Inductive proof of the scalar Wick theorem 2026-10-14
Split each free real scalar field as , into creation and annihilation parts. For chronologically ordered arguments, the first field has the latest time. Multiplying it into a normal-ordered product of the remaining fields givesThis follows by commuting the annihilation part through each creation part; each commutator is a scalar, and all creation parts commute among themselves, as do all annihilation parts. The scalar commutator is the Feynman propagator for the chronological pair. Induction on the number of fields therefore lists every partial pairing exactly once: either field 1 remains unpaired or it pairs with one . This proves the Wick theorem for free bosonic fields, including the empty pairing. Vacuum expectation retains only complete pairings. The identities are understood for regulated or smeared operator-valued distributions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 59 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Treat as independent variables when taking the Legendre transform. Their canonical momenta areThe canonical quantization of a complex scalar field imposes, at equal times,with , together with their adjoints, and . These are canonical commutation relations for two real scalar degrees of freedom, written in a complex basis. Local fields are operator-valued distributions, so these identities are understood after smearing or with a regulator.
The Hamiltonian density is , givingThe Heisenberg equation of motion is . For example, , while commuting with the gradient term and integrating its derivative of a Dirac delta distribution gives . ThusBoth fields satisfy the Klein-Gordon equation. Their spatial Fourier modes therefore have frequencies , . A complex scalar field has independent coefficients for these two frequency sectors, so, defining the invariant measure , its mode expansion isOne can recover the mode operators at any fixed time using complex scalar mode inversion:Substitution of the expansion verifies these inverses: the spatial integral selects the appropriate momentum, while the two frequency sectors acquire factors . The unwanted sector vanishes when the delta function sets . The canonical commutation relations then give, for example,Likewise has the same value. The cross commutators vanish; their coefficients contain on the corresponding momentum delta function. Conversely, these oscillator brackets reproduce the equal-time field brackets, confirming the normalization of the measure.
Insert the mode expansion into and integrate over space. The terms and enforce opposite spatial momenta; their coefficient is . For the diagonal terms the coefficient is . Combining this with the two invariant measures leavesIn a box, , one half-quantum for each of the two real oscillator species. It diverges as the cutoff is removed. Normal ordering removes this vacuum energy, yielding the normal-ordered Hamiltonian of a free complex scalar field:In this nongravitational free theory an additive constant in changes only an overall state phase, not Heisenberg equations of motion, energy differences or scattering probabilities. It is therefore consistent to choose the Fock vacuum energy as zero. Both creation operators raise the energy: and . Repeated creation builds a bosonic Fock space of spin-zero particles and antiparticles, with the same positive mass and energy. The negative-frequency part of the field does not describe negative-energy physical particles.
The global phase symmetry of a complex scalar field, with orientation , has the indicated Noether current. Taking its divergence, the two first-derivative terms cancel, givingThe same calculation holds for its normal-ordered version. Integrating its temporal component gives a conserved charge when spatial boundary flux vanishes.
Here the ordering convention is important. Direct substitution into the literally ordered product yieldsThe pair terms again vanish, now because their coefficient is a difference of equal energies. Reordering the term produces a divergent vacuum constant: with a finite-mode regulator . Thus the requested finite charge formula uses zero vacuum charge, or equivalently the vacuum subtraction of a complex scalar charge. With that conventional subtraction,The subtraction changes neither current conservation nor the action of on fields; without it, the unrenormalized product does not literally equal the displayed normal-ordered operator.
Finally the oscillator commutators giveor . Acting on a charge eigenstate, the first creator raises its charge by one and the second lowers it by one. Starting from the neutral Fock vacuum, their one-particle states therefore have charges and respectively. This is the complex scalar charge operator , whereas the energy counts the sum of the two occupations. A multiparticle state has additive charge equal to the number of particles minus the number of antiparticles.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 62 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use units and the Minkowski metric . The canonical momentum of the real scalar field is . Canonical quantization replaces the classical fields by operator-valued distributions and imposes the equal-time canonical commutation relationsThese relations are imposed on an initial slice, with smeared fields understood. In the Heisenberg picture, simultaneous unitary time evolution of both operators preserves their commutators. Since the momentum is , the requested equal-time commutator is .
The Legendre transform in mechanics, applied pointwise, gives the canonical Hamiltonian density of a real scalar field. ThusTo obtain its dynamics rather than assume them, use the Heisenberg equation of motion . The momentum-square term gives . The field-square term gives , while differentiating the Dirac delta function in the gradient term and integrating by parts gives . ConsequentlyBoundary terms vanish for suitably decaying smeared fields. This is the Klein-Gordon equation as an operator identity.
