Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Contents
Introduction

Lagrangian with manifest symmetry

Gauge sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fermion sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2
2
3

Lagrangian with spontaneously broken symmetry

Gauge sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gauge-Higgs sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Self-Higgs sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fermion-gauge sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yukawa sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Quark flavor mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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5
6
9
10
11
14
15

Quantization
Gauge-fixing (Faddeev-Popov procedure) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
R gauges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15
16
17

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Page 1 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Introduction
The electroweak theory forms the cornerstone of the Standard Model of particle physics. It is a quantized Yang-Mills theory
based on the symmetry group SU (2)L U (1)Y ; in vernacular, fields in the Lagrangian exist in different representations of
isospin and hypercharge. The net result is that the gauge covariant derivative D is of the form
 
D ij = ij ig 0 Y ij B ig [a ]ij Wa
where the i, j indices are in isospin space (and thus dependent on the representation), Y is the hypercharge of whatever field
on which the covariant derivative is acting and the { a }, (a = 1, 2, 3) are the generators of SU (2)L . The B is the U (1)Y
gauge field and the Wa are the SU (2)L isospin gauge fields; since there are three generators, there are thus three isospin
gauge fields. Lastly, since electroweak theory is a Yang-Mills theory, it is not possible to write a gauge-invariant mass term
for the gauge bosons; nor, due to the particular symmetry group, is it possible to write a mass term for the fermions without
causing some severe headaches with respect to renormalization. This issue is resolved by means of the Higgs mechanism.

Lagrangian with manifest symmetry

The classical electroweak Lagrangian may be written as a sum of two different Lagrangians (or sectors)
LEW = Lgauge + Lfermion
The first of these describes the kinetic terms of the gauge bosons and includes a brief review of the adjoint representation
of the symmetry group. The second describes the kinetic terms of the fermions, which are the three generations of quarks
(u, d, s, c, t, b) and the three flavors of leptons; this includes a brief review of the fundamental and singlet representations of
the symmetry group. The third sector describes the Higgs which in its simplest incarnation is doublet of two complex scalar
fields transforming as a doublet under SU (2)L . Lastly, the Higgs couples to the fermion sector through Yukawa couplings;
when the symmetry is spontaneously broken, these couplings lead to the requisite mass terms.

Gauge sector
Since there are two sets of gauge bosons, one for U (1) and the other for SU (2), there are correspondingly two kinetic terms.
Lets begin with the U (1) gauge boson kinetic term. Since U (1) is an Abelian group, the kinetic term is very simply
1
LU (1) = B B
4
where
B = B B
Just as a reminder, heres the gauge transformation of the four-vector potential for Abelian symmetries:
B

i
U U 1
g

i
iY (x)
=e
B eiY (x)
eiY (x) eiY (x)
g

i
= B
iY eiY (x) eiY (x)
g
1
= B + Y
g

U B U 1

while the field strength tensor is invariant

B

Page 2 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Easy enough, but what about the SU (2) gauge boson kinetic term? The non-Abelian nature of SU (2) complicates things a
little. The kinetic term itself is similar

1 
LSU (2) = Tr W W
4
where [as in Schwartz Eq. (25.68)]
W =






i
D , D = W W ig W , W = W W igWb Wc [b , c ] = Wa Wa a igWb Wc (ifabc a )
g

Note that the gauge field may be decomposed in terms of the generators
W = Wa a
giving
a
W
= Wa Wa + gf abc Wb Wc

Heres the gauge transformation for the four-vector field under non-Abelian symmetries:
W

U W U 1

i
U U 1
g

or in terms of components [as in Schwartz Eq. (25.67)]

Wa

1
Wa + a (x) f abc b (x)W c
g

The field strength tensor is no longer gauge-invariant

a
W

c
a
f abc b (x)W
W

In summary, the gauge sector Lagrangian is


1
1 
Lgauge = B B Tr W W
4
4

Fermion sector
There are three generations of quarks and leptons, rising in order of magnitude by mass. The 1-to-1 match of generations is
both a happy accident and deep mystery. Happy because the match results in the cancellations of anomalies when the theory
is quantized, yet mysterious b/c the choice of three generations (and their masses) seems wholly arbitrary. Regardless, the
quarks and leptons are best described by Weyl spinors (we could describe them with Dirac spinors, but that requires the use
of projection operators and gets notationally messy). As a reminder, the kinetic term for a Dirac spinor in terms of Weyl
spinors is of the form
/ = i 0
L = i

