Past exam of the quantum field theory course of the University of Oxford 2022 1 d Solution 2026-10-25
Continue with the cubic scalar field theory of c, and use precisely its counterterm signs. Take to separate ultraviolet divergences from infrared divergences. Make a Wick rotation and impose the rotationally invariant cutoff regularization . PutFor example, spherical coordinates give . Polynomial division and then differentiation with respect to give the divergent partsThe derivative relations are and ; differentiation also generates finite terms, which are irrelevant here. The first supplied integral identity is consistent with these divergent parts after Wick rotation.
The second supplied expansion is incorrect. Write . Direct multiplication of the two denominators gives , so the correct Taylor expansion isA concrete counterexample is , , : the exact expression is , whereas the printed expansion gives . We therefore compute the self-energy without that identity.
For Euclidean external momentum , define the scalar bubble integralA Feynman parameter combines its denominators into one squared denominator with . Applying the radial result above and integrating yieldsOne can instead expand with the ultraviolet cutoff fixed on the unshifted loop momentum: the coefficient of the integrand is , using rotational averaging in six dimensions. Its leading radial term is , giving the same logarithm. Shifting a sharp integration boundary changes finite terms in this scalar bubble integral, and does not change the displayed divergent coefficients.
To fix all signs and symmetry factors together, expand the one-loop Euclidean effective action around a background scalar field:These terms are the tadpole diagram, the two-point bubble diagram, and the triangle Feynman diagram. The tadpole diagram has factor ; the two-point bubble diagram also has factor after two differentiations with respect to the background scalar field. The local three-point interaction vertex is . Thus their divergent contributions to the one-, two-, and three-point Euclidean one-particle irreducible vertices are respectivelyThe Euclidean counterterm Lagrangian is . Cancelling each divergent one-particle irreducible vertex therefore givesFor example, the two-point sum is and its divergent coefficients cancel separately. Finite counterterms depend on the chosen renormalization conditions. The zero-mass limit can use a positive subtraction scale in the logarithms after infrared regularization.
If unnormalized vacuum functionals are retained, specify the determinant measure byExpanding its radial integrand at large fixes the additional vacuum energy density counterterm:The purely mass-independent terms depend on the determinant normalization. Normalized Green functions eliminate this entire constant.