Path Integral Approach To Derive The KG Propagator

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the path integral approach to deriving the Klein-Gordon propagator, focusing on specific steps and calculations presented in lecture notes. Participants are addressing issues related to the integration process and the resulting expressions, particularly concerning Dirac delta functions and the correct formulation of the propagator.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses confusion about deriving a Dirac delta function from their lecturer's notes, particularly in relation to a specific equation (6.9) and the integration process leading to a delta function.
  • Another suggests replacing the current source and field with their Fourier transforms to achieve the desired delta function, emphasizing the need for separate momentum space variables.
  • A third participant notes the necessity of using different dummy integration 4-momenta for each factor of the field in the integral, leading to a specific delta function result when integrating over spacetime.
  • One participant acknowledges progress in deriving part of the expression but questions the manipulation of momentum variables in the second term of the equation.
  • Another participant critiques a specific equation (6.10) as nonsensical, arguing that it fails to specify the propagator correctly and highlights the importance of the Feynman propagator's formulation, including the crucial ##\mathrm{i} 0^+## term.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the correctness of certain expressions and the necessity of specific terms in the propagator's formulation. There is no consensus on the resolution of these issues, indicating ongoing debate.

Contextual Notes

Participants have not resolved the assumptions underlying the derivations, and there are indications of missing steps or definitions that could clarify the discussion further.

Woolyabyss
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I'm having trouble understanding a specific line in my lecturers notes about the path integral approach to deriving the Klein Gordon propagator. I've attached the notes as an image to this post. In particular my main issue comes with (6.9). I can see that at some point he integrates over x to get a Dirac delta, which is how he gets the minus p's. I'm just not certain how he gets the desired dirac dellta function to make this expression? When I do the calculation I end up with 𝛿 (2p). Any help would be appreciated.
 

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Try to replace the current ##J## and the field ##\phi## by the Fourier transforms in 6.8 (use separate momentum space variables). You should get the delta you need.

Same for the kinetic term.

Then for the source term, remember the fields are real valued.
 
When you plug in the right-hand side of the 2nd equation in (6.8) for ##\phi(x)##, you need to use two different dummy integration 4-momenta for each of the two factors of ##\phi(x)## in each term; call these ##p## and ##p'##. Then when doing the ##d^4x## integral, you will get ##(2\pi)^4\delta^4(p+p')##.

Also, note that there should be a factor of ##i## before the ##\int J\phi## term on the left-hand side of (6.9).
 
Thanks for the replies, I've managed to get out (p^2 -m ) term of (6.9) but am still unsure for the second term. It appears as though its being split in two and they are flipping the momentum variables, But why?
 
One should note that (6.10) misses completely the most important point about this entire calculation. It's a nonsensensical expression. You have to specify the propagator you want to calculate, and both operator perturbation theory as well as the path-integral approach show that you need the Feynman propagator here, i.e.,
$$\Delta(p)=\frac{1}{p^2-m^2+\mathrm{i} 0^+}.$$
The crucial point is the ##\mathrm{i} 0^+## term here.

For its derivation in non-relativistic first-quantization path integrals see Sect. 1.10 in

https://th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~hees/publ/lect.pdf
The derivation for the QFT case is completely analogous to this.
 
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