Textbook The Theory of Fundamental Processes First Thus Edition Feynman Ebook All Chapter PDF
Textbook The Theory of Fundamental Processes First Thus Edition Feynman Ebook All Chapter PDF
Textbook The Theory of Fundamental Processes First Thus Edition Feynman Ebook All Chapter PDF
https://textbookfull.com/product/cotillion-first-thus-edition-
georgette-heyer/
https://textbookfull.com/product/theory-of-stochastic-objects-
probability-stochastic-processes-and-inference-first-edition-
micheas/
https://textbookfull.com/product/crusader-by-horse-to-jerusalem-
first-thus-edition-severin-timothy/
https://textbookfull.com/product/a-project-to-find-the-
fundamental-theory-of-physics-1st-edition-stephen-wolfram/
Mathematical Theory of Optimal Processes L.S.
Pontryagin
https://textbookfull.com/product/mathematical-theory-of-optimal-
processes-l-s-pontryagin/
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-physical-world-an-
inspirational-tour-of-fundamental-physics-first-edition-nicholas-
manton/
https://textbookfull.com/product/my-best-mathematical-and-logic-
puzzles-dover-recreational-math-first-thus-used-edition-martin-
gardner/
https://textbookfull.com/product/radar-detection-theory-of-
sliding-window-processes-1st-edition-weinberg/
https://textbookfull.com/product/quantum-field-theory-feynman-
path-integrals-and-diagrammatic-techniques-in-condensed-
matter-1st-edition-lukong-cornelius-fai/
THE THEORY OF
FUNDAMENTAL
PROCESSES
ADVANCED BOOK CLASSICS
David Pines, Series Editor
RICHARD P. FEYNMAN
late, California Institute of Technology
CRC Press
Taylor &Francis Group
Boca Raton London New York
CRC Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources.
Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the
author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or
the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the
copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to
copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any
copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may
rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted,
reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying,
microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please
access www. copyright.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright
Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923,
978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and
registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a
photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Addison-Wesley's Frontiers in Physics series has, since 1961, made it possible for
leading physicists to communicate in coherent fashion their views of recent
developments in the most exciting and active fields of physics—without
having to devote the time and energy required to prepare a formal review or
monograph. Indeed, throughout its nearly forty-year existence, the series has
emphasized informality in both style and content, as well as pedagogical clari-
ty. Over time, it was expected that these informal accounts would be replaced
by more formal counterparts—textbooks or monographs—as the cutting-edge
topics they treated gradually became integrated into the body of physics knowl-
edge and reader interest dwindled. However, this has not proven to be the case
for a number of the volumes in the series: Many works have remained in print
on an on-demand basis, while others have such intrinsic value that the physics
community has urged us to extend their life span.
The Advanced Book Classics series has been designed to meet this demand. It
will keep in print those volumes in Frontiers in Physics or its sister series, Lecture
Notes and Supplements in Physics, that continue to provide a unique account of
a topic of lasting interest. And through a sizable printing, these classics will be
made available at a comparatively modest cost to the reader.
These notes on Richard Feynman's lectures at Cornell on the Theory of
Fundamental Processes were first published in 1961 as part of the first group of
lecture note volumes to be included in the Frontiers in Physics series. As is the
case with all of the Feynman lecture note volumes, the presentation in this
work reflects his deep physical insight, the freshness and originality of his
vi EDITOR'S FOREWORD
David Pines
Urbana, Illinois
December 1997
Preface
These are notes on a special series of lectures given during a visit to Cornell
University in 1958. When lecturing to a student body different from the one
at your own institution there is an irresistible temptation to cut corners, omit
difficult details, and experiment with teaching methods. Any wounds to the
students' development caused by the peculiar point of view will be left behind
as someone else's responsibility to heal.
That part of physics that we do understand today (electrodynamics, /3 decay,
isotopic spin rules, strangeness) has a kind of simplicity which is often lost in
the complex formulations believed to be necessary to ultimately understand
the dynamics of strong interactions. To prepare oneself to be the theoretical
physicist who will some day find the key to these strong interactions, it might
be thought that a full knowledge of all these complicated formulations would
be necessary. That may be so, but the exact opposite may also be so; it may be
necessary to stay away from the corners where everyone else has already
worked unsuccessfully. In any event, it is always a good idea to try to see how
much or how little of our theoretical knowledge actually goes into the analy-
sis of those situations which have been experimentally checked. This is neces-
sary to get a clearer idea of what is essential in our present knowledge and what
can be changed without serious conflict with experiments.
