note11 : October 8, 2012 CPT theorem Combined transformation: CPT The CPT theorem states that in a canonical quan- Under the combination of all three the field φ tum field theory the action is invariant under changes the sign of the argument, the combination of charge conjugation (C), parity CP T transformation (P ), and time reversal (T ). φ(x) φ( x) . (7) The CPT theorem entails certain relations be- −→ − tween physical observables, in particular equal However, since the action involves integration d4x masses and equal life-times for particles and an- over the whole space, the sign change of theR argu- tiparticles. At present, CPT is the sole combina- ment of a field leaves the action unchanged, q.e.d. tion of C, P , T observed as an exact symmetry of nature at the fundamental level. Gauge theories Let us see how it works using the complex scalar field as an example. Gauge theory is a peculiar quantum field theory where the Lagrangian is invariant under continuous C: charge conjugation group of local transformations, called gauge trans- formations. The transformations form a Lie group Under charge conjugation the particles are ex- which is referred to as the symmetry group or gauge changed with antiparticles, group of the theory. For each group parameter there is a special vec- C ak bk . (1) tor field, called gauge field, which ensures the in- −→ variance of the Lagrangian under the gauge trans- † The field φ(x) then turns into φ (x), formation. The quanta of the gauge field are called gauge bosons. 1 −ikx † +ikx C φ(x)= ake + bke If the symmetry group is commutative, the gauge √2ωk −→ Xk theory is called abelian, otherwise it is called non- 1 −ikx † +ikx † abelian or Yang-Mills theory. bke + ake = φ (x) . (2) √ ωk Historically the quantum electro-dynamics Xk 2 (QED) was first recognised as a gauge theory with the gauge group U(1). Then it turned out P: parity transformation that only gauge theories can be renormalized and Under parity transformation the momentum therefore the Standard Model had to be built as a changes sign, gauge theory, though in order to incorporate more P ak a−k . (3) gauge bosons the gauge group had to be enlarged. → It turned out that the groups SU(2) and SU(3) The field φ(t, x) then turns into φ(t, x), − fit perfectly for the weak and strong interactions correspondingly. 1 −ikx † +ikx P φ(x)= ake + bke k √2ωk → X Quantum electro-dynamics 1 −ikx † +ikx a−ke + b−ke = φ(t, x) . (4) Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is a theory of the k √2ωk − X electron/positron (bispinor) field ψ coupled to the electromagnetic (vector) field Aa with the interac- T: time reversal a tion Lagrangian jaA , where ja = gψγ¯ aψ is the − Under time reversal the process of annihilation of conserved current and g is the charge of electron. a particle turns into the process of generation of a The QED Lagrangian, particle with opposite momentum, a 1 ab QED = ψγ¯ i(∂a +igAa)ψ mψψ¯ FabF , (8) T † L − − 4 ak a k . (5) → − is invariant under the local gauge transformation, The field φ(t, x) then turns into φ†( t, x), − ψ ψ′ = eigα(x)ψ → . (9) 1 −ikx † +ikx T A A′ = A ∂ α(x) φ(x)= ake + bke a a a a √ ωk → − Xk 2 → where α(x) is an arbitrary scalar function (and also 1 † −ikx +ikx † a−ke + b−ke = φ ( t, x) . (6) the group parameter). The transformation matri- √2ωk − Xk ces eigα form a Lie group U(1) where the charge
1 note11 : October 8, 2012 is the group generator. QED is thus a gauge the- an object rotated by a (usually fundamental) rep- ory with the symmetry group U(1). The group is resentation of the gauge group. commutative, therefore QED is an abelian theory. The Yang-Mills guage-field tensor is The QED Lagrangian (8) can be conveniently 1 written as1 F = [D ,D ] ab ig a b a 1 2 QED = iψγ¯ Daψ mψψ¯ F , (10) = ∂aAb ∂bAa + ig[Aa, Ab] L − − 4 j − = Ij Fab . (17) where the group covariant derivative, The Yang-Mills Lagrangian for the gauge field is Da = ∂a + igAa , (11) 1 2 1 ab j YM = Trace(F )= Fj F . (18) has the property that under the gauge transforma- L −2 −4 ab tion igα(x) with the standard normalization Daψ e Daψ . (12) → I I 1 δ . The gauge field tensor can be written through Trace( j k)= 2 jk (19) group covariant derivatives as Since the Yang-Mills field tensor contains the 1 gauge field commutator (which is of second order in F = [D ,D ] . (13) ab ig a b the field) the Yang-Mills Lagrangian contains third and fourth order terms. The non-abelian gauge Non-abelian (Yang-Mills) gauge theories bosons can thus self-interact. The gauge bosons are necessarily massless (as the The QED with the U(1) symmetry group has one mass term breaks gauge invariance). However with gauge boson, the photon, while more gauge bosons the so called Higgs mechanism the gauge bosons can are needed for the standard model. Yang and Mills acquire effective mass through interactions with the suggested to consider a more general group of ma- Higgs field. trices, The number of gauge bosons is equal to the num- U(x)= eiIj αj (x) (14) ber of generators in the gauge group. There is one gauge boson, the photon, for the U(1) group; three with generators Ij , j =1 ...n, and Lie-algebra gauge bosons for the SU(2) group; and eight gauge l bosons for the SU(3) group. [Ij , Ik]= CjkIl. (15)
l If the structure constants Cjk are not equal zero, the theory is called non-abelian. To make the theory gauge invariant a separate a vector field Aj is needed for each group parameter a j a αj and the gauge field becomes A = I Aj (there is no difference whether the group index j is up or down). The generalized gauge transformation is now defined as ψ ψ′ = Uψ , → ′ −1 1 −1 Aa Aa = UAaU (∂aU)U . → − ig (16) The transformation matrices U are of a certain dimension and thus the field ψ, on which the ma- trix operates, becomes a column-vector in this new dimension2. In a Yang-Mills theory the fermionic field ψ is then a rather non-trivial object: it is a genera- tion/annihilation operator in the space of quantum states of the field; a Lorentz group bispinor; and
1 2 ab F ≡ F Fab 2this dimension is referred to as weak isospin space for the weak interaction and color space for the strong interaction.
2