Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 46 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Fix the orientation of the Berezin integral by defining its measure as the linear functional that extracts the coefficient of ; all monomials of lower degree integrate to zero. In particular . This specifies the sign convention in the notation .
The Grassmann change-of-variables formula givesFor a unitary matrix, , so the combined measure is invariant. Diagonalize the Hermitian matrix by a unitary change of variables. If its eigenvalues are , the integrand factors as . Extracting its top coefficient proves the Grassmann Gaussian integralThe determinant identity also holds without Hermiticity by direct expansion; Hermiticity makes the diagonalization proof immediate.
Let . Integrating out the Grassmann variables first gives the exact polynomial expressionThe requested factorization requires to be invertible, an assumption omitted from the question. Under it, use the formal perturbative matrix logarithm near :ConsequentlyExpanding gives exactly the displayed coefficients , and hence . The logarithmic representation is a formal series, not a globally convergent logarithm for every : the determinant can have zeros. The original determinant integral remains well-defined for singular , but and the requested normalized expansion then cannot be formed.
There is a second convention to specify. The are real, so a complex Hermitian gives , where is real symmetric positive definite. Its Gaussian covariance matrix is . It equals only if is real symmetric. ThusThe effective Feynman rules are: a bosonic contraction joins indices with ; an -leg vertex carries ; sum all closed vacuum diagrams with their symmetry factors, including disconnected diagrams. The symmetrization is necessary because the commute: the trace tensor is cyclically invariant but need not be fully symmetric. The minus sign comes from expanding . Taking the logarithm of the normalized integral instead keeps only connected vacuum diagrams.
Equivalently, retain the fermions: an oriented contraction is , the mixed vertex has weight , and every closed fermion loop gives a minus sign. The same bosonic covariance joins its legs. Expanding these contractions recovers the trace vertices above. This is bosonic trace vertices from a finite fermionic determinant.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 44 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Normalize the vacuum path integral by . The scalar two-point correlation function is , and the spinor two-point correlation function is . Vacuum boundary conditions make these time-ordered Feynman propagators. After integration by parts, the scalar quadratic action is .
The Schwinger-Dyson equation follows by integrating a functional derivative of : the derivative of the insertion supplies , and the action derivative supplies the kinetic operator. The analogous left Grassmann derivative calculation, or differentiation of the Grassmann Gaussian integral, givesUsing and the Clifford algebra, . ConsequentlyThe free quantum effective action is quadratic, so all scalar one-particle-irreducible vertices with vanish. Its two-point vertex is the stated inverse kinetic form .
For the Yukawa interaction, two vertices contribute , and a closed fermion loop contributes an extra minus sign. Tracing the two spinor numerators gives , since the one-gamma traces vanish. Removing the overall from the amplitude gives the displayed loop integral. DefineThe numerator decomposition and translation invariance of dimensional regularization reduce it toThe supplied tadpole pole is . A Feynman parameter combines the two bubble denominators. Shifting its loop momentum gives mass squared ; differentiating the tadpole integral with respect to this squared mass gives the double-denominator pole , independent of . Thus andThe counterterms contribute , so their minimal pole parts areCombining the kinetic terms gives wavefunction renormalization , and combining the mass terms gives . ThereforeThese are the Yukawa scalar self-energy pole coefficients; finite parts depend on the chosen renormalization condition.
The four-point graph is a Yukawa fermion box, with four external scalar legs attached to a closed spinor loop:
Each high-momentum dirac propagator is . The product of four is , and the leading gamma matrix trace identities is nonzero. The four-dimensional radial integral therefore contains : a logarithmic ultraviolet divergence. This local four-scalar divergence cannot be absorbed by scalar mass or field normalization. Add , and, using the stipulated four-point pole normalization, take so that cancels it.
For literal cancellation of every one-loop divergence with , counterterm closure of a massive Yukawa theory also requires the allowed scalar linear and cubic terms. A constant scalar background shifts the fermion mass to ; the divergent local fermion contribution contains a polynomial proportional to . Its linear and cubic terms are not forbidden by a symmetry when the fermion mass is nonzero. A closed renormalizable family therefore haswith field, mass and coupling redefinitions for both scalar and spinor fields. A tadpole condition can set the renormalized to zero, but its counterterm still exists. The vacuum constant is needed if vacuum energy is retained. If an exact discrete chiral symmetry is imposed with , the scalar potential can be even and the odd terms are forbidden; the essential new interaction is then the quartic one.