A spatial Fourier transform reduces the Klein-Gordon equation to , where . Its two frequency branches and the Hermitian adjoint condition giveThe invariant-normalized scalar mode extraction can be written particularly simply asSubstituting the mode expansion of a free field proves these inversion formulas: the opposite-frequency coefficient is proportional to and vanishes after spatial Fourier inversion. Alternatively they are the corresponding Klein-Gordon inner products. Taking their commutators using the equal-time fields gives in the mixed case. In the two equal-type cases the delta function enforces , multiplying . ThereforeConversely these mode commutators reproduce : the two frequency contributions each supply half the spatial Dirac delta function.
For the covariant oscillator Hamiltonian of a real scalar field, insert the mode expansion of a free field into . Spatial integration sets the two momenta equal in the mixed terms and opposite in the two-creator or two-annihilator terms. The latter have coefficient . The mixed terms giveThe constant is the divergent zero-point energy; a finite box and a momentum cutoff make its meaning explicit. Normal ordering sets the free vacuum energy to zero and leaves all commutators unchanged. Directly applying the mode commutators to the mixed expression yieldsChoose the Fock vacuum by . Each creation operator adds a boson of energy and four-momentum , while each annihilation operator removes one. Products of commuting creation operators give bosonic statistics from commuting creation operators and unrestricted occupation numbers. The real scalar field has one spin-zero species, identical to its antiparticle. Its one-particle states obey , precisely the relativistic normalization of a one-particle state.
For the Feynman propagator, put and contract the two fields in the Fock vacuum. Only survives, giving the Wightman functionThe stipulated time-ordered product convention is . In a contour integral over , the Feynman i-epsilon prescription places the positive-energy pole just below the real axis and the negative-energy pole just above it. For close below, clockwise, obtaining ; for close above, obtaining . Changing in the second contribution therefore provesActing with multiplies the integrand by . The remaining factor tends to as a distribution, so Fourier inversion givesThe sign also follows from the derivative jump of a free scalar time-ordered two-point function: the first time derivative of jumps by , so that of jumps by .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 44 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use units and the Minkowski metric , so . The canonical momentum of the real scalar field is , and the Hamiltonian operator isCanonical quantization of a real scalar field promotes and to operator-valued distributions satisfying the equal-time canonical commutation relationProducts and operator commutators can first be interpreted after spatial smearing. An additive vacuum constant in does not affect the following equations. In the Heisenberg picture, . Applying the canonical commutation relation to the quadratic Hamiltonian operator, and integrating the gradient term by parts, givesThus the Klein-Gordon equation is an operator equation. The spatial Fourier transform reduces it to , with . Its two frequency branches, together with the Hermitian adjoint condition , give the mode expansion of a free fieldThe measure is Lorentz invariant; its normalization fixes that of the creation and annihilation operators rather than imposing any extra physical assumption.
For invariant-normalized scalar mode extraction, take the Klein-Gordon inner product of with the field. The positive-frequency contribution has coefficient and spatial integral . The negative-frequency contribution has coefficient and spatial integral , so it vanishes because . ConsequentlyTaking the Hermitian adjoint, with the order of the scalar factors immaterial, yieldsEquivalently and . At a common time their operator commutator therefore isThe same calculation gives : the surviving factor is an energy difference supported at opposite spatial momenta. These are the bosonic canonical commutation relations in relativistic normalization of a one-particle state.
Choose the Fock vacuum by and . Only the annihilator-creator product contributes to the Wightman function, givingUsing time ordering and the reverse product for , the Feynman propagator, with the convention in this calculation, isIn particular the denominator in the spatial measure is in both terms.
To verify the four-dimensional Fourier transform representation, let and integrate the energy variable first:The Feynman i-epsilon prescription puts the positive-energy pole at and the negative-energy pole at . For , the contour integral closes in the lower half-plane with clockwise orientation. The residue theorem multiplies the residue by , giving . For , it closes counterclockwise above: multiplying the residue by gives . Thus . After inserting the spatial exponential, reversing in the negative-time term gives exactly the time ordering expression above. HenceThis equality is understood as a distribution limit; the same prescription gives .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 48 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Split the free scalar field into its annihilation part and creation part . Normal ordering moves every creation operator to the left of every annihilation operator, without adding the commutators produced by that rearrangement. For two fields,Its vacuum expectation is zero. Time ordering instead places the field at the later time on the left:The equal-time convention is immaterial away from coincident singularities; these expressions are understood as operator-valued distributions.
The only nonzero vacuum contraction uses . The oscillator commutator therefore gives the Wightman functionPut and . Combining the two time orders, and reversing in the second when necessary, givesTo recover the four-dimensional Fourier transform, use the Feynman i-epsilon prescription in the energy variable:The positive-energy pole lies just below the real axis, and the negative-energy pole just above it. For , close below clockwise: the residue at is , and the clockwise factor after dividing by gives the required positive coefficient. For , close above counterclockwise: the residue at is , and the factor gives the other time order. Equivalently the energy contour passes above the positive-energy pole and below the negative-energy pole. HenceThe limit is distributional. The scalar Feynman propagator pole prescription is essential; omitting it from the denominator must be accompanied by the specified contour.
