Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 47 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let a connected amputated one-particle-irreducible Feynman diagram have loops, internal lines, quartic vertices and external legs. Each loop integration contributes four momentum powers, each scalar propagator removes two, and the interaction adds none. Thus its superficial degree of divergence is . Counting half-edges and independent loops givesThis is simultaneous large-momentum scaling of the whole Feynman diagram. It need not describe every subregion of loop-momentum space.
For a concrete counterexample, start with a six-point triangle of three quartic vertices, with two external legs at each vertex. Insert a one-loop tadpole diagram self-energy in one internal line. The resulting Feynman diagram has , , , , and . It is still one-particle irreducible: each edge around the triangle has an alternative route, and cutting the tadpole loop does not disconnect the Feynman diagram. Nevertheless the tadpole subgraph diverges when its loop momentum tends to infinity while the triangle momentum is held fixed. In massive theory the divergent mass insertion is nonzero. This demonstrates that a superficially convergent graph can have a divergent subgraph.
Write renormalized perturbation theory withThe last term is a field-independent vacuum counterterm, needed if vacuum energies are retained. A normalized correlation functional removes that sector. The free quantum field theory propagator is ; interaction and counterterm insertions useUsual momentum-conservation delta functions accompany the vertices. The coefficients depend on the regulator and renormalization conditions and are expanded order by order in the renormalized coupling.
The reason this list closes is locality of ultraviolet subtraction. After divergent proper subgraphs have been subtracted recursively, the remaining overall divergent part is a polynomial in external momenta of degree at most . For , , Lorentz symmetry allows only a constant and a term, supplied by the mass and wavefunction counterterms. For , , only the constant quartic counterterm is needed. Odd-point terms vanish by the field's symmetry. For , the overall degree is negative and there is no new overall counterterm after subdivergences have been removed. Vacuum graphs are handled separately.
Counterterm insertions subtract each subgraph's local divergence, including overlapping subgraphs, and then the overall divergence. At each perturbative order the regulated sum has a finite ultraviolet limit for renormalized correlation functions at suitable nonexceptional momenta. This is why superficial power counting of every relevant subgraph determines the allowed counterterms, even though it does not alone establish that a bare Feynman diagram diverges or converges. Possible infrared or on-shell singularities are a separate issue; ultraviolet renormalization is not a promise of finiteness in every kinematic limit.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 47 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The kinetic normalization fixes , since a derivative has mass dimension one and the Lagrangian density has dimension . Every differentiated field is still a field insertion. Hence the interaction has legs, not just , and its vertex contains a homogeneous polynomial of degree in the attached momenta. Its coupling dimension isFor a connected Feynman diagram of this vertex type,The superficial momentum degree is now . Eliminating and givesso derivative-interaction scalar power counting yieldsThe same counting applies to tensor components with quantum field theory propagators scaling as ; contractions, identities and cancellations can lower the actual degree. A coupling of negative mass dimension lets the superficial degree increase with the number of vertices, explaining the need for progressively higher-dimensional counterterms in a perturbative effective field theory.
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 2004 iii Paper 47 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the mostly-minus Minkowski metric, quantum field theory propagator and dimensionally continued interaction , with . Take all four external momenta incoming, so , and set , , .
The three one-loop one-particle-irreducible Feynman diagrams are the bubble graphs with external pairings , and . Their external quantum field theory propagators are omitted by amputation. Each Feynman diagram has symmetry factor from exchanging the two internal lines; the fixed external labels are already accounted for by the three distinct channels.
For a channel carrying momentum , its amplitude isThe signs in the last equality follow from the two vertices and two quantum field theory propagators. Apply the Feynman parameter identityAfter shifting the loop momentum, the denominator is , with . For positive Euclidean , Wick rotation and the Schwinger representation giveAnalytic continuation to physical momenta keeps the prescription . Thus dimensional regularization evaluates the channel asUse and expand the other factors. The minimal-subtraction scalar four-point bubble channels result through the finite part isThe parameter integral is left unevaluated, as requested. The three channel contributions are . Their pole is momentum independent and is cancelled by the four-point counterterm , withAfter pure minimal subtraction scheme subtraction, the complete vertex through one loop is the tree vertex plusHere the limit has been taken. The modified minimal subtraction scheme would also absorb ; it is not identical to the specified pure MS finite part.
The bare coupling is scale independent and satisfiesWriting and differentiating at fixed givesAt order , the finite coefficient is , so the one-loop quartic scalar beta function isThe factor two relative to the pole residue follows from using . With the residue doubles, but the four-dimensional beta function is unchanged.
