Abstract
The optical theorem can turn out to be a handy tool in calculating absorptive (imaginary) parts of self-energies (or scattering amplitudes) or it can be a useful cross check for some calculations. In this chapter we will explicitly deduce the standard form of the optical theorem and try to establish a robust and transparent notation. We will also take an illustrative example and recover the well known Breit-Wigner approximation for unstable particle propagators.
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Further Reading
C. Itzykson, J. Zuber, Quantum Field Theory
M.E. Peskin, D.V. Schroeder, An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory
V. Ilisie, S.M. Higgs Decay and Production Channels, http://ific.uv.es/lhcpheno/PhDthesis/master_vilisie.pdf
L.H. Ryder, Quantum Field Theory (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985)
T.P. Cheng, L.F. Li, Gauge Theory of Elementary Particle Physics (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984)
F. Mandl, G.P. Shaw, Quantum Field Theory
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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
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Ilisie, V. (2016). Optical Theorem. In: Concepts in Quantum Field Theory. UNITEXT for Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22966-9_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22966-9_12
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Online ISBN: 978-3-319-22966-9
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