Wednesday 27 September 2017

quantum field theory - The proof of Goldstone's theorem


On page 352 of Peskin and Shroeder.

The athors show the proof of Goldstone's theorem.



A general continuous symmetry transformation has the form $$ \phi^a \to \phi^a + \alpha\Delta^a (\phi) ,\tag{11.12} $$ where $\alpha$ is an infinitesimal parameter and $\Delta^a$ is some function of all the $\phi$'s. Specialize to constant fields; then the derivative terms in $\cal{L}$ vanish and the potential alone must be invariant under (11.12). This condition can be written $$ V(\phi^a)=V(\phi^a+ \alpha\Delta^a (\phi)) \quad \text{or} \quad \Delta^a (\phi)\frac{\partial}{\partial \phi^a}V(\phi)=0. $$ Now differentiate with respect to $\phi^b$, and set $\phi=\phi_0$: $$ 0=\left( \frac{\partial\Delta^a}{\partial \phi^b} \right)_{\phi_0} \left( \frac{\partial V}{\partial \phi^a} \right)_{\phi_0} + \Delta^a (\phi_0) \left( \frac{\partial^2}{\partial \phi^a \partial \phi^b}V \right)_{\phi_0} .\tag{11 .13} $$ The first term vanishes since $\phi_0$ is a minimum of $V$, so the second term must also vanish. If the transformation leaves $\phi_0$ unchanged (i.e., if the symmetry is respected by the ground state), then $\Delta^a (\phi_0)=0$ and this relation is trivial. A spontaneously broken symmetry is precisely one for which $\Delta^a (\phi_0)\ne 0$; in this case $\Delta^a (\phi_0)$ is our desired vector with eigenvalue zero, so Goldstone's theorem is proved.



Why in spontaneously broken symmetry $\Delta^a (\phi_0)\ne 0$?
And on the other hand when the symmetry is not spontaneously broken, $\Delta^a (\phi_0)= 0$?
Thanks.




No comments:

Post a Comment

Understanding Stagnation point in pitot fluid

What is stagnation point in fluid mechanics. At the open end of the pitot tube the velocity of the fluid becomes zero.But that should result...