For pure nonabelian gauge theory, the corresponding pure Yang-Mills one-loop beta function has the opposite sign:Gauge-boson self-interactions and the gauge-consistency ghost contributions give antiscreening. For a compact nonabelian simple factor , the coupling decreases at high energy: asymptotic freedom. In contrast, positive scalar increases toward the ultraviolet. Its one-loop extrapolation has a Landau pole, indicating breakdown of weak-coupling perturbation theory, not a proof by itself of nonperturbative triviality. Ultraviolet poles should be extracted at infrared-safe mass or nonexceptional kinematics; a scaleless massless zero-momentum integral cannot be used to read off this ultraviolet counterterm without separating its infrared behavior.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 49 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
In units , the action is dimensionless and a Lagrangian density has mass dimension . The kinetic term therefore gives . Requiring each interaction density to have the same dimension givesThis is engineering dimension; quantum scaling can acquire an anomalous dimension.
For a connected Feynman diagram with no derivative interactions, each independent loop integration contributes powers of momentum, and each internal scalar propagator contributes . Thus its superficial degree of divergence is . Let . A connected graph has independent cycles, and counting the half-edges incident on vertices gives . Substitution proves the scalar graph power-counting identity:For a graph with connected components, the first is instead , since . The printed expression therefore uses the usual connected-graph convention. This is the overall degree under simultaneous rescaling of all loop momenta. Subgraphs can still have ultraviolet divergences when the whole graph has , so their counterterms must be subtracted before declaring an integral finite.
When all retained couplings have nonnegative dimension, only finitely many external-leg/derivative structures can have nonnegative degree. Positive-dimensional relevant couplings lower as vertices are added, giving superrenormalizable interactions. Zero-dimensional marginal couplings give power-counting renormalizable interactions. Negative-dimensional irrelevant couplings instead permit to grow with the number of vertices, generally requiring an unbounded list of counterterms. Such nonrenormalizable interactions can still define an effective field theory to any fixed order in a low-energy expansion.
In , : cubic interactions are superrenormalizable, quartic interactions are marginal and renormalizable, and powers are nonrenormalizable. In , : cubic, quartic and quintic interactions are superrenormalizable, sixth-order interactions are marginal and renormalizable, and are nonrenormalizable. This is a power-counting classification, not a guarantee that an odd highest-power potential is bounded below. All lower-dimensional operators allowed by the symmetries must be included when required by renormalization; for example, odd interactions can require a linear counterterm, whereas the quartic model's symmetry excludes it.
Dimensional regularization defines convergent Euclidean loop integrals in a suitable domain of , then continues their parameter formulas meromorphically to complex . The Gaussian identity supplies and Schwinger parameterization supplies Gamma functions such as . Their poles encode the ultraviolet singularities near physical dimension. Noninteger complex is an analytic regulator of amplitudes, not a literal space with a noninteger number of coordinates. Masses or nonexceptional external momenta distinguish ultraviolet poles from infrared poles; scaleless integrals vanish in this convention and can hide that distinction.
For the quartic model let , , and . In renormalized fields, the bare Lagrangian isSeparate the terms with each equal to one from their differences. The differences are field, mass and quartic counterterms. After subtracting divergent subgraphs, the remaining ultraviolet pole of a proper graph is a local polynomial in its external momenta. In four-dimensional phi-fourth theory, power counting and reflection symmetry restrict these local terms to , , and a field-independent constant. Choosing the Laurent coefficients of the three renormalization factors recursively cancels these poles at every perturbative order. The constant vacuum term is removed by the zero-source normalization. This is an order-by-order finite renormalized expansion, not a claim of convergence of the perturbation series.
The source renormalization of a scalar generating functional follows directly from rewriting the source coupling in bare variables:A general source attached to a single elementary field needs this field renormalization; its connected correlations are the ordinary renormalized Green functions. Normalizing the path integral at cancels source-independent vacuum diagrams. Subject to a separate infrared/volume prescription, their source-dependent generating functional is consequently ultraviolet finite order by order. For a constant source, this statement is interpreted as a formal connected expansion or a vacuum density, not as an automatically finite total logarithm in infinite spacetime.
Changing integration variables from to introduces a source-independent constant Jacobian that cancels between the numerator and its normalization. The resulting normalized integral depends only on and fixed physical boundary/volume data. ThusDefine all scale derivatives at these fixed bare quantities:In a mass-independent subtraction scheme, logarithmic differentiation of the bare relations givesThe factors contain regulator poles, but the combinations determining the physical renormalization group functions have finite limits. In particular and . The chain rule now gives the requested equation:As a sign check, minimal subtraction gives and , with . Hence , , and starts at two loops. The positive signs agree with the tadpole subtraction and the three four-point channels.
The dimensional rewriting needs care. The chosen source normalization gives , , and , so and are the natural dimensionless parameters. For the full source functional, spacetime arguments must also be rescaled: with , write and . The dimensionless functional then depends on , the rescaled source profile, and the rescaled integration domain.
For a literal uniform source in a fixed physical spacetime volume , the uniform-source vacuum functional and spacetime volume relation is insteadFor example, even at and , completing the square for the constant mode givesThus the printed three-argument rewriting of the total suppresses necessary volume/source-profile data. It is valid as a dimensional shorthand only with those data understood; a dimensionless density has the three arguments, while its scale equation includes its engineering dimension. At infinite volume, the total constant-source logarithm is generally extensive and infinite even after ultraviolet renormalization.