  0 1   0   

= i L
R
1 0

0
R

  0 1   

R
= i L R

L
1 0



L

= i L
R
R

= iL

L + iR
R

which shows that the kinetic term doesnt mix fields of differing chiralities. Now lets the lepton doublets as
 
 e 
 
L
L
L
, Li =
Lei =
, Li =

L
eL
Page 3 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

These are SU (2) doublets (so theyre in the fundamental representation). In this notation, i = {1, 2} is the isospin index in
the fundamental representation and f = {e, , } is the lepton flavor index. By convention, this doublet is chosen to be of
two left-handed Weyl spinors and thus the free kinetic term for this doublet is
X

LLH leptons =

 
i Lf
ij Lfj
i

f =e,,

The SM also requires (as will be explained in the symmetry breaking section) the presence of right-handed lepton fields. By
convention these are chosen as SU (2) singlets, meaning they carry no isospin charge:
LRH leptons = ieR eR + iR R + iR R
Note that were very explicitly not including right-handed neutrinos; the SM doesnt technically call for them, but including
them is one way of explaining experimental evidence of neutrino mass. Now, similarly, define the left-handed quark doublets






uL
cL
tL
g
Qi =
,
,
dL
sL
bL
where as before i = {1, 2} and g = {1, 2, 3} are the quark generation labels. Therefore the free kinetic term for the quark
doublets is
3
X

LLH quarks =
i (Qg )i
ij Qgj
g=1

For the sake of compactness, define for the right-handed quark fields
ugR = {uR , cR , tR }

daR = {dR , sR , bR }

meaning the free kinetic term is

LRH quarks =

3 
X

i (ugR ) ugR + i (dgR ) dgR

g=1

So, in order to couple the theory to the gauge bosons, promote the partial derivatives to gauge covariant derivatives (in minimal
coupling; were assuming the theory is fundamental rather than effective). Let YL , and YQ represent the hypercharges of the
left-handed leptons and quarks and Ye , Yu and Yd represent the hypercharges of the right-handed leptons and quarks. Thus
the kinetic terms become:


f
f
0
a
f
f D

/
/
/
/
LLH leptons = iL
L
=
i
L

ig
Y
B

ig
[
]
W
ij j
ij
L
ij
a Lj
i
i
ij


/ ij ig 0 Ye B
/ ij efj = i
/ ij efj
LRH leptons = i
efi D
efi


f
f
0
a
f
f D

/
/
/
/
LLH quarks = iQ
Q
=
i
Q

ig
Y
B

ig
[
]
W
ij j
ij
Q
ij
a Qj
i
i
ij




/ ij ig 0 Yu B
/ ij ig 0 Yd B
/ ij ugj + idgi D
/ ij dgj = i
/ ij ugj + idgi
/ ij dgj
LRH quarks = i
ugi D
ugi
Putting it all together, the fermion sector Lagrangian is




f
/ ij ig 0 YL B
/ ij ig 0 Ye B
/ ij ig [ a ]ij W
/ a Lfj + i
/ ij efj
Lfermion = iL
efi
i






f
/ ij ig 0 YQ B
/ ij ig 0 Yu B
/ ij ig 0 Yd B
/ ij ig [ a ]ij W
/ a Qfj + i
/ ij ugj + idgi
/ ij dgj
+ iQ
ugi
i

Before spontaneous symmetry breaking this constitutes the extent of what can be written down respecting gauge invariance
and ensuring the renormalizability of the theory. As noted above, the glaring problem with this theory is that everything is
massless, which clearly doesnt match experimental data!
Page 4 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Lagrangian with spontaneously broken symmetry

In this section well spontaneously break the SU (2)L U (1) symmetry down to U (1)EM by giving the Higgs field a non-zero
VEV. This induces a reparameterization of the fields introduced in the section above into terms of fields we encounter on a
day-to-day basis:
LEW = Lkinetic gauge + Lkinetic fermion + Lgauge-Higgs + Lself-Higgs + Lfermion-gauge + LYukawa
In its simplest incarnation, the Higgs field H is an SU (2) doublet of two complex scalar fields

2
 


LHiggs = D ik Hk Dij
Hj + m2 Hi Hi Hi Hi
In this case the gauge covariant derivative takes the form



Dij
Hj = ij ig 0 YH B ij ig [ a ]ij Wa Hj
In breaking the symmetry, the Higgs doublet may be written in terms of doublet with one entry chosen to be 0 times a rotation
involving three Nambu-Goldstone bosons (one for each broken SU (2) generator) a . Note that this choice is arbitrary; it
amounts to a choice of vacuum, and Im free to rotate among the vacua until I get to this particular choice (which I make
based on the fact that it makes life easier):
!


