Past exam of the theoretical physics major option course of the University of Oxford / 2018 / 3 / b

Counting the mass dimensions of each interaction operator givesIndeed $\Phi (\partial a{)}^2$ and $\Phi F^2$ have dimension five, whereas $\Phi b^2(\partial b{)}^2$ has dimension seven. These are interactions of an effective field theory with dimensionful couplings.

The direct one-vertex decay channels are $\Phi \to aa$, $\Phi \to bbbb$ and $\Phi \to \gamma \gamma$. Each leading scattering amplitude is linear in its corresponding coupling, and a decay width is quadratic in the amplitude. Therefore, holding the parent mass fixed,There are no tree-level interference terms between these different final states.

All daughter particles are massless, so the parent mass $M$ supplies the only kinematic scale at tree level. Each vertex has two derivatives, making its scattering amplitude scale as ${\lambda }_i{M}^2$. For the four-$b$ vertex, symmetrizing over the derivative-bearing legs yields a sum of pairwise four-momentum products, which is proportional to $M^2$ by four-momentum conservation.

For $n$ massless daughters, the Lorentz invariance Lorentz-invariant phase-space measure scales as $M^{2n-4}$: each $d^{3}q/(2E)$ contributes two powers and the four-dimensional Dirac delta removes four powers. Including the parent factor $1/(2M)$ gives $\Gamma \sim |{\lambda }_i{|}^2{M}^{2n-1}$. ThusThe unspecified factors are dimensionless angular integrals and identical-particle factors. Each result has mass dimension one, as a decay width must in natural units.