The massless renormalization-group characteristics with a source solve the requested flow directly, independently of this notational issue. Since the mass flow is proportional to , its zero value remains zero. Starting at a reference scale , solveThenwith any physical volume or source-shape data retained. Where , the running quantities are determined byThese equations transport matching data at one scale to any other scale on the same flow trajectory. At a zero of the beta function use the differential equations themselves, rather than divide by zero.
For the uniform-source density, set and . At the corrected dimensionless equation and its local characteristic solution areThe arbitrary function is fixed by boundary/matching data. If the volume is retained as a dimensionless argument , the full dimensionless functional obeys the same transport operator with in place of the additive term; extensivity makes the two statements equivalent. Massless zero-momentum source expansions can also have infrared singularities, so this RG solution is formal until an infrared prescription or a suitable background expansion is chosen.
An ultraviolet fixed point is a zero of the beta functions approached by the dimensionless couplings as . Near a single-coupling fixed point , perturbations obey , so gives attraction in that direction. In four-dimensional quartic scalar theory, the positive one-loop beta function makes positive small coupling grow toward the ultraviolet: . This exhibits a perturbative Landau pole, not an interacting ultraviolet fixed point. A perturbative result does not exclude hypothetical strong-coupling behavior beyond its regime.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 51 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For one Grassmann variable, define the Berezin integral by and , extending linearly. Since , these rules determine it on every polynomial. With several Grassmann variables, integrate from the rightmost differential first. Equivalently, extracts the coefficient of in that order. Repeated indices give zero, while permuting distinct generators gives the fermionic sign of that permutation. Hencewhere is the Levi-Civita symbol.
For the doubled variables, fix the paired measure orientation byThe exponential in the Grassmann Gaussian integral has a finite Taylor expansion. Only its term of degree survives integration. Each barred and unbarred index must occur exactly once; the orders of the even bilinears cancel the Taylor factorial. Reordering the unbarred indices gives the determinant permutation sign. ThereforeThis identity holds even for a singular matrix. The normalized expectations below require invertible.
Put . Differentiating with respect to inserts . The derivative of a determinant then gives the ordered Grassmann Gaussian contractionsDifferentiate once more, using . The result isThe minus sign is the interchange sign in the fermionic Wick theorem. In particular . Reordering each barred-unbarred pair in the product and contracting the indices givesThe covariance of Grassmann bilinears is the connected second term. Its Feynman diagram is one oriented fermion loop through both insertions; the first term has two separate fermion loops, one at each insertion. Each closed fermion loop contributes a minus sign, so two loops give a plus and one gives a minus.
For the Dirac field, write and use signature , consistent with the denominator in the question. A finite regulator turns the free fermionic path integral into the same Gaussian problem with , because . The time-ordered product covariance is consequently , where the subscript specifies the Feynman i-epsilon prescription.
With the Fourier transform convention , the derivative kernel is . The gamma matrices obeysince their anticommutator makes . Thus the mostly-plus Dirac propagator with a real derivative kernel isFor , the denominator is . Its positive-energy pole is below and negative-energy pole above the real axis, giving time ordering. Here is defined without the leading factor , as in the question; conventions that include that factor in the name Dirac propagator give the same covariance.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 48 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Label the incoming momenta and spin states and the outgoing ones , with . Write and . The Mandelstam variables are , and . At lowest order, each connected Feynman diagram has two pseudoscalar Yukawa interaction vertices and one internal scalar propagator.
The t and u exchanges for two fermions, and the t exchange and s annihilation for a fermion-antifermion pair, with external momentum and spin labels
. Details. Define the scattering amplitude by . Fix the external Fock state ordering as to for the two-fermion process. The exchange connects to and to ; the exchange connects to and to . The two Feynman vertices contribute , and the internal scalar propagator contributes divided by its denominator. Exchanging the two identical final fermions supplies a relative fermionic sign. ThusThis changes sign when the two outgoing labels are exchanged, as identical-fermion antisymmetry requires. There is no annihilation diagram for two incoming fermions: the interaction preserves Dirac fermion number conservation.
For the fermion-antifermion process take initial state and final state . The exchange uses bilinears , and the annihilation uses . To fix the sign without a guess, expand the current in creation and annihilation operators. Its relevant terms have the signsThe antifermion sign of a normal-ordered bilinear makes the exchange contraction negative, whereas the product of annihilation and creation contractions is positive for the specified external ordering. Multiplying by therefore givesA different common phase convention for an external state can reverse the overall amplitude, but never the relative sign of its two contributions. Both results are tree scattering with pseudoscalar exchange and are of order .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 54 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use metric and the hypercharge convention . Then the Higgs doublet has and transforms under electroweak gauge invariance asThe covariant derivative sign consistent with the requested expression isA convention that instead calls the doublet hypercharge one puts in the charge generator and derivative; the physical coupling is the same. Here and the matrix-valued connection transforms as , making transform like .