 + 
0
a a
H
= exp 2i
Hi =
h
v +
H0
v
2
2
Here, v is the VEV of the Higgs field and h is a real scalar field corresponding to the unbroken U (1)EM generator. Note that
hhi = 0 by definition; all the non-zero VEV has been shunted into v. The value of v is related to m and by minimizing the
potential,
V (|H|) = m2 |H|2 |H|4


dV
= 0 = 2m2 |H| 4|H|3 = 2|H| m2 2|H|2
d|H|

m
|H| =
2

so v = m . Now, lets choose a gauge such that a = 0; this is called the unitary gauge, and it makes the relevant degrees of
freedom manifest. Later, well reinsert the Goldstone bosons. With this choice, the Higgs field becomes
!


0
0
=
Hi =
h
v +
H0
2
2
Now, note that under a 1 or 2 rotation, the elements of the doublet are mixed into each other (so its not invariant!).
Therefore here we explicitly see how the non-zero VEV breaks the SU (2) symmetry. However, there is a remaining symmetry.
Under a 3 rotation, the effect is to multiply the upper entry by a complex phase and the lower entry by an equal-but-opposite
complex phase:
!
!



 
 


i
0
i
i
0
0
0
1 0
e2
0
USU (2) H = exp (i3 ) H = exp

= exp

=
=
i
i
0 1
H0
H0
H0
2 3
2
e 2 H 0
0 e 2
This can be undone by multiplying the entire doublet by a U (1) rotation UU (1) = eiY . Thus Higgs doublet is invariant under
rotations in the diagonal subgroup







UU (1)EM ij = exp i [3 ]ij + Y ij = exp iQij
which provides us with a definition of the electric charge:
Q = T3 + Y
Page 5 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Since we want the Higgs boson to be invariant under U (1)EM , then Q = 0. H 0 has T3 = 21 (since its the spin-down state
of the doublet) so that forces YH = 12 . With the symmetry spontaneously broken, the Higgs Lagrangian can be broken up
into various terms:

  


2
1
1
LHiggs =
ij ig 0 B ij ig [ a ]ij Wa Hk
ij ig 0 B ij ig [ a ]ij Wa Hj + m2 Hi Hi Hi Hi
2
2
  


1
1
ig 0 B ig a Wa H
=
ig 0 B ig a Wa H
2
2
|
{z
}
(3)

(4)

Lgauge +Lgauge-Higgs +Lgauge-Higgs

+ ( H)




 

2
1
1

ig 0 B ig a Wa H +
ig 0 B ig a Wa H H + ( H) H + m2 Hi Hi Hi Hi
2
2
{z
}
|
Lself-Higgs

In the following sections, Ill expand and examine each of the above terms separately. Note that since H is chosen to be real,
the middle two terms vanish identically.

Gauge sector
Now lets expand the matrix in the first term above (explicitly reinserting the isospin indices):
1
1
ig 0 B ig a Wa = ig 0 B ij ig [ a ]ij Wa
2
2
1 h i
1 h i
1 0
= ig B ij ig 1 W1 ig 2 W2
2
2
2
ij
ij



0 


ig
ig
ig
B
0
0
W1
=

0 B
W1
0
2
2
2
 1 0 1


1
2 g B + 2 gW3
2 g (W1 iW2 )
= i

1
1 0
1
2 g (W1 + iW2 )
2 g B + 2 gW3

1 h 3i
ig
W3
2
ij


ig
0
iW2
W3

iW2
0
0
2

0
W3

Putting aside the terms involving the h field (for now), lets examine the the terms that arise from the Higgs Lagrangian
involving the gauge fields and the VEV:



!
!!
 1 0 1

2
3
1
1 0
1
1

iW
g
B
+
gW
g
W
0
0

g B + 2 gW3 12 g (W1 iW2 )

2 
2
2
2


Lgauge = i
i

1 0
1
1
2
1
3
v
v
1
1 0
1
2 g (W1 + iW2 )
2 g B 2 gW3
2
2
2 g W + iW
2 g B 2 gW
 !! 



