Choose the zero of energy so that the translation-invariant vacuum state has . A one-particle state of rest mass obeys the relativistic energy-momentum relation
The translation covariance of a quantum field in c remains valid for the full interacting four-momentum operator. Acting its exponential functions on the two momentum eigenstates gives
Here . A different additive vacuum energy must be subtracted consistently from both energy eigenvalues before identifying the physical .
For , let a unitary operator implement a Lorentz boost taking to . For a Lorentz scalar field, with . The phase follows from translation covariance of a quantum field; its complex conjugate enters the bra. The transformed energy eigenvalue is by invariance of the Minkowski inner product. The reduction requires a massive initial state.
For a massive spin-zero one-particle state with covariant normalization and a Lorentz scalar field, Lorentz invariance makes independent of the on-shell four-momentum within a fixed species. A Lorentz boost to the rest frame, invariance of the vacuum state and scalar transformation at the origin prove this. Translation covariance of a quantum field then supplies the plane-wave factor. With noncovariant normalization, the boost law and the displayed momentum independence acquire energy factors.