In unitary gauge, the upper component of the derivative comes from the off-diagonal Pauli matrices:The lower component isWriting , , inversion of the neutral rotation gives and . Since , the coefficient of the photon vanishes, whereas . ThusThe zero photon coupling expresses the neutrality of the surviving radial Higgs boson.
The scalar Lagrangian density is . Adding gives the complete bosonic electroweak Lagrangian density. Its scalar and vector mass terms, after electroweak symmetry breaking, are obtained directly asIndeed, the shifted quartic Higgs potential normalization gives . Comparing with a canonically normalized real scalar mass term, a complex vector mass term and a real vector mass term yieldsThe extra factor one half in this paper's Higgs potential is why is , rather than in another common convention. The tree-level electroweak gauge-boson masses give : measure the two vector masses and take their ratio. Beyond tree level this extraction requires a specified renormalization convention and radiative corrections.
Expanding the vector terms gives the cubic and quartic Higgs couplings to electroweak gauge bosons:The four elementary Feynman diagrams and their all-incoming Feynman rules are shown below. Differentiating with respect to two identical fields supplies a factor two; differentiating with respect to two identical Higgs fields supplies another factor two in the quartic rules.
Tree-level Higgs vertices with charged and neutral electroweak gauge bosons
. Details. There are no elementary , , or vertices in this tree-level Lagrangian density. Loop-induced photon interactions are a different order. The scalar self-interactions, if included, have rules and .
The prime LEP2 search used the Higgs boson coupling to Z bosons through Higgsstrahlung, , shown in the first panel of the process figure in Question 3. This identifies an associated-production interaction, rather than an on-shell decay of a single into a heavier Higgs. The channel's historical role is documented in the LEP2 Higgs-search account.
For the free charged W boson, take , with the conjugate field carrying . In the action, multiplying the two field strengths gives . ThereforeTo invert it, separate the transverse and longitudinal projectors , . The operator is , soSince the quadratic action kernel is , its Proca propagator isFor all momentum components small relative to , the low-momentum limit is , with corrections of relative order or . This local limit leads to the Fermi interaction, with for the charged-current normalization used here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 54 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The middle panel shows the Feynman diagram for the leptonic W boson decay. With the charged-current Lagrangian density sign in the question, its vertex Feynman rule isAn overall field-phase convention can change the overall amplitude sign but cannot change the decay width. With the standard Dirac field current ordering, the amplitude isThe unusual order of barred fields in the printed description should be interpreted as this physical weak charged current matrix element.
For massless final fermions, the fermion spin sums are and . The massive-vector spin average divides by three. Thuswith the chiral traceAnticommuting through the two following gamma matrices and using gives its symmetric partIts remaining part is an antisymmetric epsilon tensor from the gamma matrix trace identities; it vanishes against the symmetric polarization tensor . Direct contraction gives andHenceNo additional averaging over hypothetical right-handed neutrino states is appropriate: the chiral projector already enforces the physical helicity coupling.
On shell, , and , so and . The squared matrix element reduces to . In the parent rest frame, integrate the spatial momentum delta first in two-body Lorentz-invariant phase space. The remaining radial integral isConsequently the massless leptonic W decay width isLepton universality gives in the same massless approximation. The muon and tau lepton masses produce small corrections if retained.
With an identity CKM matrix, the allowed quark channels are and . The corresponding third-generation channel is closed by the top threshold. Each open channel has three orthogonal matching-color final states, so the color multiplicity in a decay width gives . There is no initial color average because the W boson is colorless. The tree-level W branching fractions are therefore:
| Final channel | Partial width | Branching fraction, rounded |
|---|---|---|
The rounded percentages sum to 99% because of rounding. The exact fractions sum to one, with total leptonic fraction and hadronic fraction . The total decay width isAs an illustrative numerical estimate, taking and gives , each open quark width and . These are tree-level model estimates with the stated illustrative inputs, not a fit to a measured width. Strong radiative corrections increase the inclusive quark widths.
The produced quark and antiquark radiate gluons, generating a parton shower. As their virtualities fall towards the strong-interaction scale, perturbation theory gives way to hadronization: confinement converts the colored partons into color-neutral hadrons, typically seen as two particle jets, with additional radiation sometimes producing resolved extra jets. Unstable hadrons subsequently decay; the primary quarks are not observed as free particles.
Including the CKM matrix, the charged current couples an accessible up-type flavour to every kinematically accessible down-type flavour . ThereforeThe sums over remain by row unitarity, so the massless tree-level total remains . Quark mixing redistributes the hadronic branching fractions; it does not create a new total color factor. If a family is above threshold, only its accessible channels enter, and the unitarity sum must not be applied to an incomplete set of final flavours.
