QFT1 Exercise set 1 – please hand in by April 11, 2022 1

1. The wave functional of the vacuum 1 - canonical quantization (30 points)

In the canonical quantization formalism of quantum mechanics, we represent the state of
a system by its wave function. That is, given a particle with a position specified by an
operator x̂, we look at eigenfunctions satisfying

x̂|x⟩ = x|x⟩ . (1)

Given a state |ψ⟩, the wave function is then defined as ψ(x) = ⟨x|ψ⟩.
In quantum field theory there is an analogous construction. Consider a real scalar field ϕ,
with a field operator ϕ̂(⃗r ). We can think about its eigenfunctions at a fixed time

ϕ̂(⃗r )|ϕ(⃗r )⟩ = ϕ(⃗r )|ϕ(⃗r )⟩ . (2)

Given a state |Ψ⟩ we can construct the wave functional Ψ[ϕ(⃗r )] ≡ ⟨ϕ(⃗r )|Ψ⟩. In this question
you should find the wave functional of the vacuum for a free scalar field of mass m.

(a) Consider first a harmonic oscillator in quantum mechanics, defined by the Hamiltonian

p̂2 M ω 2 x̂2
H= + . (3)
2M 2
Finding all the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian requires solving a complicated second
order differential equation, but finding just the ground state (or vacuum) is much
more straightforward. Show that the ground state wavefunction satisfies a first order
differential equation, and not just a second order equation, and use this to find the
wave function of the ground state (as a function of x). There is no need to worry
about normalizing the wave function.
(b) Consider a real scalar field ϕ(t, ⃗x) of mass m, with the action
Z  
1 1
S = dtd3 x ∂µ ϕ ∂ µ ϕ − m2 ϕ2 . (4)
2 2
What are the operators analogous to x̂ and p̂ of the harmonic oscillator? What is the
commutation relation which they satisfy? Write the Hamiltonian of a free scalar field
in terms of these operators.
(c) Use the analogy to a harmonic oscillator to find a formal form for the wave functional
of the ground state for the free field. Hint: It may be useful to write the field ϕ(t, ⃗x)
in momentum space rather than in position space.
p
(d) For the harmonic oscillator there is a length scale in the problem given by ℏ/M ω.
What is the analogous scale in the field theory problem and what is its meaning?
(You will need to reinstate some physical constants to obtain the correct dimensions.)
Recall that you are computing here the wave functional of the vacuum, and not of
particle states.

2. The wave functional of the vacuum 2 - path integral derivation (30 points)
How can we compute a wave functional in the path integral formulation? Consider a scalar
field ϕ with an action S[ϕ]. Think of computing the path integral from an initial time t1 to
 a final time t2 subject to the boundary conditions ϕ(t1 , ⃗r ) = ϕ1 (⃗r ) and ϕ(t2 , ⃗r ) = ϕ2 (⃗r ).
Fixing ϕ1 (⃗r ) we may think of the path integral as a functional of ϕ2 (⃗r )
Z
ϕ(t )=ϕ
Ψϕ1 [ϕ2 ] = Dϕ|ϕ(t12 )=ϕ12 eiS[ϕ] . (5)

This defines the Schrödinger wave functional corresponding to ϕ1 . As we saw in class, when
t1 → −∞ the path integral projects on the vacuum state if you take m2 → m2 (1 − iϵ), so
we expect that in this limit the path integral computes the vacuum functional (for any ϕ1 ).
Consider a free scalar field with the Lagrangian density
1 1
L = ∂µ ϕ ∂ µ ϕ − m2 (1 − iϵ)ϕ2 , (6)
2 2
with ϵ > 0. Compute the path integral in the time interval (−T, 0) with ϕ(−T ) = ϕ1 and
ϕ(0) = ϕ2 , and show that as T → ∞ and then ϵ → 0, the same result is obtained as in the
previous question.
Hint: With the boundary conditions above there is a unique solution of the equation of
motion, which we can denote as ϕ̃. Expand ϕ = ϕ̃ + δϕ in the path integral. Note that the
part of the path integral which depends on δϕ is independent of ϕ1 and ϕ2 .
3. Gaussian integrals and Wick’s theorem (30 points)
This exercise is a toy model for computations of correlation functions in free quantum field
theories. Consider the following Gaussian integral
Z
1
Z = dn xe− 2 xi Aij xj , (7)

where A is a symmetric and strictly positive matrix.

(a) Show that

Z = (2π)n/2 (det(A))−1/2 . (8)

(b) Consider now the integral

Z
1
Z(b) = dn xe− 2 xi Aij xj +bi xi . (9)

Show that
1
Z(b) = (2π)n/2 (det(A))−1/2 e 2 bi ∆ij bj , (10)

where ∆ = A−1 .

Correlation functions: The Gaussian integral defines a probability measure on Rn , and

the expectation value of a function F (x) can be defined as
Z
1
−1
⟨F (x)⟩ ≡ Z dn xF (x)e− 2 xi Aij xj . (11)

2
 The function ⟨ebi xi ⟩ is the generating function of the moments of the Gaussian distribution
(or correlation functions for us), and the m-point function is given by
 
∂ ∂ ∂
⟨xk1 xk2 . . . xkm ⟩ = ... ⟨ebi xi ⟩ . (12)
∂bk1 ∂bk2 ∂bkm b=0

(c) Establish Wick’s theorem

X
⟨xk1 xk2 . . . xkm ⟩ = ∆kP1 kP2 . . . ∆kPm−1 kPm . (13)
all pairings P
of {k1 , . . . , km }

4. Gaussian Integration of Grassmann Numbers (10 points)

(a) Show that for a single complex Grassmann variable θ one has
Z
∗
dθ∗ dθ θθ∗ e−θ aθ = 1, (14)

where a is a real constant.

(b) Show that for N complex Grassmann variables θi and an N × N Hermitian matrix A,
!  
YN Z  XN 
dθi∗ dθi θj θk∗ exp − θl∗ Alm θm = det (A) A−1 jk .


(15)
 
i=1 l,m=1

Note that here we get a positive power of the determinant, unlike in question 3.