1
2

1
1
iv
iv
2 g W iW
2 g (W1 iW2 )

1
1
3
1 0
1
2
2
2 g B 2 gW3
2 g B 2 gW
 1


v2 1

1 0
1
2 g (W1 iW2 )
=
g
(W
+
iW
)
g
B

gW

1
2
3
1 0
1
2
2
2
2
2 g B 2 gW3





v2 1 2
1 0
1
1 0 1

=
g W1 W1 + W2 W2 +
g B gW3
g B gW3
2 4
2
2
2
2
2 







v
=
g 2 W1 W1 + W2 W2 + g 0 B gW3 g 0 B gW3
8
As it stands, the gauge bosons dont have a definite isospin value, nor do we know how to relate the hypercharges and isospin
charges to the electromagnetic charge. Both problems are solved by a clever reparameterization of the gauge bosons; notice
that the gauge terms involving W 1 and W 2 are quadratic; meanwhile the B and W 3 are mixed. Lets see if we can undo
this mixing. Recall that the 3 generator is chosen as the Cartan subalgebra generator; the two other operators are written
to be raising and lowering operators:
= 1 i2

[3 , ] =
Page 6 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

If I define raising and lowering gauge fields as

1
W = (W1 iW2 )
2
these satisfy




1
1
W1 iW2 (W1 + iW2 ) =
W1 W1 + W2 W2
2
2
This means the quadratic terms become:


g 2 W1 W1 + W2 W2 = 2g 2 W+ W
W+ W =

Lets now define an angle that parameterizes the mixing between B and W 3 :
tan W =

g0
g

This implies (if we let g 0 be the opposite leg of a right triangle and g be the adjacent leg)
sin W = q

g0
02

g +g

cos W = q

g
02

g + g2

With this definition, the mixing terms become

g 0 B gW3 g 0 B gW3
q
q


= g 02 + g 2 sin W B cos W W3
g 02 + g 2 (sin W B cos W W3 )




= g 02 + g 2 sin W B cos W W3 (sin W B cos W W3 )
Lets now define diagonalized fields as
B = cos W A sin W Z

W3 = sin W A + cos W Z

in terms of the uncharged Z gauge field and the photon gauge A which yields




sin W B cos W W3 = sin W cos W A sin W Z cos W sin W A + cos W Z
= sin W cos W A sin2 W Z sin W cos W A cos2 W Z
= Z
Note that with this choice, the photon gauge field drops out entirely! With these reparameterizations in place, the gauge
sector becomes:






v2  2
Lgauge =
g W1 W1 + W2 W2 + g 0 B gW3 g 0 B gW3
8



v2  2
2g W+ W + g 02 + g 2 Z Z
=
8
!
!
1 2 2
1
g 02

= g v W+ W +
1 + 2 Z Z
4
2
g




1 2 2
1

= g v W+ W +
1 + tan W Z Z
4
2


1 2 2
1

= g v W+ W +
Z Z
4
2 cos2 W
Finally, lets clean this up by defining the masses of the gauge bosons as
1
1
mW = gv
mZ =
gv
2
2 cos W
so that we get
Lgauge



1 2 2
1
1

= g v W+ W +
Z Z
= m2W W+ W + m2Z Z Z
2
4
2
2 cos W
Page 7 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Kinetic gauge terms

Lets examine the effect of these reparameterizations on the kinetic gauge terms. First, note that the raising and lowering
operators constitute a basis (together with the 3 operator). In other words
W = Wa a = W1 1 + W2 2 + W3 3 = W+ + + W + W3 3
So we can expand the trace over isospin indices using the raising/lowering basis

1 
1
1
1
1
1
Lkinetic gauge = B B Tr W W = B B W1 W1 W2 W2 W3 W3
4
4
4
4
4
4
and lets examine the middle two terms, recalling that
B = B B

a
W
= Wa Wa + gf abc Wb Wc

1
1
W1 W1 + W2 W2
4
4

1


1
= ( W1 W1 ) W1 W1 + ( W2 W2 ) W2 W2
4
4
1
1
1
1
= W1 W1 W1 W1 + W2 W2 W2 W2
2
2
2
2


1
1
1
1
= W1 W1 + W2 W2
W1 W1 + W2 W2
2
2
2
2
Lets examine the first two terms:
1
1
W1 W1 + W2 W2
2
2
1
1

