Advanced Quantum Mechanics, Notes based

on online course given by Leonard Susskind

- Lecture 9

Quantum Field Hamiltonian

Review of Hamiltonian for a simple field
∇2
H = ∫ dx Ψ† (x)(- 2 m Ψ(x)) + V(x)Ψ† (x)Ψ(x))
dx could represent multiple dimensions eg x,y,z
Ψ† (x) - creates a particle at x
Ψ† (x)Ψ(x) is the density of particles at x, so integeration over x counts them
∇2
- 2 m → Kinetic Energy of particle

If V(x) is a constant then term V(x)Ψ† (x)Ψ(x) gives an energy proportional to the number of particles

Could write above equation with constant V(x) as

∇2
H = ∫ dx Ψ† (x)(- 2 m Ψ(x)) + mc2 Ψ† (x)Ψ(x))

Momentum Conservation
How do we see from the above Hamiltonian that momentum is conserved?

Hamiltonian updates the state of the system at time t.

Using Φ for the state vector of the system, state as slightly displaced time t + ϵ is

| Φ(t + ϵ) > = ( 1 - iϵH) |Φ(t) > (minus is arbitrary convention)

If momentum is conserved then the Hamiltonian does not change the momentum when it acts on a
state of definite momentum.

Use Fourier transforms on the various parts of the equation to rewrite it in the momentum basis

dp ˜
A) Ψ(x) =  Ψ(p) eipx
2π

If more than one dimension should be 2 π for each dimension

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This is the annihilator operator for a particle at x in terms of the annihilator operator for a particle of
momentum p

dq ˜†
B) Ψ† (x) =  Ψ (q) e-iqx
2π

Using q for momentum symbol here to distinguish from A)

Exponential is negative since it’s the complex conjugate

So rewriting the second term in our earlier Hamiltonian using A) and B) gives

dq dp ˜† ˜
mc2 Ψ† (x)Ψ(x) = mc2 Ψ (q)Ψ(p) ei(p-q) x dx
2π 2π
2
˜† ˜
= mc ∫ dq dp Ψ (q)Ψ(p) δ(p-q)
˜† ˜
= mc2∫ dp Ψ (p)Ψ(p)

Notes:
Definition of delta function ∫δ(p) F(p) = F(0)
Ψ refers to field for a particular type of particle

˜† ˜
Ψ (p)Ψ(p) - indicates creation and annihilation of a particle with momentum p → no net change in
momentum

Could imagine a similar term in the Hamiltonian for three types of particle A, B and C.

Then would have something similar to

˜ † ˜ ˜ † ˜ ˜ † ˜
∫ dpA dpB dpC dqA dqB dqC ΨA (qA )ΨA (pA ) ΨB (qB )ΨB (pB ) ΨC (qC )ΨC (pC ) dx

Total momentum of particles that you put in must match the total momentum of the particles that
you take out but individual amounts dont need to tally ie the momentum of particle A that is added
does not have to be the same as that of the particle A that is removed.

What is really happening is that this Hamiltonian is translation invariant.

So it you see a Hamiltonian term with a whole lot of Ψ’s and Ψ† ' s integrated over space → momen-
tum conservation

Now look at the first term of our Hamiltonian back at the beginning

† ∇2
C) ∫ dx Ψ (x)(- 2 m Ψ(x))

dp ˜ ∇2
Looking at A) from above Ψ(x) =  Ψ(p) eipx to see what the 2m
does in the above term we
2π

see that the only term that depends on x is the eipx so differentiating that twice gives a factor of +p2

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So putting A) into C) and doing the differentiation and the δ stuff like before gives
˜† ˜ p2
∫ dp Ψ (p)Ψ(p) 2 m which is counting up the kinetic energy of the particles

Maths Aside on Integration by Parts

ⅆ
Can shift a ⅆx
in the following to the left if you also multiply by -1 (there are restrictions to when this
can be done but is ok here)
So
ⅆ ⅆ ⅆ ⅆ
Ψ +(x) ⅆx ⅆx
Ψ(x) =- ⅆx
Ψ +(x) ⅆ x Ψ(x) which is useful in the following to show KE is positive as
expected

Suppose we have 2 species of particles call them e and p (but imagine they are Bosons for now)

∇2 ∇2
H = ∫ dx Ψe † (x)(- 2 m Ψe (x)) + ∫ dx Ψp † (x)(- 2 m Ψp (x)) + ∫ dx Ψe † (x) Ψp † (x)Ψe (x)Ψp (x)
e p

The last term gives the annihilation of an e and a p at point x and the creation of an e and a p at
point x and can be show in a space time diagram as follows

p
e
x
t
e
p

Only acts if finds e and p at the same place, otherwise gives zero.
- scattering with conserved momentum
- individual momentum not conserved

If experimental observation of scattering like the above → need a term in the Hamiltonian to account
for it.

Suppose discovered experimentally that Particle A decayed into B and C

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B C
t

Would need term in Hamiltonian to annihilate A and create B and C

† †
∫ dx ΨC (x) ΨB (x)ΨA (x) (integrate over x as could happen anywhere not just at the point x that was
observed)

Coupling Constant
The coupling constant g is a number; it’s small if the particles are weakly interacting ie the probabil-
ity of scattering is low

Should be added as a factor to our list of creation and annihilation operators eg

† †
∫ dx g ΨC (x) ΨB (x)ΨA (x)

What goes in the Hamiltonian must be Hermitian - is equivalent to saying that the time evolution is
unitary (to conserve probabilities)

† †
∫ dx g ΨC (x) ΨB (x)ΨA (x) is not Hermitian but anything and its Hermitian conjugate is Hermitian so
instead try

† † †
∫ dx g ΨC (x) ΨB (x)ΨA (x) +∫ dx g ΨA (x) ΨB (x)ΨC (x)

