Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 48 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Label the incoming momenta and spin states and the outgoing ones , with . Write and . The Mandelstam variables are , and . At lowest order, each connected Feynman diagram has two pseudoscalar Yukawa interaction vertices and one internal scalar propagator.
The t and u exchanges for two fermions, and the t exchange and s annihilation for a fermion-antifermion pair, with external momentum and spin labels
. Details. Define the scattering amplitude by . Fix the external Fock state ordering as to for the two-fermion process. The exchange connects to and to ; the exchange connects to and to . The two Feynman vertices contribute , and the internal scalar propagator contributes divided by its denominator. Exchanging the two identical final fermions supplies a relative fermionic sign. ThusThis changes sign when the two outgoing labels are exchanged, as identical-fermion antisymmetry requires. There is no annihilation diagram for two incoming fermions: the interaction preserves Dirac fermion number conservation.
For the fermion-antifermion process take initial state and final state . The exchange uses bilinears , and the annihilation uses . To fix the sign without a guess, expand the current in creation and annihilation operators. Its relevant terms have the signsThe antifermion sign of a normal-ordered bilinear makes the exchange contraction negative, whereas the product of annihilation and creation contractions is positive for the specified external ordering. Multiplying by therefore givesA different common phase convention for an external state can reverse the overall amplitude, but never the relative sign of its two contributions. Both results are tree scattering with pseudoscalar exchange and are of order .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 42 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the printed interaction, so the Dyson series contributes per vertex before its spinor matrix. The momentum-space Feynman rules areEach interaction vertex has one pseudoscalar line and one incoming and one outgoing fermion-number line. Conserve four-momentum at every vertex, integrate each independent loop momentum with , and divide by any Feynman-diagram symmetry factor. A closed fermion loop contributes an extra minus sign. The external wavefunctions are for incoming fermions, for outgoing fermions, for incoming antifermions and for outgoing antifermions; spinor matrices are multiplied in order along the fermion line. An external pseudoscalar has unit wavefunction factor in standard relativistic normalization. Relative fermionic signs also occur when the external contractions are permuted.
The leading scattering amplitudes are of order . Label the incoming momenta and outgoing momenta , all with positive energy and . Use the Mandelstam variables , and . The tree scattering with pseudoscalar exchange is shown below; dashed edges are pseudoscalar propagators, and arrows indicate fermion-number flow, opposite to the motion of an antifermion.
The two pseudoscalar-exchange tree diagrams for fermion–fermion scattering and the exchange and annihilation diagrams for fermion–antifermion scattering
. Details. Define the scattering amplitude by . Use standard relativistic normalization for external states and spinors. To fix even the overall signs, suppress the positive state-normalization factors and write the creator order of the two-fermion states as , , and the fermion-antifermion states as , . Spin labels on the are implicit.
For two fermions, the direct graph connects and , while the exchanged graph connects and . The canonical anticommutation relations give signs and for these contractions in the chosen state order. Multiplication of the two vertices and the scalar propagator gives . HenceInterchanging the labels of either pair of identical external fermions reverses this amplitude, as required for the antisymmetric states of fermionic Fock space.
For a fermion and an antifermion, the graphs are exchange and annihilation. Their signs can be derived without guessing an analogy with the first process. The normal-ordered product of the pseudoscalar bilinear contains terms of the formsThe minus in the second term is the antifermion sign of a normal-ordered bilinear. Between the chosen external states, exchange has sign and pair annihilation followed by pair creation has sign . ThereforeChanging an external-state phase can change the common overall sign; it cannot change the relative minus between the two channels. Both amplitudes use the coefficient exactly as printed. For the Hermitian convention discussed in part (a), substitute throughout, or equivalently use vertex from the outset.