= (W + W+ ) (W + W+ ) (W W+ ) (W W+ )
8
8


1

=
W W + W W+ + W+ W + W+ W+
8


1

W W W W+ W+ W + W+ W+
8


1
=
W W+ + W+ W
4
and then the term in parenthesis
1
1
W1 W1 + W2 W2
2
2

1


1

= (W + W+ ) W + W+ (W W+ ) W W+
8
8


1

=
W W + W W+ + W+ W + W+ W+
8


1

W W W W+ W+ W + W+ W+
8


1
W W+ + W+ W
=
4
So we can write these two kinetic terms as


1
1
1
W1 W1 + W2 W2 =
W W+ + W+ W + W W+ + W+ W
4
4
4



1
=
W W+ + W+ +
4
Page 8 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Gauge-Higgs sector
There are two kinds of couplings between the gauge bosons and the Higgs boson, hGG (so three-point interactions) and
hhGG (so four-point interactions). Fortunately, most of this section is a repeat of the above section; lets begin with the
four-point interactions. Expand the matrix arising from the gauge covariant derivative and expand the matrix multiplication:


!
 1 0 1

+ 12 gW3 21 g W1 iW2
0
2 g B + 2 gW3

= i
i

h
1
1
2
3

1 0
1
1
2 g (W1 + iW2 )
2
2 g W + iW
2 g B 2 gW

 !! 
 1

1
2
1
ih
ih
g
W

iW
g (W1 iW2 )

2
2

1 0
1
3
1
1 0
2
2
2 g B 2 gW3
2 g B 2 gW
 1


h2 1

1
1 0
2 g (W1 iW2 )
=
g
(W
g
B

gW
+
iW
)

1
3
2
1 0
1
2
2
2
2
2 g B 2 gW3





h2 1 2
1
1 0 1
1 0

=
g W1 W1 + W2 W2 +
g B gW3
g B gW3
2 4
2
2
2
2
2 







h
=
g 2 W1 W1 + W2 W2 + g 0 B gW3 g 0 B gW3
8

(4)
Lgauge-Higgs

1 0
2 gB

1
2 g (W1 iW2 )

1 0
1
2 g B 2 gW3

!!

Then inserting the reparameterizations from the previous section,



1
1 2 2
1

g v W+ W +
Z
Z
= m2W W+ W + m2Z Z Z

2
4
2
2 cos W
we get
(4)






h2  2
g W1 W1 + W2 W2 + g 0 B gW3 g 0 B gW3
8


1 2 2 h2
1

= g v 2 W+ W +
Z Z
4
v
2 cos2 W


1 2
h2
2

= 2 mW W+ W + mZ Z Z
2
v

Lgauge-Higgs =

Okay, so now lets examine the three-point interactions. One such term is


!
 1 0 1

+ 12 gW3 21 g W1 iW2
0
2 g B + 2 gW3


= i
i

1
1
2
3
v
1
1 0
1
2 g (W1 + iW2 )
2
2 g W + iW
2 g B 2 gW

 !! 
 1


1
iv
ih
g W1 iW2
2
2 g (W1 iW2 )

1 0
1
3
1
1 0
2
2
2 g B 2 gW3
2 g B 2 gW
 1


vh 1

1 0
1
2 g (W1 iW2 )
=
g
(W
+
iW
)
g
B

gW

1
2
3
1 0
1
2
2
2
2
2 g B 2 gW3




vh 1 2
1 0
1
1 0 1

=
g W1 W1 + W2 W2 +
g B gW3
g B gW3
2 4
2
2
2
2








vh 2
=
g W1 W1 + W2 W2 + g 0 B gW3 g 0 B gW3
8


1 2 2h
1

= g v
W+ W +
Z Z
4
v
2 cos2 W


h
1
=
m2W W+ W + m2Z Z Z
v
2

(3)
Lgauge-Higgs

1 0
2 gB

1
2 g (W1 iW2 )

1
1 0
2 g B 2 gW3

0
h

Page 9 of 19

!!