The theory of all those phenomena for which a more or less complete quan-
titative theory exists is described. There is one exception; the partial success-
es of dispersion theory in analyzing pion-nucleon scattering are omitted. This
is mainly due to a lack of time; the course was given in 1959-1960 at Cal Tech,
for which these notes were used as a partial reference. There, dispersion theory
vii
viii PREFACE
and the estimation of cross sections by dominant poles were additional topics
for which, unfortunately, no notes were made.
These notes were made directly from the lectures at Cornell university by
P. A. Carruthers and M. Nauenberg. Lectures 6 to 14 were originally written
as a report for the Second Conference on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy,
Geneva, 1958. They have been edited and corrected by H. T. Yura.
R. P. Feynman
Pasadena, California
November 1961
Contents
Editor's Foreword v
Preface vii
1 Review of the Principles of Quantum Mechanics 1
2 Spin and Statistics 7
3 Rotations and Angular Momentum 11
4 Rules of Composition of Angular Momentum 19
5 Relativity 23
6 Electromagnetic and Fermi Couplings 29
7 Fermi Couplings and the Failure of Parity 33
8 Pion-Nucleon Coupling 38
9 Strange Particles 43
10 Some Consequences of Strangeness 48
11 Strong Coupling Schemes 51
12 Decay of Strange Particles 55
13 The Question of a Universal Coupling Coefficient 60
14 Rules for Strangeness Changing Decays: Experiments 64
15 Fundamental laws of Electromagnetics and /3-Decay Coupling 67
16 Density of Final States 73
17 The Propagator for Scalar Particles 78
18 The Propagator in Configuration Space 83
19 Particles of Spin 1 88
20 Virtual and Real Photons 95
21 Problems 101
22 Spin-1/2 Particles 106
23 Extension of Finite Mass 112
24 Properties of the Four-Component Spinor 118
ix
x CONTENTS
to complex number.
1
2 THE THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES
When the electron hits the screen we record the position of the hit. The
process considered is thus: An electron with well-defined momentum some-
how goes through the slit system and makes its way to the screen (Fig. 1-1).
Now we are not allowed to ask which slit the electron went through unless
electrons
(1)
* light
(2) source
slit screen
FIG. 1-1
a21 = amplitude that electron came through slit 2 and the photon
was scattered behind slit 1
a12 = amplitude that electron came through slit 1 and the photon
was scattered behind slit 2
a22 = amplitude that electron came through slit 2 and the photon
was scattered behind slit 2
The amplitude that an electron seen at slit 1 arrives at the screen is
therefore a' = all + a21; for an electron seen at slit 2, a" = a12 a22. Evi -
dently for a properly designed experiment a12 = 0 = a21 so that a n -24 a1,
a22 =-1" a2 of the previous experiment. Now the amplitudes a' and a" corre-
spond to different processes, so the probability of an electron arriving at
the screen is 13; = la'12 ianI 2 = tat 12 + 1a212.
Another example is neutron scattering from crystals.
(1) Ignore spin: At the observation point the total amplitude eciaals the
sum of the amplitudes for scattering from each atom. One gets the usual
Bragg pattern.
(2) Spin effects: Suppose all atoms have spin up, the neutrons spin down
(assume the atom spins are localized): (a) no spin flip—as before, (b) spin
flip—no diffraction pattern shown even though the energy and wavelengths of
the scattered waves are the same as in case a. The reason for this is sim-
ply that the atom which did the scattering has its spin flipped down; in prin-
ciple we can distinguish it from the other atoms. In this case the scattering
from atom i is a different process from the scattering by atom j i.
If instead of (localized) spin flip of the atom we excite (unlocalized) spin
waves with wavenumber k= - k inc kscatt we can again expect some partial
diffraction effects.
Consider scattering at 90° in the c.m. system [see Fig. 1-2 (a to d)]:
(a) Two identical spinless particles: There are two indistinguishable
ways for scatter to occur. Here, total amplitude = 2a and P = 4 jaI 2, which
is twice what we expected classically.
a a
amp. a amp. a
FIG. 1-2a
a a /3
amp. a amp. a
FIG. 1-2b
up down
down up down
down • up
amp. a amp. a
FIG. 1-2c
up up
Up
up
amp. a amp. —a
FIG. 1-2d
(d) But if both the incident electrons have spin up, the processes are in-
distinguishable. The total amplitude = a — a = 0. So here we have a new fea-
ture. We discuss this further in the next lecture.
