Derivation of creation and annihilation operator commutation relations

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on deriving the commutation relations between creation and annihilation operators in quantum field theory, specifically referencing Lahiri's "A First Book of Quantum Field Theory." The Fourier decomposition of the free field and its canonical momentum are provided, with the user seeking assistance on Exercise 3.4. The key steps involve applying the inverse Fourier transform to the expressions for the field and its momentum, ultimately leading to the determination of the operators a(p) and a^D(p) using the canonical commutation relation [φ(𝑥,𝑡), Π(𝑦,𝑡)] = i δ³(𝑥 - 𝑦).

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Fourier transforms in quantum mechanics
  • Familiarity with canonical commutation relations
  • Knowledge of quantum field theory concepts, particularly creation and annihilation operators
  • Ability to manipulate integrals involving delta functions
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the derivation of the inverse Fourier transform in quantum field theory
  • Research the properties and applications of delta functions in quantum mechanics
  • Explore the canonical quantization procedure in quantum field theory
  • Examine the implications of commutation relations on physical observables
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Students and researchers in quantum mechanics, particularly those focusing on quantum field theory, as well as physicists interested in the mathematical foundations of particle creation and annihilation processes.

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Hi,

I'm hopng someone can help me. I've begun working my way through Lahiri's "A first book of quantum field theory". In chapter 3 he shows the Fourier decomposition of the free field is given by

<br /> \phi(x) = \int \frac{d^3 P}{\sqrt{(2\pi)^3 2E_p}} (a(p) e^{-ip\cdot x} + a^D(p) e^{ip \cdot x})<br />

and its canonical momenta
<br /> <br /> \Pi (x) = \int d^3 p i \sqrt{\frac{E_p}{2(2\pi)^3}} (-a(p) e^{-i p \cdot x} + a^D (p) e^{ip \cdot x})<br />

where a^D is the transpose conjugate (I couldn't find a dagger symbol). I'm struggling with Ex3.4, deriving the commutation relations between the creation and annihilation operators. He hints that we should inverse FT the above to get equations for a(p) and a^D(p) explicitly, and then use the commutation relation

<br /> [\phi(\vec{x},t), \Pi(\vec{y},t)] = i \delta^3 (\vec{x} - \vec{y}).<br />


However I'm not sure I'm even correct with the first step, I've never inverse FT'd an expression with two exponentials in it, I'm not sure I'm doing it right. Can anyone suggest how I could proceed further with the below line?

<br /> \tilde{F}[\phi(x)] = \tilde{F}[\int \frac{d^3 P}{\sqrt{(2\pi)^3 2E_p}} a(p) e^{-ip\cdot x}] + \tilde{F}[ \int \frac{d^3 P}{\sqrt{(2\pi)^3 2E_p}} a^D(p) e^{ip \cdot x}]<br />

Once I've found a(p) and a^D(p), I suspect the rest will be straightforward.
 
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Thanks!</code>To inverse FT, you need to apply the following formula:\tilde{F}[f(x)] = \int d^3 x f(x) e^{-i p \cdot x}So, you have:\tilde{F}[\phi(x)] = \int d^3 x \left(\int \frac{d^3 p}{\sqrt{(2\pi)^3 2E_p}} a(p) e^{-ip\cdot x} + \int \frac{d^3 p}{\sqrt{(2\pi)^3 2E_p}} a^D(p) e^{ip \cdot x}\right) e^{-i p \cdot x}Now, you can use the linearity of the integral to pull out the integral over p:\tilde{F}[\phi(x)] = \int \frac{d^3 p}{\sqrt{(2\pi)^3 2E_p}} a(p) \int d^3 x e^{-i (p+p') \cdot x} + \int \frac{d^3 p}{\sqrt{(2\pi)^3 2E_p}} a^D(p) \int d^3 x e^{i (p+p') \cdot x}The integrals in the above equation are delta functions, so you can solve for a(p) and a^D(p):a(p) = \tilde{F}[\phi(x)] \sqrt{\frac{(2\pi)^3 2E_p}{2}} \delta^3 (p+p')a^D(p) = \tilde{F}[\phi(x)] \sqrt{\frac{(2\pi)^3 2E_p}{2}} \delta^3 (p-p')Now, you can use the commutation relation [\phi(\vec{x},t), \Pi(\vec{y},t)] = i \delta^3 (\vec{x} - \vec{y})to derive the commutation relations between the creation and
 

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