Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-theoretical-physics-major-option-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/4/d/solution
Past exam of the theoretical physics major option course of the University of Oxford 2017 4 d Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Choose the current convention corresponding to . Noether's theorem givesFor the requested terms with no and , the Lagrangian is and the current becomes . The supplied covariant oscillator normalization cancels the invariant measure when the annihilation operator contracts with , soThe momentum is on the massless shell, . Differentiating once more therefore givesThis Goldstone current matrix element in a phase-only scalar theory shows that a conserved current can have a nonzero matrix element proportional to a null momentum. Thus current conservation is fully consistent with the current creating a massless one-particle state from the vacuum; the nonzero coefficient is its Goldstone-current coupling. It is the divergence that vanishes, not the current matrix element. Reversing the current convention reverses the nonzero matrix element but leaves this zero divergence unchanged.
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