Sources
B
FIG. 1-3
TABLE 1-1
Relative L R
phases of sources (common) (max) Product
0° 2 2 4
180° 0 0 0
90° 1 1 1
270° 1 1 1
Av. = 1.5
TABLE 1-2
Relative
phases of sources (common) (max) Product
0° 2 0 0
180° 0 2 0
90° 1 1 1
270° 1 1 1
Av. = 0.5
6 THE THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES
Discussion of Problem 1-1. There are four ways in which we can have
photon coincidences:
(1) Both photons come from A: amp. al.
(2) Both photons come from B: amp. a2.
(3) Receiver L receives photon from A, R from B: amp. a3.
(4) Receiver L receives photon from B, R from A: amp. a4.
Processes (1) and (2) are distinguishable from each other and from (3)
and (4). However, (3) and (4) are indistinguishable. [For instance, we could,
in principle, measure the energy content of the emitters to find which had
emitted the photon in case (1) and (2).]
Thus, P = lail2 + 1a212 + la3 + a412- The term ja3 + a41 2 contains the inter-
ference effects. Note that if we were examining electrons instead of photons
the latter term would be ja3 — a412.
2 Spin and Statistics
We should learn to think directly in terms of quantum mechanics. The
only thing mysterious is why we must add the amplitudes, and the rule that
P = 'total amp.I2 for a specific process. We return to consider the rules
for adding amplitudes when the two alternative processes involve exchange
of the two particles.
Consider a process P (amp. a) and the exchange process Pe . (amp. aex)
(indistinguishable from it). We find the following remarkable rule in nature:
For one class of particles (called bosons) the total amplitude is a + a e.; for
another class (fermions) the total amplitude is a —aex . It turns out that parti-
cles with spin 1/2, 3/2, ... are fermions, and particles with spin 0, 1, 2, ...
are bosons. This is deducible from quantum mechanics plus relativity plus
something else. This is discussed in the literature by Pauli4 and, more re-
cently, by alders and Zumino.5
It is important to notice that, for this scheme to work, we must know all
the states of which the particle (or system) is capable. For example, if we
did not know about polarization we would not understand the lack of inter-
ference for different polarizations. If we discovered a failure of any of our
laws (e.g., for some new particle) we would look for some new degree of
freedom to completely specify the state.
Degeneracy. Consider a beam of light polarized in a given direction.
Suppose we put the axis of an analyzer (e.g., polaroid, nicol prism) succes-
sively in two perpendicular directions, x and y, to measure the number of
photons of corresponding polarization in the beam (x and y are of course
perpendicular to the direction of the beam). Call the amplitude for the ar-
rival of a photon with polarization in the x direction a., in the y direction
ay . Now, if we rotate the analyzer 45°, what is the amplitude a45° for ar-
rival of a photon in that direction? We find that ale = (1/11)(a. + ay); for
a general angle 0 (from the x axis) we have a(0) = cos B a„ + sin 0ay . The
point is that only two numbers (here a. and ay) are required to specify the
amplitude for any polarization state. We shall find this result to be con-
nected intimately with the fact that any other choice of axes is equally valid
for the description of the photon.
7
8 THE THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES
AX
For example (Fig. 2-1) consider the system of coordinates x', y' rotated
—45° with respect to (x,y). An observer using this reference frame has
= (a x — ay)/4-2-
= (a), + ay)hri
FIG. 2-2
/at
/ a2
\ an/
\Dn2(R)
Therefore we need an entire matrix D ii (R).
A more complicated case occurs if initially the system is in a state
10 THE THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES
/al
/ a2\
\ a:,I
( al
a=
an apparatus
This requires further explanation; since we have introduced so far only the
concept of an amplitude for the complete event: the production and detection
of the object. This amplitude can be obtained as follows:
We assume that we have an amplitude bi that the object produced is in
some condition characterized by the index i. If it is in this condition, i, let
ai be the amplitude that it will activate some detector. Then the amplitude
for the complete event (production and detection) is ai bi , summed over the
possible intermediate conditions i.
Consider again the experiment of an electron passing through two slits
slit screen
FIG. 3-1
(Fig. 3-1). If at...3 is the amplitude for an electron to go through one slit and
a3-2 the amplitude for an electron at this slit to reach the screen at 2, then
the amplitude for the complete event is the product a1*.3 x a3-.2.