Past exam of the quantum field theory course of the University of Oxford 2020 1 a Solution 2026-10-25
For four-momentum flowing along the fermion flow, the momentum space Feynman rules areThe scalar propagator and Dirac propagator invert their respective quadratic kernels. The interaction vertex follows by expanding , fixing its sign. Species is conserved along each open fermion line; there is no vertex changing species 1 into species 2.
An interaction vertex carries with inward four-momenta. Impose momentum conservation and integrate each independent loop momentum with . Include the closed fermion loop sign for every fermion loop, the relevant fermionic signs when rearranging external states, and the Feynman-diagram symmetry factor. External incoming and outgoing fermions carry and ; incoming and outgoing antifermions carry and . An external real scalar field leg has factor 1 in an amputated scattering amplitude. The Feynman i-epsilon prescription specifies the poles.
Past exam of the quantum field theory course of the University of Oxford 2020 1 d Solution 2026-10-25
For a connected amputated Feynman diagram, write for the number of independent loop momenta. Each loop momentum integration scales as , each internal scalar propagator as , and each internal Dirac propagator as when both four-momenta and mass are scaled. The Yukawa coupling has mass dimension zero. ThusCounting the two fermion ends and one scalar end at each interaction vertex, and using connectedness, givesConsequently , , andThe requested exponent requires amputation and removal of the overall momentum delta function. An ordinary unamputated connected Green function has an additional external scalar propagators, giving mass dimension after stripping that delta function, or if it is retained. For a concrete check, the free two-point scalar propagator scales as , not . The exponent is the engineering result for the amputated object. A fixed renormalization scale introduces logarithms; the displayed homogeneity is a naive power counting statement rather than an exact quantum scaling law at fixed subtraction scale.
More generally, with external scalar ends and external fermion ends, the same counting gives the superficial degree of divergenceThis is an upper bound on the overall ultraviolet divergence. Numerator cancellations and Lorentz invariance may lower it; an apparently convergent whole Feynman diagram can still have ultraviolet subdivergences. Local subtraction of those ultraviolet subdivergences is required first.
For pure scalar ends, can require counterterms. Lorentz invariance reduces the two-point terms to a mass counterterm and wave-function renormalization; derivatives of a single scalar field are total derivatives, and a one-derivative cubic scalar term cannot be a Lorentz scalar. With two external fermions, requires their kinetic term and mass counterterm, while requires Yukawa coupling renormalization. Four external fermions give , so no independent four-fermion counterterm is required.
A complete counterterm Lagrangian consistent with the species symmetry can therefore be writtenThe vacuum energy density term matters for an unnormalized vacuum functional and cancels from normalized Green functions. The tadpole counterterm can impose . There is no symmetry of the massive Yukawa interaction, so linear, cubic and quartic scalar terms cannot be excluded. For instance, in a constant background the divergent fermion loop contribution contains , exhibiting all these powers. This is counterterm closure of a massive Yukawa theory.
The two species have identical couplings, so their common unitary flavour rotations preserve the Lagrangian density and their counterterms can be chosen species independent. Equality of the scalar and fermion masses, however, is not protected: and are independent. Including the displayed finite set of operators yields a renormalizable quantum field theory. Restricting the bare Lagrangian density to the terms printed in the question is not closed under renormalization.
Past exam of the quantum field theory course of the University of Oxford 2021 1 a Solution 2026-10-25
The momentum space Feynman rules use the scalar propagator and two Dirac propagatorsThe cubic scalar field interaction vertex is . Each of the two flavour-changing Yukawa coupling interaction vertices, and , has factor in Dirac spinor indices. A fermion flow arrow continues through each interaction vertex, but its species changes. There is no or interaction vertex.
Every interaction vertex carries with inward four-momenta. Integrate each independent loop momentum with , divide by the Feynman-diagram symmetry factor, and include a minus sign and a gamma-matrix trace for each closed fermion loop. The is the Feynman i-epsilon prescription.
For an amputated scattering amplitude, incoming fermions supply and outgoing fermions supply ; incoming antifermions supply and outgoing antifermions supply . An external real scalar field particle supplies . Use the standard relativistic normalization of a one-particle state; the external factors belong to that normalization and the Lorentz-invariant phase-space measure, rather than an additional factor in the invariant scattering amplitude.
