6. Quantum Electrodynamics DAMTP（6。）.pdf

6. Quantum Electrodynamics In this section we finally get to quantum electrodynamics (QED), the theory of light interacting with charged matter. Our path to quantization will be as before: we start with the free theory of the electromagnetic field and see how the quantum theory gives rise to a photon with two polarization states. We then describe how to couple the photon to fermions and to bosons. 6.1 Maxwell’s Equations The Lagrangian for Maxwell’s equations in the absence of any sources is simply 1 L = − F Fµν (6.1) 4 µν where the field strength is defined by F = ∂ A − ∂ A (6.2) µν µ ν ν µ The equations of motion which follow from this Lagrangian are ∂µ ∂L = −∂ Fµν = 0 (6.3) ∂(∂ A ) µ µ ν Meanwhile, from the definition of F , the field strength also satisfies the Bianchi µν identity ∂ F + ∂ F + ∂ F = 0 (6.4) λ µν µ νλ ν λµ To make contact with the form of Maxwell’s equations you learn about in high school, µ we need some 3-vector notation. If we define A = (φ,A), then the electric field E and magnetic field B are defined by ∂A E = −∇φ − and B = ∇ × A