Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 47 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use and . Its cubic and quartic Yang-Mills self-interactions areAntisymmetry of the Lie algebra structure constants lets the cubic expression also be written as .
The cubic vertex has three fields and one derivative, corresponding to in part (b). The quartic vertex has four fields and no derivatives, corresponding to . Their dimensions areWith both types present, the same Feynman diagram counting givesIn four dimensions both couplings are dimensionless, and the degree is bounded independently of vertex count. Gauge symmetry, implemented consistently after gauge fixing, restricts the ultraviolet counterterms to the allowed renormalizable gauge-invariant and gauge fixing/ghost structures. Thus the counting is consistent with perturbative renormalizability of ordinary four-dimensional Yang-Mills theory.
In six dimensions and , giving . Increasing the vertex count permits new divergent momentum structures and higher-dimensional operators without a finite closed list of renormalization parameters. Ordinary Yang-Mills theory is therefore power-counting renormalizable in four dimensions and nonrenormalizable in six dimensions. It can still be used in six dimensions as an effective field theory with a cutoff and higher-operator expansion; this conclusion concerns the usual perturbative theory.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 53 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The local matrix is a gauge transformation in the representation acting on the matter field. With Hermitian Lie algebra generators it can be written locally in spacetime, and pointwise for , asThe real functions can instead include a factor of by redefining the transformation parameters. The gauge covariant derivative convention in this paper is . Inserting the stated transformed shows explicitly that the term cancels, giving .
In QCD, each quark field is in the colour fundamental representation , with . Thus its colour generators are eight matrices, conventionally for the Gell-Mann matrices; their number is not their matrix dimension. The eight gluons themselves transform in the adjoint representation of SU(3).
With , the pure Yang-Mills theory has Lagrangian . Put and . Since ,The cross term has two derivative contributions. Interchange and then in the second; antisymmetry of makes it equal to the first. The cubic and quartic Yang-Mills self-interactions are thereforeThe positive cubic sign follows from the negative term in the given Yang-Mills field strength; changing the covariant-derivative convention consistently changes intermediate signs.
For the left-handed quark doublet , the hypercharge is and the weak generators are . Its electroweak term isThe Pauli matrices give diagonal entries and off-diagonal entries . Expanding the term givesIn particular the off-diagonal weak charged current coupling is .
Write , . Invert the neutral-field rotation: , . The original PDF gives , soThe photon coefficients inside the derivative are for , and for . Multiplication by the in the kinetic Lagrangian gives the requested electromagnetic coupling of a weak multiplet:Equivalently it is , making the electric charges explicit. The remaining neutral terms are . The TeX's missing prime in the mixing-angle ratio and truncated first Pauli matrix are conversion errors, not physical assumptions.