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

The other term is identical, so the total gauge-Higgs term is

Lgauge-Higgs

h
=2
v

m2W W+ W

1
+ m2Z Z Z
2

 2 

h
1 2
2

mW W+ W + mZ Z Z
+
v
2

Self-Higgs sector
Now lets analyze the derivative terms in the Higgs Lagrangian. This yields a kinetic term for the real Higgs field h as well
as Higgs self-interactions:

2

Lself-Higgs = ( H) H + m2 Hi Hi Hi Hi
!! 


0

0
=
h
v +
0
0
2
2

v
2


v
2

0
+


0

!!2

v
2

0
+

!
2

+m

v
2


v
2

0
+

!
h

!



2
0
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 2
2
+m
v + vh + h
v + vh + h
= 0

1 h
2
2
2
2
2


1
1 2 2
1 4 1 3
1 2 2 1 3
1 3 1 2 2 1 3 1 4

2 2
= h h + m h
v + v h + v h + v h + v h + vh + v h + vh + h
2
2
4
2
4
2
2
4
2
4
1
1
3 2 2

= h h + m2 h2
v h vh3 h4
2
2
2
4


1 h
2

where the . . . represent terms that are either constant (so multiples of v, which is a constant) or linear in h, which dont
contribute to the dynamics. Now lets insert the VEV v = m :
1
h h +
2
1
= h h +
2

Lself-Higgs =

1 2 2
m h
2
1 2 2
m h
2

3 2 2

v h vh3 h4
2
4 !
!
2
1
3 m
m2
vh3
h2
2
2

4
v
2

m2
v

!
h4

1
m 3 m 4
h h m2 h2
h 2h
2
v
4v

Finally, let mh = m 2, yielding

Lself-Higgs =

1
1
m2
m2
h h m2h h2 h h3 h2 h4
2
2
2v
8v

The first two terms are of course the Lagrangian for a free real scalar field; the third and fourth terms are the three- and
four-Higgs interactions (this is what we mean when we say the Higgs self-couples). Recall the definition of the W boson mass
mW =

1
gv
2

v=

2mW
g

Plugging this in, the self-Higgs Lagrangian becomes

Lself-Higgs =

1
1
gm2h 3
g 2 m2h 4
h h m2h h2
h
h
2
2
4mW
32m2W

Page 10 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Fermion-gauge sector
Recall the fermion sector of the Lagrangian




f
/ ij ig 0 YL B
/ ij ig 0 Ye B
/ ij ig [ a ]ij W
/ a Lfj + i
/ ij efj
Lfermion = iL
efi
i






0
a
f
/ ij ig 0 Yd B
/
/ ij ig 0 Yu B
/
/
/ ij ugj + idgi
/ ij dgj
+ iQ

ig
Y
B

ig
[
]
W
Qfj + i
ugi
ij
Q
ij
a
i
ij
Lets split this into the partial derivative terms










f
f
/ ij Lfj + i
/ ij efj + iQ
/ ij Qfj + i
/ ij ugj + idgi
/ ij dgj
Lkinetic fermion = iL
efi
ugi
i
i
and the gauge coupling terms:




f ig 0 YL B
/ ij ig [ a ]ij W
/ a Lfj + i
/ ij efj
Lfermion-gauge = iL
efi ig 0 Ye B
i






a
f
f ig 0 YQ B
/
/
/ ij ugj + idgi ig 0 Yd B
/ ij dgj
+ iQ

ig
[
]
W
ugi ig 0 Yu B
ij
a Qj + i
i
ij
The kinetic terms are fairly self-explanatory; for the coupling terms, lets first establish the isospin and hypercharge of the
leptons and quarks. We know the electric charges for the leptons, neutrinos, up- and down-type quarks are, respectively
Ql = 1

Q = 0

Qu =

2
3

Qd =

1
3

We also know by virtue of what representation the leptons, quarks, etc. transform in what the isospin of the particles is:
(T3 )L = (T3 )uL =

1
2

(T3 )eL = (T3 )dL =

1
2

(T3 )eR = (T3 )uR = (T3 )dR = 0

Recalling that Q = T3 + Y , we get the hypercharges as

YeL =

1
2

YeR = 1

YL =

1
2

YuL =

1
6

YuR =

2
3

YdL =

1
6

YdR =

1
3

Therefore the fermion-gauge term becomes





a
f
f 1 ig 0 B
/
/
/ ij efj

ig
[
]
W
Lfermion-gauge = iL
efi ig 0 B
ij
a Lj + i
i
ij
2






2 0
1 0
a
f
g
g
g
g

f 1 ig 0 B
/
/
/
/
+ iQ

ig
[
]
W
Q
+
i
u

ig
B
u
+
i
d
ig
B
ij
a
ij
ij dj
i
j
i
j
i
ij
6
3
3

Page 11 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Lets focus on the lepton terms first:





f 1 ig 0 B
/ ig a W
/ a ig + W
/ + ig W
/ Lfj + i
/ efj
Llepton-gauge = iL
efi ig 0 B
2



