Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 40 1 v Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Put with . An orthonormal real basis of polarization vectors isEach polarization vector obeys . The Minkowski metric gives , since . The first two are transverse to the spatial momentum; the longitudinal polarization of a massive vector boson is spatially longitudinal but still orthogonal to the full four-momentum. The polarization sum for a massive vector boson isIn the rest frame all three polarization vectors are spatial unit vectors. Their three independent positive-norm states are the physical spin states of a massive spin-one particle.