For completeness, CKM parameter counting starts with real degrees of freedom of an unitary matrix. This follows by counting real entries and independent Hermitian constraints in . The real-orthogonal subclass has mixing angles; the remaining parameters can be viewed as phases. Rephasing each up-type and down-type mass eigenfield changes by . Of the phases, the common phase does nothing, so are removable. ThusFor three generic nondegenerate families this is three angles and one CP-violating phase. Degenerate masses can allow additional changes of basis and reduce the count.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 48 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The superficial degree of divergence is the power of a common large-momentum scale obtained by scaling all independent internal momenta together, before cancellations or subtraction of divergent subdiagrams. In a scalar field theory with a standard quadratic kinetic term and non-derivative interactions, each loop momentum integral supplies powers of momentum and each internal propagator supplies minus two. ThusFor a connected Feynman diagram, counting vertex half-edges and applying the stated identity for the loop order givesIt follows that . Meanwhile, . Substitution provesThis power counting in quantum field theory concerns the overall scaling: even a Feynman diagram with can contain divergent subdiagrams, and cancellations may improve convergence when .
The canonical mass dimensions are and . A finite polynomial scalar field theory has power-counting renormalizability when its interactions have nonnegative mass dimensions and the allowed local counterterms form a finite set closed under subtraction of divergent subdiagrams. For , non-derivative interactions therefore satisfy . Equivalently,so adding vertices of such interactions cannot force an indefinitely increasing number of external legs or derivatives in divergent counterterms. In dimensions a fixed finite polynomial still has this favorable power counting in quantum field theory; the displayed upper bound on is intended only for .
For six-dimensional cubic scalar field theory, and yieldThe coupling has zero mass dimension. The possible overall divergences have : vacuum energy, a linear tadpole diagram term, a mass term, a kinetic term, and a cubic interaction. These are finitely many local counterterms. Divergent subdiagrams of higher-point Feynman diagrams are removed by the same counterterms, establishing perturbative renormalizability of cubic scalar theory in six dimensions. A real cubic potential is unbounded below, so this claim is one of perturbative quantum field theory, not a claim that the polynomial defines a stable nonperturbative vacuum.
After Wick rotation, use the Euclidean action with positive kinetic and mass terms and interaction . The Euclidean momentum-space Feynman rules are: an internal scalar propagator , a vertex , momentum conservation at each vertex, integration for each independent loop, and division by the Feynman-diagram symmetry factor. Strip the overall momentum-conserving delta function and external propagators when computing an amputated Green's function.
The one-particle-irreducible two-point vertex at one loop is the bubble:
Interchanging its two internal lines is an automorphism, giving Feynman-diagram symmetry factor two. In the normalization of the printed Minkowski amputated Green's function, the two vertices contribute , the two internal propagators contribute , and Wick rotation supplies the overall already factored out there. Thus the Euclidean bubble contribution isFor this self-energy calculation we impose a vanishing one-point function, so tadpole diagram insertions are canceled by the linear counterterm. Without that convention a connected but one-particle-reducible Feynman diagram with a tadpole insertion is also possible: both external legs attach to one vertex, a zero-momentum line joins it to a second vertex, and that second vertex has a self-loop. Its amputated contribution is , independent of . It is not the bubble drawn above; keeping it without a tadpole subtraction would add this constant to the full amputated answer.
To find the bubble's local divergence, put and expand at large :Odd terms vanish under the angular integral. Rotational symmetry gives . The terms through order are thereforeand the coefficient approaches . Terms of order and higher are integrable at infinity in six dimensions; subtracting the two displayed terms leaves an ultraviolet-convergent integral. Hence the divergent part is a local polynomial , with momentum-independent coefficients. For example, when its logarithmically divergent coefficient isChanging the reference scale in this logarithm only changes a finite local term.
At zero external momentum the spherical ultraviolet cutoff and giveWith , integrate . This gives the momentum-cutoff two-point function in six-dimensional cubic scalar theoryIn particular, the divergent part of this constant iswhile the last term in tends to a finite constant. For the zero-momentum integral gives directly. The finite parts of a local subtraction can depend on the regularization prescription; the conclusion about mass and kinetic counterterms does not.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 42 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use and . In the interaction picture, fields evolve with the free Hamiltonian, while interactions enter the state evolution through the Dyson series. Write the Klein-Gordon field as , with the positive-frequency part of a quantum field containing annihilation operators and containing creation operators. The mode normalization in the PDF corresponds to and .
The time-ordered product places fields with the latest time on the left. For two bosonic insertions,The normal-ordered product instead moves every creation operator to the left of every annihilation operator, without adding the commutators generated by that rearrangement. Its vacuum expectation value is zero whenever a nonempty set of free-field factors remains.
The mode commutator gives the positive-frequency Wightman functionDefine the Feynman propagator here to be the two-point function itself, rather than that function divided by . ThenEquivalently,The positive-energy pole is below and the negative-energy pole above the real axis. Closing the energy contour integral below for positive time separation and above for negative time separation gives the two terms above. Thus this is the scalar Feynman propagator pole prescription, and . In particular, : the difference between time ordering and normal ordering is the Wick contraction.
For free bosonic fields, the Wick theorem stateswhere runs over all sets of disjoint pairs of indices, including the empty set, and is the set of paired indices. The empty normal-ordered product equals one. This is an operator identity for free fields, understood with smearing or a regulator when products of operator-valued distributions require it.
