Lorentz invariance

based on S-2

Lorentz transformation (linear, homogeneous change of coordinates):

When we say theory is Lorentz invariant we mean it is invariant under proper orthochronous subgroup only (those that can be obtained by compounding ILTs) Transformations that take us out of proper orthochronous subgroup are parity and time reversal:
orthochronous but improper

that preserves the interval

All Lorentz transformations form a group:

product of 2 LT is another LT identity transformation: inverse:

nonorthochronous and improper

for inverse can be used to prove:

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A quantum eld theory doesnt have to be invariant under P or T.

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Innitesimal Lorentz transformation:

How do operators and quantum elds transform?

Lorentz transformation (proper, orthochronous) is represented by a unitary operator that must obey the composition rule:

thus there are 6 independent ILTs: 3 rotations and 3 boosts not all LT can be obtained by compounding ILTs!
+1 proper -1 improper

innitesimal transformation can be written as: are hermitian operators = generators of the Lorentz group
from using we get: and expanding both sides, keeping only linear terms in since are arbitrary

proper LTs form a subgroup of Lorentz group; ILTs are proper! Another subgroup - orthochronous LTs, ILTs are orthochronous!

general rule: each vector index undergoes its own Lorentz transformation!
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Finally, lets look at transformation of a quantum scalar eld:

using and expanding to linear order in we get: Recall time evolution in Heisenberg picture: this is generalized to:
P x = P x = P x Ht

These comm. relations specify the Lie algebra of the Lorentz group.
We can identify components of the angular momentum and boost operators:

x is just a label

we can write the same formula for x-a:

e+iP a/ eiP x/ (0)e+iP x/ eiP a/ = (x a)

and nd: we dene space-time translation operator:

and obtain:

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in a similar way for the energy-momentum four vector P = (H/c, P i ) we nd:

using and expanding to linear order in we get:

Similarly:

Derivatives carry vector indices: or in components:

in addition:

Comm. relations for J, K, P, H form the Lie algebra of the Poincare group.
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is Lorentz invariant
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Canonical quantization of scalar elds

based on S-3

Relativistic generalization
Hamiltonian for free relativistic particles:

Hamiltonian for free nonrelativistic particles:

spin zero, but can be either bosons or fermions Furier transform:

a(x) = d3 p eipx a(p) 3/2 (2)

Is this theory Lorentz invariant?

d3 x ipx e = 3 (p) (2)3

we get:

Lets prove it from a different direction, direction that we will use for any quantum eld theory from now:
start from a Lorentz invariant lagrangian or action derive equation of motion (for scalar elds it is K.-G. equation)

can go back to x using:

d p ipx e = 3 (x) (2)3
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nd solutions of equation of motion

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show the Hamiltonian is the same as the one above

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Canonical quantization of scalar elds

(Anti)commutation relations:

A theory is described by an action: where Equations of motion should be local, and so where Thus: is the lagrangian density. is the lagrangian.

[A, B] = AB
Vacuum is annihilated by :

BA
is Lorentz invariant: For the action to be invariant we need: the lagrangian density must be a Lorentz scalar!
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is a state of momentum is eigenstate of

, eigenstate of

with

with energy eigenvalue:

Any polynomial of a scalar eld is a Lorentz scalar and so are products of derivatives with all indices contracted.

Lets consider:

arbitrary constant
= 1, c = 1

real solutions:
k k

and lets nd the equation of motion, Euler-Lagrange equation:

(we nd eq. of motion from variation of an action: making an innitesimal variation in and requiring the variation of the action to vanish)

thus we get:
integration by parts, and (x) = 0 at innity in any direction (including time)

is arbitrary function of x and so the equation of motion is

Klein-Gordon equation
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(such a

k is said to be on the mass shell)

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Solutions of the Klein-Gordon equation:

one classical solution is a plane wave: is arbitrary real wave vector and The general classical solution of K-G equation:

Finally lets choose

so that

is Lorentz invariant:

manifestly invariant under orthochronous Lorentz transformations on the other hand

where and are arbitrary functions of , and is a function of |k| (introduced for later convenience)
if we tried to interpret as a quantum wave function, the second term would represent contributions with negative energy to the wave function!
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sum over zeros of g, in our case the only zero is k 0 = for any the differential it is convenient to take the Lorentz invariant differential is: is Lorentz invariant for which

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Finally we have a real classical solution of the K.-G. equation:

In our case:

where again: For later use we can express

,
in terms of :

Inserting

we get:

where

and we will call

Note,

is time independent.
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Constructing the hamiltonian:

Recall, in classical mechanics, starting with lagrangian as a function of coordinates and their time derivatives we dene conjugate momenta and the hamiltonian is then given as:
d3 x ipx e = 3 (p) (2)3

In eld theory:

hamiltonian density

and the hamiltonian is given as:

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From classical to quantum (canonical quantization):

coordinates and momenta are promoted to operators satisfying canonical commutation relations:

Summary:

is equivalent to:
operators are taken at equal times in the Heisenberg picture

for: We have rederived the hamiltonian of free relativistic bosons by quantization of a scalar eld whose equation of motion is the KleinGordon equation (starting with manifestly Lorentz invariant lagrangian). does not work for fermions, anticommutators lead to trivial hamiltonian!
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We have derived the classical hamiltonian:

We kept ordering of as unchanged, so that we can easily generalize it to quantum theory where classical functions will become operators that may not commute.

The hamiltonian of the quantum theory:

(2)3 3 (0) = V
see the formula for delta function

is the total zero point energy per unit volume we are free to choose: the ground state has zero energy eigenvalue.
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