(Changed the order in the second term as normally required though it doesn’t matter here as these
operators for different types of fields commute with each other)

The second half of the above equation shows the same scattering but in reverse ie as below. So if
have scattering then it assumes that the reverse is also possible

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B C

So now have basic rules of a simple quantum field theory

1) creation and annihilation operators
2) fields made out of these operators as functions of position to create and annihilate particles at
given positions
3) each type of particle has its own field
4) when we write down the Hamiltonian it typically contains terms for the Kinetic Energy of the
particles plus various concoctions that largely come from experiment eg of observed scatterings

Beta Decay
A neutron decaying into a proton, an electron and a neutrino
Ψν † (x) Ψe † (x) Ψp † (x) Ψn (x)

0.45:00 Extra Terms

At the beginning of the lecture, when we wrote

| Φ(t + ϵ) > = ( 1 - iϵH) |Φ(t) >

it was an approximation for small ϵ, if consider a bigger ϵ then need to take next term into account

ϵ2 2
- 2
H |Φ(t) >

We had following when term with H acted; b and c now gone so H cant act again

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t
c
b

But could do Ψc † (x) Ψb † (x) Ψa (x) Ψa † (x)Ψb (x)Ψc (x) - which gives scattering of ‘b’ and ‘c’ with a tempo-
rary ‘a’ as shown below

b c

a
t
c
b

Only rule so far is that total momentum should be conservered

Another possible contribution for a Hamiltonian that acts twice is an exchange of a ‘c’ as shown
below. Note: coupling constant for this term is g2

g2
b c b

A small number of terms in the Hamiltonian can lead to a huge number of different reactions all
related by the same coupling constant.

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Each of the vertices carries a coupling constant

Below is example of an electron emitting a photon

A† Ψ†e Ψe (Note A is the standard notation for photon field)

e
γ
e

Dont think of these diagram too much as a sequence; they are shorthand for the mathematics

0.58:38 If electron is moving close to the speed of light then really does behave as if it were a
superposition of an electron and a photon

Sometimes relationships between coupling constants can be calculated from symmetry (when this
can be done it relates two otherwise independent reactions) but generally the coupling constants
are experimental input

Fermions
Look at relativistic electron in one dimension; previously were studying non-relativistic second
quantization

- deal with relativity here because electron is pretty light and moves with a significant fraction of the
speed of light eg in a hydrogen atom it moves with approximately 1% of the speed of light.

Start with pretty much classical theory with E and p

p2
E= 2m

δ
E→H →-i δt

δ
p→-i δx

E 2 = p2 + m2 (taking c as 1)

δ 2 δ 2
(- i δt
) ϕ =(-i δx
) ϕ + m2 ϕ

Klein Gordon Equation

δ2 δ2
- ϕ = - ϕ + m2 ϕ
δt2 δx2

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δψ -δ
Get rid of squares by putting i = + m2 ψ
δt δx2

One dimensional case with massless electron

massless so speed must be c

E = cp for any massless particle
Hψ = pψ (losing the c again)
δψ δψ
iδt
= - i δx
δψ δψ
δt
+ δx = 0 Any function ψ(x-t) will satisfy this

But 3 things need to be sorted out

1) get negative energy for negative momentum
2) only has right moving particles
3) electron still has no mass and so is moving with the speed of light

So Dirac → take 2 species of electron ψ1 and ψ2 , one left moving and one right moving so that
δψ1 δψ δψ2 δψ2
δt
+ δx1 = 0 and δt
- δx = 0

In quantum mechanics can have a linear superposition of ψ1 and ψ2

Now have a ± type property and can write the amplitudes of the ψ1 and ψ2 parts as
ψ1
ψ2

and introduce a 2x2 matrix observable

1 0 ψ1
Dirac called this 2x2 matrix α
0 -1 ψ2

So can write
H = αp and have two degrees of freedom for the particle - its position and its α

H = αp can be written as
ψ1 ψ1
δ  δ 
ψ2 ψ2 δψ δψ
i δt
= -i α δx
or condensed as i δt
= -i α δx

So that deals with point 2 above re ‘only has right moving particles’

Now let’s add a term to H to see if we can get mass

H = αp + βm where β is another matrix

Know that in relativistic theory

E 2 = p2 + m2 so putting H2 in for E 2 and using [α,p]=0 and [β,m]=0

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E 2 = (αp + βm)(αp + βm)

= α2 p2 + β2 m2 + (αβ + βα) pm

1 0 1 0 1 0
α2 = = so that’s ok
0 -1 0 -1 0 1

Also need β2 = 1 and

also (αβ + βα) =0 to get rid of the last term

So we need a matrix that anti-commutes with α

Any two of the Paul matrices anti-commute

0 1
Use β =
1 0

1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 -1 0 0
αβ + βα = + = + =
0 -1 1 0 1 0 0 -1 -1 0 1 0 0 0

δψ
i δt
= αpψ+βmψ

ψ1 ψ1
δ  1 0 δ  0 m ψ1
ψ2 ψ2
i = -i +
δt 0 -1 δx m 0 ψ2

δψ1 δψ1
i δt
+ i δx
= m ψ2

δψ2 δψ2
i δt
- i δx
= m ψ1

So introducing mass couples ψ1 and ψ2

The mass is connected with the ‘left’ ‘right’ ness (chirality).

A massless particle moving to the right at velocity c when Lorenz transformed is always still mov-
ing to the right

If a particle has a mass then it moves with less than the speed of light so is possible for ‘something
to overtake it’ and see it as moving to the left

Can write Dirac equation as

δψ δψ
i δt
= -i α δx
+ β m2 ψ

Still have to get rid of the negative energies and to go to 3D space

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