Here is an inductive proof of the scalar Wick theorem. Sort the arguments chronologically so that is the latest. For any remaining set , commuting the annihilation part of through the creation parts in a normal-ordered product givesThe creation part of is already in the correct position. Every commutator on the right is a scalar, so no further operator rearrangement is needed for it. Because is latest, that commutator is . Assume the Wick theorem for the other fields and multiply its expansion by . The first term of the displayed identity gives every pairing in which index 1 is unpaired; the sum gives every pairing in which 1 is paired with exactly one . Each final partial pairing has exactly one such construction. The one-field identity supplies the base case, proving the theorem by mathematical induction. Applying time ordering restores arbitrary argument order.
Taking the vacuum expectation value retains only complete pairings. Odd free correlators vanish; for example the free scalar four-point function is . These facts explain why propagators are the edges of Feynman diagrams.
For the interacting quartic scalar field theory, the interaction Hamiltonian density is . With a single time ordering acting on external insertions and interaction vertices, the unnormalized numerator expands asApply the proved Wick theorem term by term. Each complete pairing connects external insertions and four-legged vertices by Feynman propagators. There are assignments of four distinct incident legs at a vertex, canceling its factorial. Permuting identical integrated vertices cancels the corresponding part of . Permutations still leaving the labeled graph unchanged give its Feynman-diagram symmetry factor. For example,whereas the two-point tadpole diagram has coefficient , because choosing the two vertex legs contracted with the labeled external fields gives possibilities and the other two contract with each other.
Thus the position-space rules attach to every edge, to every four-legged interaction vertex, and divide by the graph's Feynman-diagram symmetry factor. Fourier transformation gives the momentum-space Feynman rules:Enforce momentum conservation at each vertex, retaining the overall four-momentum delta function. External lines of these correlation functions remain unamputated. The unnormalized expression includes Vacuum Feynman diagrams; dividing by cancels those disconnected vacuum factors. They should not be discarded without that normalization.
There is a time-ordering convention in the printed correlation-function notation worth making explicit. The usual interacting correlator uses the single global time ordering in above. If the displayed is read literally with outside that ordering, the external block and the vertex block are separately time ordered: their cross-contractions are because each external field stands to the left of every vertex field. The same pairing construction then uses for lines within either block and for lines between blocks; in momentum space the latter is . This literal product is different from the conventional globally time-ordered interacting correlator, and does not have the ordinary external Feynman propagators derived above.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 46 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take the muon mass to be , and use the quantum electrodynamics convention with . Let be the incoming muon and antimuon momenta and the outgoing photon momenta, so . External particles are on shell: and . The two tree-level Feynman diagrams are the two orders in which the photon legs attach to the muon line. There is no three-photon QED vertex, and therefore no single-photon annihilation diagram into two photons at this order.
The QED Feynman rules needed here are the vertex , the Dirac propagatoran incoming muon spinor , an incoming antimuon adjoint , and an outgoing photon polarization . At a vertex enforce four-momentum conservation. Spinor products are ordered along the fermion line; exchanging the external photons introduces no relative minus sign. Define and .
With the convention that a diagram contributes , the two muon-antimuon annihilation amplitudes areTheir denominators are respectively and , where , . A different consistent overall amplitude-phase convention has no physical effect.
A physical photon polarization vector obeys , and represents an equivalence class . For a real null momentum, adding preserves transversality. One can additionally choose transverse spatial vectors with and ; there are two independent physical polarizations. The equivalence class removes the unphysical longitudinal direction, rather than imposing four independent physical polarization states.
The invariance of the total amplitude is a two-photon fermion Ward identity. Replace by and put , . The external Dirac equations giveAway from propagator poles, ; the identity extends with the common Feynman prescription. ThereforeThe two terms in the bracket then give and , which cancel. Exchanging photon labels proves the second Ward identity. Thus the sum is unchanged under for either photon. Neither diagram is generally gauge-invariant separately. Physically, longitudinal pure-gauge polarization does not couple to the observable scattering amplitude; only the two transverse photon degrees of freedom contribute.
For Compton scattering write the incoming momenta as and outgoing momenta as , with . The outgoing muon contributes , the incoming photon contributes without conjugation, and the outgoing photon contributes . The two tree-level Compton amplitudes areThese are the lower two diagrams. Their intermediate muon momenta are and , with denominators and . The first attaches the incoming photon before the outgoing photon along fermion flow; the second reverses that attachment order. Both contribute at order in the amplitude.
