Quantum Field Theory Class: Assignment 3

Sungsoo, Jang∗
Department of Physics at the City College Of New York
(Dated: September 16, 2020)
The purpose of the assignment is to assess classical quantum field theory in terms of Euler’s
Lagrangian.

1. CHAPTER ONE: CLASSICAL FIELD THEORY

Consider a Klein-Gordon field in 1+1 dimensions where the field obeys periodic boundary condi-
tions in the x direction.
φ(x, t) = φ(x + L, t) (1)
The action is
! ! L " %
1# $
S= dt dx ∂µ φ∂ µ φ − m2 φ2 (2)
0 2
We’ll expand the field φ and its conjugate momentum π in a complete set of spatial Fourier modes,
kn = 2πn
L
∞ " %
1 & 1 ikn x † −ikn x
φ(x) = √ √ an e + an e (3)
L n=−∞ 2ωn

∞ ' " %
1 & ωn
π(x) = √ (−i) an eikn x − a†n e−ikn x (4)
L n=−∞ 2
(
Hence ωn = (2πn/L)2 + m2 .

1, Use an inverse Fourier transform to solve for an and a†n in terms of the fields φ and π

Solution 1 : Using an inverse Fourier transformation

! ∞
1 1 & 1 # $
φ(p) = √ dx √ √ ân e−i(km −kn ) + â†n e−i(km +kn ) =
L L n=−∞ 2ω n
∞
1 & 1 # $
√ ân δnm + â†n δ−nm = (5)
L n=−∞ 2ωn
∞
1 & 1 # $
√ ân δnm − â†n δnm
L n=0 2ωn

∗ Electronic address: sjang000@citymail.cuny.edu

 2

Likewise,
! ∞ '
−i 1 & ωn # $
π(p) = √ dx √ ân e−i(km −kn ) − â†n e−i(km +kn ) =
L L n=−∞ 2
∞ '
1 & ωn # $
ân δnm − â†n δ−nm = (6)
L n=−∞ 2
∞ '
1 & ωn # $
ân δnm + â†n δnm
L n=0 2

2, Use the canonical commutator i[π(x), φ(y)] = δ(x − y) to derive the commutation relations
between the a’s and a† ’s.

Solution 2 : One can show by solving Lie-bracket,

i[π(x), φ(y)] = i[π(x)φ(y) − φ(y)π(x)]

∞
& ∞
& " %
−i
=i (ân â†m − â†m ân )e−ikm x+ikn y + (âm â†n − â†n âm )e−ikn x+ikm y
2!L n=−∞ m=−∞ (7)
∞
1 & ikn (x−y)
= e = δ(x − y)
L n=−∞

3, Express the Hamiltonian for the field in terms of the a’s and a† ’s.

Solution 3 : the Lagrangian density is £ = 12 (∂µ φ)2 − 12 mφ2 . Therefore, the hamiltonian
density is 12 (∂µ φ)2 + 12 mφ2 . Now, our given field operator is not time-dependent, but we can
evolve the field in time. As a result,
φ(x, t) = Û (t, 0)† φ(x)Û (t, 0) = φ(x)
∞ " %
1 & 1
=√ √ an e−iEp t eikn x + a†n eiEp t e−ikn x
L n=−∞ 2ωn (8)
∞ " %
1 & 1 −ikµ xµ † ikµ xµ
= √ √ an e + an e
L n=−∞ 2ωn
where, pose the power on the exponential to four vector k, and x, then the Hamiltonian density
becomes
1 1 1 1 1
(∂µ φ(xµ ))2 + mφ2 = (∂0 φ(x0 ))2 − (∂i φ(xi ))2 + mφ2 , (9)
2 2 2 2 2
where
∞ " %
1 & 1 µ µ
∂0 φ(x0 ) = √ −iωn √ an e−ikµ x − a†n eikµ x (10)
L n=−∞ 2ωn
 3

∞ " %
i 1 & 1 −ikµ xµ † ikµ xµ
∂i φ(x ) = √ ikn √ an e − an e (11)
L n=−∞ 2ωn

The hamiltonian becomes

! ∞ ∞ )
1 L 1 & & µ µ µ µ
H= dx (−ωn ωm − kn km )(an e−ikµ x − a†n eikµ x )(an e−ikµ x − a†n eikµ x )
2 0 L n=−∞ m=−∞
*
µ µ µ µ
+m2 (an e−ikµ x + a†n eikµ x )(an e−ikµ x + a†n eikµ x )
∞ ∞ )
1 & &
= δ(kn − km )(ωn ωm + kn km + m2 )[a†n am e−i(ωn −ωm )t + an a†m e−i(ωn −ωm )t ]
2 n=−∞ m=−∞
*
2 † † −i(ωn +ωm )t −i(ωn +ωm )t
+δ(kn + km )(−ωn ωm − kn km + m )[an am e + an am e ] ,
(12)

where this equation simplifies as following

∞
1&
Ĥ = ωn (a†n an + an a†n ) (13)
2 n=0

4, Calculate the ground state energy of the field. It’s enough to do this for m = 0.

Solution 4 :From the equation (12), one can calculate the ground state energy of the field
∞
1& 1
Ĥ |0〉 = ωn (a†n an + an a†n ) |0〉 = ωn |n〉 , (14)
2 n=0 2

where n=0, the energy is 12 ω0 , in which ! = 1.

-The End of Assignment 3-