Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-theoretical-physics-major-option-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2022/4/b/solution
Past exam of the theoretical physics major option course of the University of Oxford 2022 4 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Treat and as independent variables in the Euler-Lagrange equation. Varying gives the Proca equationThe divergence of its first term vanishes by antisymmetry and commuting partial derivatives. Since , it follows that . Substitution into the original equation givesThe complex-conjugate variation gives , hence and .
For an on-shell plane wave , the Lorenz constraint in Proca theory is . In the rest frame it sets , leaving three complex particle polarizations. Thus the complex Proca field has three independent complex dynamical components, or six real ones; its quantized particle and antiparticle each have three physical particle polarizations. The conjugate field is not another unrelated classical field.
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