Solutions to Peskin & Schroeder

Chapter 15
Zhong-Zhi Xianyu

Institute of Modern Physics and Center for High Energy Physics,

Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084
Draft version: March 12, 2013
1 Brute-force computations in SU(3)
(a) The dimension of SU(N) group is d = N
2
1, when N = 3 we get d = 8.
(b) Its easy to see that t
1
, t
2
, t
3
generate a SU(2) subgroup of SU(3). Thus we have
f
ijk
=
ijk
for i, j, k = 1, 2, 3. Just take another example, lets check [t
6
, t
7
]:
[t
6
, t
7
] = i(
1
2
t
3
+

3
2
t
8
),
thus we get
f
678
=

3
2
, f
673
=
1
2
.
Then what about f
376
?
[t
3
, t
7
] =
i
2
t
6
f
376
=
1
2
= f
673
.
(c) C(F) =
1
2
. Here F represents fundamental representation.
(d) C
2
(F) =
4
3
, d(F) = 3, d(G) = 8, thus we see that d(F)C
2
(F) = d(G)C(F).
2 Adjoint representation of SU(2)
The structure constants for SU(2) is f
abc
=
abc
, thus we can write down the repre-
sentation matrices for its generators directly from
(t
b
G
)
ac
= if
abc
= i
abc
.
More explicitly,
t
1
G
=
_
_
_
0 0 0
0 0 i
0 i 0
_
_
_, t
2
G
=
_
_
_
0 0 i
0 0 0
i 0 0
_
_
_, t
3
G
=
_
_
_
0 i 0
i 0 0
0 0 0
_
_
_, (1)

E-mail: xianyuzhongzhi@gmail.com
1
Notes by Zhong-Zhi Xianyu Solution to P&S, Chapter 15 (draft version)
Then,
C(G) = tr (t
1
G
t
1
G
) = tr (t
2
G
t
2
G
) = tr (t
3
G
t
3
G
) = 2,
C
2
(G)I
3
= t
1
G
t
1
G
+ t
2
G
t
2
G
+ t
3
G
t
3
G
= 2I
3
C
2
(G) = 2.
Here I
3
is the 3 3 unit matrix.
3 Coulomb potential
(a) We calculate vacuum expectation value for Wilson loop U
P
(z, z), dened by
U
P
(z, z) = exp
_
ie
_
P
dx

(x)
_
. (2)
By denition, we have
U
P
(z, z) =
_
DA

exp
_
iS[A

] ie
_
P
dx

(x)
_
, (3)
where
S[A

] =
_
d
4
x
_

1
4
F

1
2
(

)
2
_
. (4)
Thus U
P
(z, z) is simply a Gaussian integral, and can be worked out directly, as
U
P
(z, z) = exp
_

1
2
_
ie
_
P
dx

__
ie
_
P
dy

_
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
ig

k
2
+ i
e
ik(xy)
_
(5)
Here we have set 0 to simplify the calculation. Working out the momentum integral,
we get
U
P
(z, z) = exp
_

e
2
8
2
_
P
dx

_
P
dy

(x y)
2
_
. (6)
The momentum integration goes as follows
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
e
ik(xy)
k
2
+ i
= i
_
d
4
k
E
(2)
4
e
ikE(xy)
k
2
E
=
i
(2)
4
_
2
0
d
_

0
dsin
_

0
d sin
2

_

0
dk
E
k
3
E
e
ikE|xy| cos
k
2
E
=
i
4
3
_

0
dk
E
k
E
_

0
d sin
2
e
ikE|xy| cos
=
i
4
2
_

0
dk
E
k
E
J
1
_
k
E
|x y|
_
k
E
|x y|
=
i
4
2
(x y)
2
. (7)
Where J
1
(x) is Bessel function and we use the fact that
_

0
dxJ
1
(x) = 1.
(b) Now taking a narrow rectangular Wilson loop P with width R in x
1
direction
(0 < x
1
< 1) and length T in x
0
direction (0 < x
0
< T) and evaluate U
P
. When
the integral over dx and dy go independently over the loop, divergence will occur as
|x y|
2
0. But what we want to show is the dependence of U
P
on the geometry of
the loop, namely the width R and length T, which should be divergence free. Therefore,
when T R, the integral in Wilson loop is mainly contributed by time direction and
can be expressed as
U
P
(z, z) exp
_