Finally, moving the annihilation part of past the creation part of givesThe normal-ordered two-field product is symmetric in , because the two creation parts commute and the two annihilation parts commute. Applying the two time orders thus proves the two-field scalar Wick identity
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 2014 iii Paper 40 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For the real scalar field, the mostly-plus Minkowski metric gives a positive kinetic energy. Its canonical momentum and Hamiltonian operator areThe Euler-Lagrange field equation is , or . Canonical quantization of a real scalar field promotes the fields to Hermitian operators and replaces the equal-time Poisson brackets by canonical commutation relations:The Heisenberg equation of motion then gives and , so the classical field equation remains an operator identity. Products at coincident points need a regulator; equivalently, the field is an operator-valued distribution.
Resolve the free field into positive- and negative-frequency plane waves. With and ,Reality pairs the two terms by Hermitian conjugation. The equal-time canonical commutation relations are equivalent toFor example, the two mixed terms in each supply half the Dirac delta function. Thus the normalization is fixed, not optional. Each independent mode is a quantum harmonic oscillator, with and its annihilation operator and creation operator.
Choose the Fock vacuum by . Repeated creation operators construct the bosonic Fock space. Substitution into the Hamiltonian operator yieldswhere a finite volume can be used as a regulator. Normal ordering sets the flat-space vacuum reference to zero. The spatial momentum operator isIn particular, and . A one-particle state therefore has positive energy, momentum , and invariant mass . A scalar field transforms in the trivial spin representation, so its particles have spin zero. Because the field is real there is only one set of oscillators: the particle is its own antiparticle, with no distinct conserved particle-minus-antiparticle charge. The free theory does conserve its occupation-number sum, though generic scalar interactions need not.
A momentum eigenstate extends throughout space. A localized particle is described by a superposition such asIts wave packet evolves through the phase ; a narrow packet has group velocity , whose magnitude is at most one. Localization and dispersion concern these superpositions, rather than classical trajectories attached to individual field modes.
Relativistic spacetime behavior is encoded by microcausality. Directly from the oscillator commutators,This is a Lorentz-invariant distribution and vanishes at equal time. Any spacelike separation can be transformed to an equal-time separation, so for spacelike . Thus local operations at spacelike-separated points commute. The vacuum Wightman function need not vanish outside the light cone, but that correlation does not transmit a controllable signal. The Feynman propagator iswhich propagates positive energy forward and negative energy backward in the time-ordered product. For causal response one uses the retarded Green function, whose support lies in or on the future light cone.
Finally, commuting creation operators implyThe multiparticle state is symmetric under the particle exchange operator, which is Bose statistics. For a normalized single mode, the occupation states are with : any number of identical bosons can occupy it. There is no Pauli exclusion principle for these particles. This construction agrees with the Spin-statistics theorem relating integer spin to bosonic exchange symmetry under relativistic locality and positive-energy assumptions. It demonstrates the required scalar case without assuming that theorem as the quantization prescription.
The quantized real scalar field describes positive-energy, mass-, spin-zero bosons that are their own antiparticles; commuting creation operators give Bose statistics, and local field commutators enforce microcausality.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 301 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the supplied oscillator expansion, with the boundary-term convention for momentum stated in part (b). Use a real polarization vector basis, as in the supplied unconjugated polarization completeness relation. Raise its second field index to obtainThe mixed commutator contains only the annihilation-creation and creation-annihilation terms. Their signs are both positive after combining the minus sign in the momentum expansion with the negative Minkowski metric oscillator commutator. Setting and using the momentum Dirac delta distribution givesHere the last equality is the Fourier representation of the Dirac delta function. Similarly,because the integrand is odd under . The momentum-momentum commutator is proportional to the same odd difference, now weighted by , and also vanishes. Therefore the equal-time canonical commutation relations areThese are identities of operator-valued distributions, understood after smearing. The extra indices in the TeX polarization relation are transcription defects; the PDF has the ordinary two-polarization completeness contraction used above. The direct momenta of part (b) also satisfy the canonical commutation relations after their boundary-generated shift, although they do not have the unmodified mode expansion printed here.
Two-field scalar Wick identity 2026-10-14
For a free real scalar field, split into annihilation and creation parts. Moving the creation operators left gives . The commutator is the Wightman function. Choosing either time order gives the displayed identity with the Feynman propagator. It is an identity of operator-valued distributions; coincident-point products need a suitable prescription.