations.
There is also a discrete charge conjugation symmetry for these real couplings. Including it, the internal symmetry is , with charge conjugation reversing the Noether charge. The connected symmetry and its conserved current are the above.

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