2e
2
8
2
_
T
0
dx
0
_
0
T
dy
0
1
(x
0
y
0
)
2
R
2
i
_
, (8)
2
Notes by Zhong-Zhi Xianyu Solution to P&S, Chapter 15 (draft version)
and we have add a small imaginary part to the denominator for the reason that will be
clear. Carry out the integration, we nd
_
T
0
dx
0
_
0
T
dy
0
1
(x
0
y
0
)
2
R
2
i
TR

2T
R
arctanh
_
T
R + i
_
=
i

T
R
.
Therefore,
U
P
= exp
_
ie
2
4R
T
_
= e
iV (R)T
, (9)
which gives the familiar result V (R) = e
2
/4R.
(c) For the Wilson loop of a non-Abelian gauge group, we have
U
P
(z, z) = tr
_
Pexp
_
ig
_
P
dx

A
a

(x)t
a
r
_
_
, (10)
where t
a
r
is the matrices of the group generators in representation r. We expand this
expression to the order of g
2
,
U
P
(z, z) = tr (1) g
2
_
P
dx

_
P
dy

A
a

(x)A
b

(y) tr (t
a
r
t
b
r
) +O(g
3
)
= tr (1)
_
1 g
2
C
2
(r)
_
P
dx

_
P
dy

A
a

(x)A
b

(y)
_
+O(g
3
). (11)
Compared with the Abelian case, we see that to order g
2
, the non-Abelian result is
given by making the replacement e
2
g
2
C
2
(r). Therefore we conclude that V (R) =
g
2
C
2
(r)/4R in non-Abelian case.
4 Scalar propagator in a gauge theory
In this problem we study very briey the heat kernel representation of Green func-
tions/propagator of a scalar eld living within a gauge eld background.
(a) To begin with, we consider the simplest case, in which the background gauge
eld vanishes. Then we can represent the Green function D
F
(x, y) of the Klein-Gordon
equation, dened to be
(
2
+ m
2
)D
F
(x, y) = i
(4)
(x y) (12)
with proper boundary conditions, by the following integral over the heat kernel function
D(x, y, T):
D
F
(x, y) =
_

0
dT D(x, y, T). (13)
The heat kernel satises the following Schrodinger equation:
_
i

T
(
2
+ m
2
)
_
D(x, y, T) = i(T)
(4)
(x y). (14)
The solution to this equation can be represented by
D(x, y, T) = x|e
iHT
|y =
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
d
4
k

(2)
4
x|kk|e
iHT
|k

|y
=
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
d
4
k

(2)
4
e
i(k
2
+m
2
)T
e
ikx+ik

y
(2)
4

(4)
(k k

)
3
Notes by Zhong-Zhi Xianyu Solution to P&S, Chapter 15 (draft version)
=
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
e
i(k
2
m
2
)T
e
ik(xy)
, (15)
with H =
2
+m
2
. Integrating this result over T, with the +i prescription, we recover
the Feynman propagator for a scalar eld:
_

0
dT D(x, y, T) =
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
e
ik(xy)
_

0
dT e
i(k
2
m
2
+i)T
=
_
d
4
k
(2)
4
ie
ik(xy)
k
2
m
2
+ i
. (16)
(b) Now let us turn on a background Abelian gauge eld A

(x). The corresponding

Schrodinger equation then becomes
_
i

T

_
_

ieA

(x)
_
2
+ m
2
_
_
D(x, y, T) = i(T)
(4)
(x y), (17)
the solution of which, x|e
iHT
|y, can also be expressed as a path integral,
x|e
iHT
|y = lim
N
_
N

i=1
_
dx
i

x
i

exp
_
it
__

ieA

(x)
_
2
+ m
2

x
i1
_
_
,
(18)
where we have identify x = x
N
, y = x
0
, and t = T/N. Then,
x
i
|e
it[(ieA(x))
2
+m
2
]
|x
i1