Compton scattering has one incoming and one outgoing muon and one photon on each side; annihilation has an incoming particle-antiparticle pair and two outgoing photons. Accordingly the external spinors/polarizations and physical Mandelstam channels differ, although both arise from the same two-vertex QED matrix element. Crossing symmetry relates them by continuing and one outgoing photon momentum , with the corresponding external wavefunction replacements. The annihilation channel becomes the Compton channel and the other channel becomes its channel. Identical final photons require a factor in an annihilation phase-space integral over an otherwise double-counted full final-state region; there is no analogous final-state identical-particle factor for the muon-photon Compton final state. Gauge cancellation holds for the summed Compton amplitude as well.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 43 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Chirality and the component expansion. A chiral superfield is constrained byUse left Grassmann derivatives. The sign from differentiating an odd factor matters:For a general superfield written in coordinates , the odd chain rule consequently turns the given superspace covariant derivative intoThe chirality constraint removes the explicit dependence at fixed . There are only two components of , and their Grassmann algebra allows at most a quadratic monomial. Its finite chiral-superfield component expansion is thereforeHere is a complex scalar field, a Weyl spinor, and a complex auxiliary field; the last label avoids confusing it with the effective superpotential later. The factor is the standard canonical component normalization. In ordinary coordinates the same statement isThis translation exponential terminates because its shift is nilpotent; it displays the full component dependence without an unstated convention for the barred spinor square.
A superspace covariant derivative obeys the graded product rule. Since an ordinary scalar chiral superfield is even, . Linear combinations prove the polynomial claim. More generally, a nonsingular holomorphic function of chiral fields is chiral; inserting conjugate fields generally spoils this holomorphic closure of chiral superfields.
The superspace action. For a real Kähler potential and a holomorphic superpotential, the global chiral-field action has Lagrangian densityFull superspace integration gives a D-term, and chiral superspace integration an F-term. The action is real, and its supersymmetry variations are spacetime total derivatives. For one field, positive and algebraic elimination give . The Wess–Zumino model uses the canonical choice at tree level.
Scalar potential and the vertex. In canonical normalization, the auxiliary part of the Lagrangian density isSubstitution leaves . Differentiating the given quadratic-plus-cubic superpotential therefore gives the tree-level effective potentialThis applies for complex . In terms of canonically normalized real fields , phases may be chosen to make real, in which caseThe complex-field quartic interaction is . There are two identical external legs of each field type. Differentiating with respect to those four fields, or counting the Wick attachments to the vertex, produces the factor :The local Feynman diagram for this quartic complex-scalar vertex in the Wess–Zumino model is
If real-field Feynman rules are preferred, the and vertices are , while the vertex is . These are the same interaction in a different component basis. They should not be confused with a convention that absorbs into the coefficient of the complex quartic term.
Spurion symmetries. Treat as chiral spurions. An ordinary acts on with charges and leaves neutral. An R-symmetry gives charge one and charges . Thus
Each superpotential term has ordinary charge zero and R-charge two; the chiral integration measure has R-charge minus two. In particular is neutral under the specified R-symmetry. These are formal transformations of fields and parameters together, not two exact symmetries of a theory with arbitrary fixed nontransforming numerical couplings. This Wess–Zumino spurion charge assignment is useful because it constrains possible quantum terms.
The general holomorphic form. Let denote the local effective superpotential, reserving for the auxiliary component. The holomorphy argument for superpotential non-renormalization permits dependence on the chiral spurions, not on their conjugates. The dimensionless combination is neutral under both formal symmetries, whereas has the required dimension and charges. Hence, for , their most general allowed form iswith a holomorphic function before perturbative regularity and matching conditions are imposed. Equivalently, a monomial must obeySolving gives , . Thus the terms in the holomorphic expansion have the form , which is precisely the expansion of the displayed function.
What is and is not renormalized. Apply the non-renormalization theorem to a local Wilsonian effective action retaining the elementary field and a nonzero infrared cutoff. Perturbative coefficients are regular as and : no massless infrared modes have been integrated all the way to zero momentum. Negative powers of are incompatible with the free weak-coupling limit, and powers would require negative powers of . Only the quadratic and cubic structures survive this regularity test. Their coefficients cannot acquire a loop correction here: a quadratic term with no is the free-theory mass term, while a cubic term only linear in is already the tree interaction. A loop renormalizing that cubic term requires additional interaction insertions. Such a dependence is excluded by the holomorphic charge constraints; dependence on cannot repair it in a superpotential. Matching to the specified tree action fixesThe limit is taken in the final polynomial, not by evaluating the intermediate ratio . The holomorphic Wilsonian superpotential and its parameters receive no independent perturbative vertex renormalization. Symmetries alone would only give the arbitrary function ; regularity and the free/tree matching are necessary to reach the stronger conclusion.
The Kähler potential is not protected by that theorem. In particular a corrected kinetic term leads to wave-function renormalization. Writing in canonical normalization givesThese holomorphic and canonically normalized superpotential couplings distinguish the two senses of “renormalized”: the physical/canonically normalized parameters can run, entirely through the common field normalization, even when the holomorphic coefficients do not. The scalar effective potential can consequently receive quantum corrections through the Kähler potential. Nor does the local perturbative statement automatically apply to infrared-singular one-particle-irreducible actions or to integrating out whole massive fields. Non-renormalization protects the local holomorphic F-term, not the complete quantum action or every physically normalized mass and coupling.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 40 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
There are exactly two tree Feynman diagrams: the incident scalar can be absorbed before the final scalar is emitted, or after it. The internal fermion four-momenta are respectively and . A scalar exchange diagram would require an absent scalar self-interaction, so there is no additional tree channel.
