Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / iii / Paper 304 / 2

Take integer $n\ge 3$ and positive integer $d$, so the interaction is genuinely non-Gaussian. For a connected two-point Feynman diagram with $V$ interaction vertices and $I$ internal lines, counting half-edges and using the loop order givesAt one loop $I=V$, hence $(n-2)V=2$. There are only two possibilities: a two-interaction vertex bubble diagram for $n=3$, or a one-interaction vertex tadpole diagram for $n=4$. The latter is independent of external momentum and changes the mass, not the kinetic term.

For cubic scalar field theory, introduce a positive auxiliary mass $\mu$ if needed to separate infrared divergences from ultraviolet divergences. The one-loop self-energy in the quantum effective action is $-{\lambda }^2{B}_d(p)/2$, withThis Feynman parameter representation follows by shifting the loop momentum; it is directly valid for a translation-invariant regulator, or for the convergent subtracted integral. Differentiating at $p^2=0$ givesThus the coefficient of the kinetic term changes by ${\lambda }^2\int d^{d}q/[(2\pi {)}^d(q^2+{\mu }^2{)}^3]/6$.

Only the cubic interaction has a momentum-dependent one-loop two-point correction.There is a terminology qualification: if “wave-function renormalization” means a required ultraviolet counterterm, rather than a finite correction to the field normalization, the large-$q$ radial integral behaves as $\int dq{q}^{d-7}$, and the answer isIt is logarithmically divergent at $d=6$ and power divergent above $6$ with a momentum cutoff. Among interactions with a relevant coupling or marginal coupling, the divergent case is uniquely $(n,d)=(3,6)$. The massless low-dimensional amplitude needs an infrared divergence prescription; one cannot take a local expansion at zero momentum without one. The $n=1,2$ cases, if admitted, are a source and a Gaussian mass term and have no interaction-induced wave-function renormalization.

The kinetic term fixes the mass dimension of the scalar field, and the interaction then fixes that of its coupling:A relevant coupling has positive mass dimension; a marginal coupling has zero mass dimension. ThereforeFor integer dimensions the complete interacting list isIf the noninteracting $n=1,2$ terms are included, their couplings have mass dimensions $(d+2)/2$ and $2$, respectively, and are relevant for every positive $d$. This is a classification by power counting in quantum field theory; it does not assert the stability of odd monomial potentials.

For every interacting $n\ge 3$, the one-loop scalar effective action already contains counterexamples. On a constant background, with a positive auxiliary mass $\mu$ to control infrared divergences, its field-dependent part isThe term of order ${\lambda }^V$ has $E=(n-2)V$ external scalar fields and is a one-loop polygon one-particle-irreducible Feynman diagram. Choose $V>n/(n-2)$ and $2V>d$. Then $E>n$, its loop momentum integral is ultraviolet convergent, and its coefficient is nonzero. Removing the ultraviolet cutoff does not remove this finite higher-point scalar vertex. For $d>2$, generic nonexceptional external momenta give the same conclusion without retaining the auxiliary mass. In $d\le 2$, the massless theory still needs an infrared prescription; removing the ultraviolet cutoff does not remove that need or the induced vertices. Hence there are no interacting pairs $(n,d)$ under the literal wording. For $n=2$ the functional determinant is field independent; $n=1$ merely shifts a Gaussian integral when an infrared prescription exists.

There is a different conventional interpretation: absence of new independent divergent counterterms. The superficial degree of divergence of a connected diagram isThe standard perturbative counterterm closure criterion is $[\lambda ]\ge 0$, with the same pairs as in part ii, provided one includes all symmetry-allowed lower-degree potential terms, the kinetic term, and the vacuum energy. A pure monomial family need not itself have counterterm closure: a sextic interaction in three dimensions generates a quartic counterterm, and a quartic interaction generates a mass counterterm. This interpretation concerns the local divergent part or the continuum defining action, not the complete quantum effective action with its finite interaction vertices and derivative expansion.

For the massive four-dimensional quartic scalar field theory, write ${\lambda }_B$ for the bare quartic coupling, ${\lambda }_R$ for its renormalized value, and $m>0$ for the mass held fixed by a renormalization condition. Define the scalar bubble integralThe quartic one-particle-irreducible correlation function, defined as a derivative of the Euclidean quantum effective action, isThere are three bubble diagrams, one for each pairing of external momenta, and each has Feynman-diagram symmetry factor $2$. The minus sign follows equivalently from the quadratic term in the functional determinant $\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{Tr}\log [1+({\lambda }_B/2)(-{\partial }^2+m^2{)}^{-1}{\varphi }^2]$.

Radial integration at zero external momentum givesThe bare quartic vertex is not finite at fixed bare coupling. Its logarithmic ultraviolet divergence must be subtracted. Impose the momentum-subtraction scheme condition ${\Gamma }_R^{(4)}(0,0,0,0)={\lambda }_R$. To one loop this requiresFor the finite difference, a Feynman parameter and a shift of loop momentum giveThe boundary error due to shifting a sharp cutoff vanishes in this limit. Substitution yields the finite renormalized quartic scalar vertexThus finiteness requires holding the renormalized coupling fixed and allowing the bare coupling to depend on ${\Lambda }_0$. The unsubtracted assertion would be false.

The same one-loop scalar effective action explains the other effective interactions. For a constant background its expansion isThe $r=1$ tadpole diagram gives a mass correction $\delta m^2={\lambda }_R{I}_1/2$, withIt requires a mass counterterm. The field-independent vacuum energy also requires subtraction. The $r=2$ term is the quartic logarithm already treated. There is no one-loop wave-function renormalization from the quartic tadpole diagram.

For $r\ge 3$ the polygon diagrams generate finite higher-point scalar vertices, withFor example, the induced sextic term in the effective potential is $+{\lambda }_R^3{\varphi }^6/(768{\pi }^2{m}^2)$, or a six-point interaction vertex $15{\lambda }_R^3/(16{\pi }^2{m}^2)$ when normalized by $6!$. These finite terms survive the removal of the ultraviolet cutoff at fixed $m,{\lambda }_R$.

The external-momentum dependence of the bubble diagrams also generates a derivative expansion of quartic interactions. At small $P$, the subtracted scalar bubble integral is $-P^2/(96{\pi }^2{m}^2)+O(P^4/m^4)$, giving finite derivative couplings. At order ${\lambda }_R^2$ these are the new field-dependent interactions beyond the mass and quartic terms; the sextic and higher interaction vertices require higher powers of ${\lambda }_R$, though they still occur at one loop. Such coefficients are suppressed by powers of the physical mass or external momentum, not by powers of ${\Lambda }_0$. The calculation establishes an order-by-order perturbative limit; it does not establish a nonperturbative interacting continuum limit of a quantum field theory in four dimensions.