=
_
d
4
k
i
(2)
4
x
i
|e
it[
2
ieA(x)

+m
2
]
|k
i
k
i
|e
it[ie

A(x)e
2
A
2
(x)]
|x
i1

=
_
d
4
k
i
(2)
4
x
i
|e
it[k
2
i
+eA(xi)k

i
+m
2
]
|k
i
k
i
|e
it[ek

i
A(xi1)e
2
A
2
(xi1)]
|x
i1

=
_
d
4
k
i
(2)
4
e
it[k
2
i
+eki(A(xi)+A(xi1))e
2
A
2
(xi1)+m
2
i]
e
iki(xixi1)
= C exp
_

it
4
_
x
i
x
i1
t
+ eA(x
i
) + eA(x
i1
)
_
2
it(m
2
e
2
A
2
(x
i1
))
_
C exp
_

it
4
_
dx
dt
_
2
iteA(x)
dx
dt
itm
2
_
. (19)
In the last line we take the continuum limit, and C is an irrelevant normalization con-
stant. Then we get
D(x, y, T) =
_
Dx exp
_
i
_
T
0
dt
_
_
dx
dt
_
2
+ m
2
_
ie
_
T
0
dx(t) A(x(t))
_
(20)
5 Casimir operator computations
(a) In the language of angular momentum theory, we can take common eigenfunctions
of J
2
=

a
T
a
T
a
and J
z
= T
3
to be the representation basis. Then the representation
matrix for T
3
is diagonal:
t
3
j
= diag (j, j + 1, , j 1, j).
Thus
tr (t
3
j
t
3
j
) =
j

m=j
m
2
=
1
3
j(j + 1)(2j + 1).
4
Notes by Zhong-Zhi Xianyu Solution to P&S, Chapter 15 (draft version)
Then we have
tr (t
3
r
t
3
r
) =

i
tr (t
3
ji
t
3
ji
) =
1
3

i
j
i
(j
i
+ 1)(2j
i
+ 1) = C(r),
which implies that
3C(r) =

i
j
i
(j
i
+ 1)(2j
i
+ 1). (21)
(b) Let the SU(2) subgroup be spanned by T
1
, T
1
and T
3
. Then in fundamental
representation, the representation matrices for SU(2) subgroup of SU(N) can be taken
as
t
i
N
=
_

i
/2 0
2(N2)
0
(N2)2
0
(N2)(N2)
_
. (22)
Where
i
(i = 1, 2, 3) are Pauli matrices. We see that the representation matrices for
SU(2) decomposes into a doublet and (N 2) singlet. Then its easy to nd that
C(N) =
1
3
_
1
2
(
1
2
+ 1)(2
1
2
+ 1)
_
=
1
2
, (23)
by formula in (a).
In adjoint representation, the representation matrices (t
i
)
ab
= if
aib
(a, b = 1, , N
2

1, i = 1, 2, 3). Thus we need to know some information about structure constants. Here
we give a handwaving illustration by analyzing the structure of fundamental representa-
tion matrices a little bit more. Note that therere three types of representation matrices,
listed as follows. For convenience, lets call them t
A
, t
B
and t
C
:
t
A
=
_
A
22
0
2(N2)
0
(N2)2
0
(N2)(N2)
_
. (24)
t
B
=
_
A
22
B
2(N2)
B

(N2)2
0
(N2)(N2)
_
. (25)
t
C
=
_

1
2
tr (C)I
22
0
2(N2)
0
(N2)2
C
(N2)(N2)
_
. (26)
In which, t
A
is just the representation matrices for SU(2) subgroup. Thus we see that
there are 3 t
A
, 2(N 2) t
B
and (N 2)
2
t
C
in total. Its also obvious that there is no
way to generate a t
A
from commutators between two t
C
or between a t
B
and t
C
, the
only way to generate t
A
are commutators between two t
A
or between to t
B
. Then, t
A
commutators correspond to the triplet representation os SU(2) subgroup, and 2(N2)-
t
B
commutators correspond to the doublet representation of SU(2). In this way we
see that adjoint representation matrices for SU(2) subgroup decompose into 1 triplet,
2(N 1) doublets and (N 2)
2
singlets.
Then we can calculate C(G), again, by using formula in (a), as:
C(G) =
1
3
_
1(1 + 1)(2 1 + 1) + 2(N 2)
1
2
(
1
2
+ 1)(2
1
2
+ 1)

