Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 40 2 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For an unpolarized initial fermion, average over its two spin states and sum over the unobserved final spin:The initial scalar has only one spin state. One can evaluate this sum directly from normalized Dirac spinors, or use consistent fermion spin sums to express it as a trace. It is the squared sum of both tree scattering amplitudes, not the sum of their separate squares.
The relativistic scattering cross-section is obtained by integrating the Lorentz-invariant phase-space measure and dividing by the invariant flux factor:There is no identical-final-particle factor, because the outgoing scalar and fermion are distinct. All energies are positive, with and .
Equivalently, in the centre-of-momentum frame set . Integrating the energy delta function in the relativistic two-body phase space givesFor this elastic process , so integrate over the full solid angle. This supplies the requested prescription without evaluating the angular integral.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 43 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the momentum-space Feynman rules with the scalar Feynman propagator . The four-leg vertex of a factorial-normalized scalar interaction has weight for the positive interaction sign printed here. There are Wick contractions assigning four external legs to its four fields, cancelling the factorial in its coefficient. A negative interaction sign would give ; its squared tree amplitude is the same.
At each vertex include with all incident momenta taken incoming. Assign an internal momentum to each line and integrate each independent loop with . Divide a graph by its Feynman-diagram symmetry factor, sum the graphs at the chosen order, and omit disconnected vacuum graphs from normalized amplitudes. For an S-matrix element, amputate external propagators and put the external momenta on shell as in the LSZ reduction formula; the external one-particle residues are one at tree level.
Define the invariant amplitude by the relativistically normalized matrix elementwith . The lowest-order connected four-point graph is one contact vertex:There is no exchange graph at this order because there is no three-field interaction.
For the elastic scattering from a quartic scalar contact interaction, write for the total centre-of-mass energy and for the energy of each incoming particle. The incoming and outgoing spatial momentum magnitudes both equal , with . The invariant incident flux isThe Lorentz-invariant phase-space measure for two outgoing particles isIn the centre-of-mass frame, the spatial delta function sets , while the energy delta function has radial derivative . Therefore the relativistic two-body phase space satisfiesThe two outgoing real-scalar particles are identical. Integrating over the full solid angle counts each unordered pair twice, so include the identical final-state symmetry factor . This givesThis is isotropic. When denotes each particle's energy, and the full-sphere event density is . If denotes the total energy of the pair, and it is . Stating the answer in removes that energy-label ambiguity.
An equally valid angular convention selects one outgoing particle in a hemisphere, so each event is represented once. In that convention omit and use on the hemisphere, or . Both conventions give at this order. The identical-state factor concerns counting final states and is separate from the vertex factorial.
