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13 views2 pages

HW 1

Uploaded by

Albin Manoj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PH6410/ EP7410: Quantum Field Theory (Spring 2025)

Homework Set 1∗

January 8, 2025

1. Consider a chain of N identical simple pendulums of thread-length l and bob-mass m. The


points of suspension of the pendulums are not fixed, but all lie on a massless screw-rod of pitch
β say along the x-axis. The pendulums are only allowed to swing in planes orthogonal to the
screw-rod on which the points of suspension lie. For a swing by angle θ, the corresponding
displacement of the point of suspension is x = β θ. The points of suspension are also
connected by identical massless springs of spring constant, k. Show that the lagrangian of
this system is,
N  N −1
1 1 2

mλ2 θ̇i2 − mgl (1 − cos θi ) − kβ (θi+1 − θi )2 .
X X
L=
i=1 2 i=1 2
Show that if one takes a suitable “continuum limit”, this gives rise to a one-dimensional field
theory with the lagrangian of the form,
ˆ
µ 2 Y 02
 
2
L = dx ϕ̇ − ϕ − Ω (1 − cos ϕ) , ϕ = ϕ(x).
2 2
Derive the equation of motion for this field theory (this equation is known as the sine-Gordon
equation). (4 + 4 + 2 = 10 points)

2. Show that the functional Euler-Lagrange equation,


!
δL δL
∂t =
δ ϕ̇ δϕ
when applied to the phonon field theory (continuum limit of the 1d harmonic chain) yields
the 1 dimensional wave equation.
(5 points)

3. Derive the following form of the Hamilton’s equations


!0
∂H ∂H ∂H
ϕ̇ = , π̇ = − +
∂π ∂ϕ ∂ϕ0
∗
Due in class on Wed, Jan 15

1
for a generic theory of a field ϕ(x) from the functional version of the Hamilton’s equations,
namely
δH δH
ϕ̇(x) = , π̇(x) =
δπ(x) δϕ(x)
by computing the functional derivatives.
(5 points)

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