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Resonance propagator properties

Physics Asked by Alex Marshall on September 15, 2020

(This is part c & d of problem 7.9 from Schwartz’ book on QFT).

  1. Show that a propagator only has an imaginary part if it goes on-shell. Explicitly, show that $$Im(M)=-pidelta(p^2-m^2)$$ when $$iM=frac{i}{p^2-m^2+iepsilon}.$$

  2. Loops of particles can produce effective interactions which have imaginary parts. Suppose we have another particle $psi$ and an interaction $phipsipsi$ in the Lagrangian. Loops of $phi$ will have imaginary parts if and only if $psi$ is lighter than half of $phi$, that is, if $phi to psi psi$ is allowed kinematically. Draw a series of loop corrections to the $phi$ propagator. Show that if these give an imaginary number, you can sum the graphs to get for the propagator $$frac{i}{p^2-m^2+imGamma}.$$

Solution:

  1. So we have $$M=frac{1}{p^2-m^2+iepsilon} = frac{p^2-m^2-iepsilon}{(p^2-m^2)^2+epsilon^2}$$ $$Im(M) = frac{-epsilon}{(p^2-m^2)^2+epsilon^2}.$$ How do I get a $pi$ and a delta function from this? And why would $p^2neq m^2$ imply that this is zero?

  2. I am not sure I understand this part. If we write corrections we would have first a straight line (simple propagator), then one loop, 2 loops and so on, so I assume we need a power series. But I am not sure how to proceed, what should I write for the propagators of the 2 particles? And I am not sure how does the imaginary part come into play (maybe if I do part 1 I can understand this better).

2 Answers

To start, we would like to calculate polarization operator (=fermion bubble) in scalar Yukawa theory, $gbar{psi}phipsi$. The expression for polaziation operator is $$Pi(k^2)=(-1)(-g)^2int_pfrac{(gammacdot p+m)(gamma(p+k)+m))}{[(p^2-m^2)-iepsilon][(p+k)^2-m^2+iepsilon]}$$ Then, you can show that it is possible to sum the series with bubbles (it is just geometric series). The key point is to understand when $Pi(k^2)$ obtains imaginary part. You can show it in a variety of ways (I can write down the calculation). The main thesis is

Polarization operator has imaganiry part if $k^2>4m^2$, where $m$ is fermion mass in the theory and $k$ is scalar 4-momentum

I assume that if you perform accurate calculation of $Pi(k^2)$ and then consider renormalized propagator, you should find something like (in one bubble approximation) $$frac{i}{k^2-M^2-Pi(k^2)}$$ and if $Pi(k^2)$ has imagianary part you exactly obtain your formula.

Indeed, one of the possible ways to calculate $Pi(k^2)$ is to cut diagram and consider decay of scalar particle. Decay width will be $$Gamma=frac{g^2}{8pi M}k^2sqrt{1-frac{4m^2}{k^2}}$$ and it relates to imaginary part as $text{Im},Pi(k^2)=-MGamma$. To see it, you can just calculate $text{Im},Pi(k^2)$ using another way and compare results.

If my answer is unclear or you need to see all the derivations, I can provide derivations and try to clarify my statements.

Suggested strategy is:

  1. Consider 1-loop polarization operator and show how it obtains imaginary part
  2. Then consider renormalized scalar propagator
  3. Understand how to sum all 1PI (=1-particle irreducible) diagrams

Answered by Artem Alexandrov on September 15, 2020

So this is what I have until now. For the normal propagator (no loop) we get: $$frac{i}{p^2-M^2+iepsilon}$$ M is the mass of $phi$ and m is the mass of $psi$. For the 1 loop correction, I get: $$(frac{i}{p^2-M^2+iepsilon})^2int d^4kfrac{i}{k^2-m^2+iepsilon}frac{i}{(p-k)^2-m^2+iepsilon}$$ For 2 loops $$(frac{i}{p^2-M^2+iepsilon})^3(int d^4kfrac{i}{k^2-m^2+iepsilon}frac{i}{(p-k)^2-m^2+iepsilon})^2$$ so the series will look in the end like this: $$frac{i}{p^2-M^2+iepsilon}frac{1}{1-frac{i}{p^2-M^2+iepsilon}int d^4kfrac{i}{k^2-m^2+iepsilon}frac{i}{(p-k)^2-m^2+iepsilon}}$$ $$frac{i}{p^2-M^2+iepsilon-iint d^4kfrac{i}{k^2-m^2+iepsilon}frac{i}{(p-k)^2-m^2+iepsilon}}$$ I assume we can get rid of the first $iepsilon$ term as we don't use it for any integral so we get $$frac{i}{p^2-M^2+iint d^4kfrac{1}{k^2-m^2+iepsilon}frac{1}{(p-k)^2-m^2+iepsilon}}$$ and I think I need to show that this is equal to $$frac{i}{p^2-M^2+i M Gamma}$$ but I am not sure how. Also I am not sure what do they mean by "Show that if these give an imaginary number..." Do I need to assume that the integral is an imaginary number? And what then? Can someone tell me if this is correct and help me from here please?

Answered by Alex Marshall on September 15, 2020

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