= N. (27)
(c) Let U SU(N) be N N unitary matrix, S be a symmetric N N matrix,
and A be an antisymmetric N N matrix. Then we can use S and A to build two
representations for SU(N) respectively, as
S USU
T
, A UAU
T
.
5
Notes by Zhong-Zhi Xianyu Solution to P&S, Chapter 15 (draft version)
Its easy to verify that they are indeed representations. Lets denote these two rep-
resentation by s and a. Its also obvious to see that the dimensions of s and a are
d(s) = N(N + 1)/2 and d(a) = N(N 1)/2 respectively.
Accordingly, the generator T
a
acts on S and A as:
S T
a
S + S(T
a
)
T
, A T
a
A + A(T
a
)
T
. (28)
To get C
2
(s) and C
2
(a), we can make use of the formula
d(r)C
2
(r) = d(G)C(r). (29)
Thus we need to calculate C(r) and C(a). By formula in (a), we can take an generator
in SU(2) subgroup to simplify the calculation. Lets take
t
3
N
=
1
2
diag(1, 1, 0, , 0),
Then we have:
S =
_
_
_
_
S
11
S
1n
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
S
n1
S
nn
_
_
_
_
t
3
N
S + S(t
3
N
)
T
=
1
2
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
2S
11
0 S
13
S
1n
0 2S
22
S
23
S
2n
S
31
S
32
0 0
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
S
n1
S
n2
0 0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
A =
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
0 A
12
A
1n
A
21
0
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. A
n1,n
A
n1
A
n,n1
0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
t
3
N
A+A(t
3
N
)
T
=
1
2
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
0 0 A
13
A
1n
0 0 A
23
A
2n
A
31
A
32
0 0
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A
n1
A
n2
0 0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
Thus we see that the representation matrices for T
3
, in both s representation and a
representation, are diagonal. They are:
t
3
s
= diag(1, 0,
1
2
,
1
2
. .
N2
, 1,
1
2
, ,
1
2
. .
N2
, 0, , 0
. .
(N2)(N1)/2
); (30)
t
3
a
= diag(0,
1
2
, ,
1
2
. .
2(N2)
, 0, , 0
. .
(N2)(N3)/2
). (31)
Here we have rearrange the upper triangular elements of S and A by line.
Then we get
C(s) = tr (t
3
s
)
2
=
1
2
(N + 2); (32)
C(a) = tr (t
3
a
)
2
=
1
2
(N 2). (33)
Then,
C
2
(s) =
d(G)C(s)
d(s)
=
(N
2
1)(N + 2)/2
N(N + 1)/2
=
(N 1)(N + 2)
N
; (34)
C
2
(a) =
d(G)C(a)
d(a)
=
(N
2
1)(N 2)/2
N(N 1)/2
=
(N + 1)(N 2)
N
. (35)
6
Notes by Zhong-Zhi Xianyu Solution to P&S, Chapter 15 (draft version)
At last lets check the formula implied by (15.100) and (15.101):
_
C
2
(r
1
) + C
2
(r
2
)
_
d(r
1
)d(r
2
) =

C
2
(r
i
)d(r
i
), (36)
in which the tensor product representation r
1
r
2
decomposes into a direct sum of
irreducible representations r
i
. In our case, the direct sum of representation s and a is
equivalent to the tensor product representation of two copies of N. That is,
N N

= s + a.
Thus, we have,
_
C
2
(N) + C
2
(N)
_
d(N)d(N) =
_
N
2
1
2N
+
N
2
1
2N
_
N
2
= N(N
2
1);
and
C
2
(s)d(s) + C
2
(a)d(a) =
_
C(s) + C(a)

d(G) = N(N
2
1).
Thus formula (36) indeed holds in our case.
7