Why Is the Middle Term in the QED Field Strength Tensor Commutator Non-Zero?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the non-zero middle term in the QED field strength tensor commutator, specifically in the context of equations 15.15 and 15.16 from Peskin's work. The user confirms that the first and last commutators are zero due to the properties of abelian gauge theory and the commutation of partial derivatives. However, they express confusion regarding the term involving the gauge field A, leading to the conclusion that the field strength tensor F_{\mu \nu} is defined as F_{\mu \nu} = \partial_\mu A_\nu - \partial_\nu A_\mu. The user seeks clarification on why the term (-A_\nu\partial_\mu + A_\mu\partial_\nu) should be zero.

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malawi_glenn
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Hi, I was reading earlier today in Peskin about QED field strenght tensor:

equation 15.15 and 15.16
[D_\mu, D_\nu ] \psi= [\partial _\mu , \partial _\nu ] \psi + ([\partial _\mu, A_\nu] - [\partial _\nu, A_\mu]) \psi + [A_\mu,A_\nu] \psi


Where A is the gauge field...

That part, I have control over.

Now I know that the first and last commutator is zero (abelian gauge theory and partial derivatives commute), but the middle one is really bothering me!

I obtain:

(\partial _\mu A_\nu - \partial _{\nu} A_\mu) \psi + (-A_\nu\partial _\mu + A_\mu \partial _\nu) \psi

And that last (-A_\nu\partial _\mu + A_\mu \partial _\nu) \psi should be ZERO, so that:

F_{\mu \nu} = [D_\mu, D_\nu ] = \partial _\mu A_\nu - \partial _{\nu} A_\mu

BUT I don't know why ...

Any help or insight would, I would be very thankful of :shy:
 
Last edited:
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I found an older thread "Yang Mills field stress tensor" where George Jones gave an excellent answer!

:-)
 

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