Ladder operators for real scalar field

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on the implications of applying a negative sign to momentum in the field expansion of a real scalar field. It specifically examines the transformation of annihilation and creation operators, denoted as \( a_{\bf{p}} \) and \( a_{\bf{p}}^+ \), under the transformation \( p \to -p \). The conclusion drawn is that the relationships \( a_{ - {\bf{p}}}^ + = a_{\bf{p}} \) and \( a_{ - {\bf{p}}} = a_{\bf{p}}^+ \) are incorrect, as they misinterpret the transformation process, which is merely a mathematical operation without physical implications.

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physichu
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Puting a minus in front of the momentum in the field expansion gives

##\phi \left( {\bf{x}} \right) = \int {{d^3}\tilde p} \left( {{a_{\bf{p}}}{e^{i{\bf{p}} \cdot {\bf{x}}}} + a_{\bf{p}}^ + {e^{ - i{\bf{p}} \cdot {\bf{x}}}}} \right){\rm{ }}\phi \left( {\bf{x}} \right) = \int {{d^3}\tilde p} \left( {{a_{ - {\bf{p}}}}{e^{ - i{\bf{p}} \cdot {\bf{x}}}} + a_{ - {\bf{p}}}^ + {e^{i{\bf{p}} \cdot {\bf{x}}}}} \right)##.

Is this implise that

##a_{ - {\bf{p}}}^ + = {a_{{\bf{p}}{\rm{ }}}}## ##{a_{ - {\bf{p}}}} = a_{\bf{p}}^ + ## ?

Becuse if so

##\displaylines{
\pi \left( {\bf{x}} \right) = - i\int {{{{d^3}p} \over {{{\left( {2\pi } \right)}^3}}}\sqrt {{{{\omega _{\bf{p}}}} \over 2}} \left( {{a_{\bf{p}}}{e^{i{\bf{p}} \cdot {\bf{x}}}} - a_{\bf{p}}^ + {e^{ - i{\bf{p}} \cdot {\bf{x}}}}} \right)} = \cr
= - i\int {{{{d^3}p} \over {{{\left( {2\pi } \right)}^3}}}\sqrt {{{{\omega _{\bf{p}}}} \over 2}} \left( {{a_{\bf{p}}}{e^{i{\bf{p}} \cdot {\bf{x}}}} - a_{ - {\bf{p}}}^{}{e^{ - i{\bf{p}} \cdot {\bf{x}}}}} \right) = } \cr
= - i\int {{{{d^3}p} \over {{{\left( {2\pi } \right)}^3}}}\sqrt {{{{\omega _{\bf{p}}}} \over 2}} \left( {{a_{\bf{p}}}{e^{i{\bf{p}} \cdot {\bf{x}}}} - a_{\bf{p}}^{}{e^{i{\bf{p}} \cdot {\bf{x}}}}} \right)} = 0 \cr} ##

which is obviosly wrong, Where is the mistake?
 
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physichu said:
Is this implise that

##a_{ - {\bf{p}}}^ + = {a_{{\bf{p}}{\rm{ }}}}## ##{a_{ - {\bf{p}}}} = a_{\bf{p}}^ + ## ?
No, why should it?
The first term on the left side gets transformed to the first one on the right side, and the second term gets transformed to the second one.
Just a transformation p -> -p, no physics involved in that step. The integral is over the whole space anyway so integration limits don't change.
 

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