Define the S-matrix convention . The two tree scattering amplitudes areUsing the Dirac propagator from the preceding Feynman rules,The two terms add with the same relative sign: neither diagram exchanges identical external fermions. Their interference must be retained when squaring the complete scattering amplitude. In the phase convention above, , which gives an equivalent simplified numerator. An overall phase depends on the S-matrix convention and does not change a relativistic scattering cross-section.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 44 4 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A gauge-invariant observable is BRST-closed: replacing its infinitesimal gauge parameter by the ghost gives . Change the gauge functional continuously, or interpolate between two admissible choices, by changing the gauge-fixing fermion to . The action changes by the BRST-exact operator .
For a normalized correlator of with each insertion BRST-closed, differentiation of the functional integral givesThe BRST Ward identity says for an invariant measure and action, with appropriate boundary conditions. Since , the graded Leibniz rule makes the first insertion an exact variation of up to its harmless parity sign, and both terms vanish. ThusPhysical gauge-invariant correlation functions are independent of this gauge condition, even though individual gauge-field and ghost Feynman diagrams change. This argument assumes an admissible perturbative gauge fixing, a BRST symmetry-preserving regulator/measure and no uncanceled boundary contribution. A global failure of those assumptions is not settled by the formal local calculation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 43 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use natural units and the Minkowski metric . A real scalar field assigns a real variable to each spatial point. Its Lagrangian density can be taken to beThe principle of stationary action gives the Euler-Lagrange equation . With , this is the Klein-Gordon equation. An additional nonlinear part of describes interactions.
The canonical momentum is . The Legendre transform in mechanics gives the canonical Hamiltonian density of a real scalar fieldThe Hamiltonian equations and recover the same field equation. In canonical quantization, the fields become operators satisfying the equal-time canonical commutation relationsA spatial lattice makes the analogy with many coupled quantum-mechanical coordinates precise. Each lattice field value is a coordinate, with its own conjugate momentum. The path integral is another representation of the same quantum evolution.
To see its origin, first consider one coordinate with . Split a time interval into steps of length and insert position and momentum resolutions of the identity. The short-time kernel isMultiplying the kernels and integrating over intermediate positions gives the phase-space path integralThe endpoints of are fixed. The momentum integrals are Gaussian integrals; completing the square produces the configuration-space path integralAt finite slicing its normalization contains . This fixes the composition law and the initial delta-function kernel. One sums over all paths, not merely solutions of the classical equation. Restoring replaces the weight by ; stationary phase explains the emergence of classical trajectories.
For the field, use scalar field configuration eigenstates , satisfying . Insert their completeness relations on every time slice. This givesThe endpoint field configurations are fixed. Integrating the Gaussian momentum variables leaves the scalar field path integral . The functional measure means a regulated product over the field variables. A spacetime lattice or another ultraviolet cutoff makes this product finite before the continuum limit; interacting continuum calculations may require renormalization. The oscillatory Minkowski weight is an amplitude, not a positive probability density.
For vacuum expectation values, the boundaries must select the vacuum rather than arbitrary field configurations. Long imaginary-time evolution suppresses excited states: , so after normalization only the lowest-energy component remains as . This is vacuum projection by imaginary time. The corresponding Feynman i-epsilon prescription in the real-time integral specifies the vacuum boundary conditions and the poles of the propagator. With , the Euclidean path integral has the weight , whereIt is often a useful regulated starting point; analytic continuation returns the vacuum time-ordered quantities.
Introduce a classical source and define the normalized vacuum generating functionalwith the same vacuum prescription in numerator and denominator. A functional derivative brings down . The order of the time slices makes the operator insertion time-ordered. Thus source differentiation inserts time-ordered field operators:The denominator removes vacuum diagrams and gives normalized expectation values. It is essential that these are time-ordered products; differentiating this vacuum functional does not directly give every possible operator ordering.
The free theory illustrates the method. Its quadratic kernel is with the vacuum pole prescription, and completing the square gives the Gaussian evaluation of a free scalar generating functionalTwo source derivatives give . Higher derivatives give all pairings, the content of Wick theorem. For an interaction , one may use path-integral perturbation by source derivatives:Expanding this expression generates Feynman diagrams and their Wick contractions. The connected generating functional retains connected contributions; in particular . These functionals turn the computation of field-operator expectations into source differentiation of an ordinary regulated integral.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 47 4 b ii Solution 2026-10-06
Allowed through second-order weak interactions, not a tree-level neutral-current vertex. This is the flavour-changing transition responsible for neutral kaon mixing, with change of strangeness by two. Box Feynman diagrams contain two W bosons and internal up-type quarks. Their vertices come from the weak charged current and contain CKM matrix factors. At low energy they generate an operator plus its conjugate. The GIM mechanism cancels the flavour-independent part of the internal-quark sum; unequal quark masses leave a nonzero loop amplitude.