Past exam of the quantum field theory course of the University of Oxford 2025 1 b Solution 2026-10-25
The mass dimensions are , , . Up to total derivatives, power counting allows local counterterms of mass dimension at most four. A convenient basis for the counterterm Lagrangian compatible with the actual parity symmetry in quantum field theory and Dirac fermion number conservation isThe optional constant renormalizes the vacuum energy density. The wavefunction renormalization, mass counterterms and Yukawa coupling renormalization correct the terms already present. The quartic interaction must also be included: the fermion loop with four external bosonic legs is logarithmically divergent, even if the renormalized quartic coupling is set to zero at one chosen renormalization scale. The displayed original interactions alone do not form a closed set of counterterms.
If “most general” is interpreted before imposing the parity symmetry in quantum field theory examined in d, Lorentz invariance, a Hermitian action and Dirac fermion number conservation also allowHere all coefficients can be real in the paper's gamma matrix convention; the last term is Hermitian in the action up to a total derivative. It is an axial kinetic normalization, which could alternatively be removed by a suitable perturbative field redefinition. Every term in is odd under the actual parity symmetry in quantum field theory, so its coefficient vanishes in a symmetry-preserving renormalization scheme. Listing these terms makes explicit which assumption excludes a tadpole counterterm, a cubic scalar term, a scalar Yukawa interaction, a pseudoscalar Dirac mass term and an axial kinetic term.
Past exam of the quantum field theory course of the University of Oxford 2025 1 c Solution 2026-10-25
Expanding gives the Feynman vertexThere is one scalar leg and a continuous oriented fermion line; no extra factor is absorbed into . The Dirac propagator is , where . Each closed fermion loop supplies a minus sign.
Pseudoscalar Yukawa vertex and the vanishing one-loop bosonic one-point and three-point diagrams
. Details. The tadpole diagram is proportional tobecause both numerator traces vanish by a. This is zero before the loop momentum integration.
For either orientation of the triangle Feynman diagram, let be its three internal four-momenta. Its numerator trace isAfter using cyclic property of the trace, each expanded term is a trace of times at most three ordinary gamma matrices. Such traces vanish in four dimensions. For an odd number of ordinary gamma matrices, conjugation by changes the sign. For two ordinary gamma matrices, the contracted Clifford algebra identity givesThe zero-matrix case is a. Hence both the one-point and three-point one-loop bosonic vertices vanish, independently of their external momenta. No cancellation between different loop orientations or delicate shift of a divergent integral is needed.
Four quartic Yukawa vertices on a fermion loop with one internal scalar chord give six external scalar legs, two loops and overall logarithmic degree. The coefficient is nonzero: in a constant scalar background , the induced cubic Yukawa coupling is and the fermion mass is . The two-loop sunset diagram in the quantum effective potential has a logarithmic pole proportional to , where is the background scalar squared mass. Its term is when the tree sextic coupling vanishes. Thus zero renormalized sextic coupling at one scale does not eliminate the sextic counterterm or make that zero stable under renormalization.
Yukawa fermion box Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
Four scalar Yukawa interactions on a closed fermion loop generate a scalar four-point one-particle-irreducible vertex. At high momentum four dirac propagators contribute , leaving a logarithmic four-dimensional ultraviolet divergence. Its local scalar-fourth-power term requires a quartic scalar coupling; scalar mass and field counterterms cannot cancel it.
Yukawa fermion triangle 2026-10-14
Three scalar Yukawa interactions on a closed Dirac field loop give two cyclic orientations. Odd gamma matrix traces vanish, while gives the displayed numerator. For external invariant mass squares , write and similarly for the other two lines. The numerator becomes , reducing the fermion loop to three scalar bubbles and a scalar triangle Feynman integral. The closed fermion loop sign must be included. A massive fermion produces a logarithmic local divergence.
Yukawa scalar self-energy pole coefficients Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-20
For one four-component Dirac field with scalar interaction and the mostly-plus propagator convention, the fermion loop numerator is . Reduce it to a bubble and tadpole: . Dimensional regularization gives pole parts and . The local pole then requires both wavefunction renormalization and a scalar mass counterterm.