Now rotate the apparatus through R(IRI = angle of rotation, R/IRI = axis
11
12 THE THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES
of rotation) so that the object is produced in condition a' with respect to the
fixed detector
/ai
a2
a3
a' =
We have pointed out that this must be related to the a by an equation of the
form a' = D(R)a, where the matrix D(R) does not depend on the particular
piece of apparatus. In another experiment (Fig. 3-2) we could have the same
object produced in some other conditions b and b'. Then b' = D(R)b, and
FIG. 3-2
the same D(R) is expected. Why must this relation be linear? Because ob-
jects can be made to interfere. Suppose we have two pieces of apparatus,
one producing an object in condition a, the other producing the same object
in condition b, and together producing it in condition a + b. After rotation
we would have a', b', and also a' + b', and also a' + b', in order that the in-
terference phenomena appear the same way in the rotated system. Then we
have
Examples:
(1) An object represented by a single complex number. The D's are
1 x 1 matrices, i.e., a complex number can be chosen to be 1.
FIG. 3-3
D(E around y) = 1 + ie My
Now, we have D(9 around z) = (1 + le Mz )19 / 6 and using the binomial ex-
pansion, one obtains, when E -* 0,
02 2 03 3
D(0 around z) = 1 +1.0 Mz — I —1 +•••
which is often written e leMz. The binomial expansion works, since Mz be-
haves like ordinary numbers under addition and multiplication.
If we want to rotate & about an axis along the unit vector v, we find
14 THE THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES
But now we must be careful about the relative order of M x, My , and NI, in
the matrix products that appear in the series; these matrices do not commute
This follows from the fact that finite rotations do not commute. Consider the
rotation of an eraser, Fig. 3-4 (a and b). (1) Rotate it 90° about the z axis
and then 90° about the x axis (Fig. 3-4a); (2) rotate it 90° about the x axis,
and then 90° about the z axis (Fig. 3-4b); and we get two entirely different
results.
z z
C90°
y
L71
90°
x
FIG. 3-4a
z zi
CS, 90°
FIG. 3-4b
11
FIG. 3-5
axis. We note also that a point which starts on the z axis returns to the ori-
gin, and therefore the net displacement of the point on the sphere is just a ro-
tation by an angle En about the z axis. Keeping terms up to the second order,
we have
Similarly,
These are the rules of commutation for the matrices Mx, My, and M. Every-
thing else can be derived from these rules. How this is done is given in detail
in many books (e.g., Schiff). We give only a bare outline here. First we prove
that MX + + Mi = M2 commutes with all M's. Then we can choose our a's
so that they satisfy M2a = ka, where k is some number. Construct
M_ = M x — iMy
and note
16 THE THEORY OF FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES
Mz a(m) = ma(m)
= (m - 1)M_a(m)
= (m - 1)b
Therefore,
b = ca (m-1)
n a (m)* aj (m) = 1
E for all m
j=1
Therefore,
M, M_ = M2z + + Mz
= M2 — mi mz
and
M2 m)=ka(m)
Therefore
c = [k - m(m - 1)]1/2
Let m = -j be the "last" state. How can we fail to get another if we oper-
ate by M_ ? Only if M_a(-1) = 0 or c = 0 for m = -j, so k = -j(-j -1)
=j(j+1).
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
sieltä kukkui ja mahtui puulaatikkoon puittenkin päälle ja melkeinpä
seinän rakoon.
— Äiti, olisi paljon hauskempi, jos olisit poika ja yhtä vanha kuin
minä. Silloin leikittäisiin kaiket päivät yhdessä.
Nyt ei ollut toivoa muusta kuin Yrjön äidistä. Mitä hän mahdollisesti
saisi aikaan.
Poikia oli ja tyttöjä oli — oli somaa, että piti olla molempia lajia.
Herroja oli ja rouvia oli, mutta Maija ei ollut herra eikä rouva, hän oli
suuri tyttö. Ennen Yrjö oli luullut, ettei herrojen ja rouvien välillä ollut
muuta eroa kuin että herroilla oli sekä sääret että jalat, mutta rouvilla
vain jalat. Ei se tainnut niinkään olla. — Herroilla oli viikset ja rouvilla
ei. — Eroa siinä oli. Mutta ei siitä oikein viisastunut. Eikä Väinökään
siitä sen enempää tiennyt.
Yrjö oli kuitenkin huomannut, että tytöt olivat yhtä ja pojat toista.
Eivät he aina tahtoneet leikkiä samoja leikkejäkään. Mikä siinä lie
ollut.
9.
Niin, tietysti oli niin — eihän joulu-ukko voinut olla kuin muut
ihmiset. Ei. Ei.
Silloin oli myöskin joulukuusi sellainen kuin olla piti,
piparkakkuineen ja omenineen ja moninaisine koristuksineen, joita
oli valmistettu äidin kanssa pitkät ajat. Siinä kun kynttelit paloivat,
niin tiesi, että oli riemun päivä.
— No, äiti!
Ja nyt lupasin hänelle, että ensi kerralla kun hän pyytäisi omaa
satuansa, kertoisin sen hänelle. Kuitenkin sillä ehdolla, että isäkin
silloin olisi kotona. Sillä emmehän hennoneet ilman häntä pitää niin
hauskaa.
Nyt oli lupaus annettu. Ja mieleni oli sen jälkeen sangen raskas.
Miten vaikea olikaan saada se hänelle sanotuksi! Miltä kannalta hän
sen ottaisi? Miten se häneen vaikuttaisi? Mutta oli miten oli. Sen
täytyi tapahtua. Poika oli nyt kuuden vuoden vanha ja aloittaisi pian
koulunsa. Milloin tahansa voisi joku hänen koulutovereistaan tai
muuten joku vieras lausua hänelle varomattoman tai pahansuovan
sanan, joka kaivautuisi hänen sieluunsa ja joka jäisi ainiaaksi häntä
haavoittamaan. Sitä paitsi hän ehkä vastakin tutkistelisi asiaa muilta
eikä isältään ja äidiltään. Ei, kyllä minä sen hänelle sanon. Ja
kukapa sitä paitsi tietää, vaikka tästä sukeutuisi uusi yhdysside
välillemme.
Ja se tuli pian.
Niinpä hän sitten istui kuin istuikin polvellani, ja hetki oli tullut.
Isä istui vastapäätä odottaen hänkin ja nosti kehoittavasti päätään.
Mutta minä vaikenin ja tuijotin himmenevään tuleen.
— No, äiti?
Isä iski silmää minulle. Tässä ei ollut enää valitsemisen varaa.
— Ei täälläpäin! Ei täälläpäin!
— Aivan kuin sinä ja minä! Kas kun sinä osaat hyvin arvata!
Oli. Yrjö oli täysin tyytyväinen, niin päivänselvä asia, ettei hänen
tarvinnut sitä ilmaistakaan. Hän luisui alas polveltani ja käyskenteli
tyytyväisenä ympäri, selkä suorana. Nähtävästi hän oli omissa
silmissään arvoltaan noussut. Ei voinutkaan jokainen kehua sellaisia
matkoja tehneensä. Eikä ollut jokaiselle niin ihmeellistä tapahtunut.
Hän lähestyi keinutuolia, pani sen kädellään käyntiin tarkkaavasti
seuraten sen liikuntoa ikäänkuin sitä tutkien, kapusi sitten siihen
istumaan, katsoi isään ja äitiin suurella, riemukkaalla katseella ja
sanoi:
Kun sinä iltana autoin poikaa makuulle, piti hänen välttämättä tuiki
tarkoin saada tietää, minkälaiset olivat hänen mekkonsa ja
esiliinansa olleet tuona merkillisenä päivänä, mitä kuvia hänellä oli
ollut kuvakirjassaan ja millä leikkikaluilla hän oli leikkinyt. Entisyys oli
kuin ruusunhohteessa ja ihmeellisempää kuin kaikki muu. Vihdoin
hän kiersi käsivartensa niskani ympäri ja likisti minua lujasti
rintaansa. Silloin päätimme keskenämme kuiskaten, että pitäisimme
oman satumme yhteisenä salaisuutenamme, vain meidän kolmen
salaisuutena. Kertokoot muut äidit lapsilleen — kertokoon Ainon ja
Erikin ja Etan äiti heille, minkälaista silloin oli ollut, kun he olivat
heidät löytäneet. Meidän satumme ei kuulunut heille, ei muille kuin
yksin meille.
Hän jatkaa:
— Ja näkisit hänen piironginlaatikkonsa — sanoo hän — siinä
hänellä on paidat tuossa ja sukat tuossa ja nenäliinat tuossa — eikä
kaikki sikin sokin niinkuin sinulla on, Liisa.
Mutta istun kauan hereilläni ajatellen, että se ihailu, josta hän oli
puhunut, oli saanut ensimmäisen iskunsa. Pojan usko
erehtymättömyyteeni oli saanut kolahduksen. Mutta täytyihän senkin
ajan kerran tulla, eikä se hituistakaan ollut häirinnyt hyvää
suhdettamme.
— Heijast —?
— Miksi sanot, ettet tiedä sitä niin tarkalleen, kun et tiedä sitä
ollenkaan?