!
1
2
1 / 3
1
1 0/
f


/
/
g
B

g
W

g
W

i
W

2
2
2
f
0
f
f
f
L



/ ej
= L eL

g
B
f
i
1
2
3
1 0/
1 /
eL
/ + iW
/
g
B
+
g
W
12 g W
2
2





3
1
2
0
f
f
1
1


/
/
/
/
g
B

g
W

g
W

i
W
e


2
 L efR g 0 B

L 2 
/ efR
= Lf efL
3
1
2
0
f
f
/ + gW
/
/ + iW
/
eL
12 g W
L + 12 g B






1 f 0
1 f
3
1
2
/ gW
/
/ iW
/
=
L g B
Lf g
L W
efL +
2
2


 


1 f 0
1 f 1
2
3
f
/ + iW
/
/ + gW
/
/ efR
eL W
L + eL g B
efL efR g 0 B
g
2
2



1 f  0
1 f 1
2
3
f
/
/
/
/

efL

g
g

i
W
B

g
W
=
L
L
+
2 L
2
{z
}
{z
}
|
|
(1)

(2)



1 f 1


1 
2
3
/ efR
/ + iW
/
/ + gW
/

efR g 0 B
eL W
Lf + efL g 0 B
efL
2 g

2 |
| {z }
|
{z
}
{z
}
(3)

(5)

(4)

Lets analyze each term in parenthesis:

q


3
3
/ gW
/ = g 02 + g 2 sin W B
/ cos W W
/
(1) : g 0 B
s





g 02
/ sin W Z
/ cos W sin W A
/ + cos W Z
/
= g 1 + 2 sin W cos W A
g
q


/ sin2 W Z
/ sin W cos W A
/ cos2 W Z
/
= g 1 + tan2 W sin W cos W A
g
/
=
Z
cos W
1

/ iW
/ =W
/
(2) : W
3

/ + iW
/ =W
/
(3) : W



3
/ + cos W W
/
g 02 + g 2 sin W B
s





g 02
/ sin W Z
/ + cos W sin W A
/ + cos W Z
/
= g 1 + 2 sin W cos W A
g
q


/ sin2 W Z
/ + sin W cos W A
/ + cos2 W Z
/
= g 1 + tan2 W sin W cos W A



g
/ sin W cos W + Z
/ cos2 W sin2 W
=
A2
cos W


g
/+
/ cos2 W sin2 W
= 2g sin W A
Z
cos W

/ + gW
/ =
(4) : g 0 B

q


/ = g 02 + g 2 sin W cos W A
/ =g
/ sin W Z
(5) : g B
0

s
1+

g 02
g2

/ sin W Z
/ =
sin W cos W A



g
/ sin2 W Z
/
sin W cos W A
cos W
Page 12 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Thus the lepton-gauge Lagrangian becomes



1 f 0
1 f 1
3
2
f
/
/
/
/
Llepton-gauge =

efL

g
B

g
W
g

i
W
L
L
L
2
+
2
{z
}
{z
}
|
|
(1)

(2)



1 f 1


1 f 0
2
3
f
/
/
/
/
/ efR

g
e
W
+
i
W
e

g
B
+
g
W

+
efL
efR g 0 B
L
L
2 L

2 |
|
{z
}
{z
}
(3)

(4)

g
1 f + f
1 f f
/ Lf + g
/ eL + g
/ L g sin W efL Ae
/ fL
Lf Z
L W
e W
=
2 cos W
2
2 L


g
g
/ fL g sin W efR Ae
/ fR
/ fR +
cos2 W sin2 W efL Ze
sin2 W efR Ze

2 cos W
cos W


g
1 f + f
1 f f
/ Lf + g
/ eL + g
/ L g sin W A efL
Lf Z
L W
eL W
=
efL + efR efR
2 cos W
2
2
g
g
g
g
2
f
f
/ L
/ fL +
/ fL +
/ fR
cos W eL Ze
sin2 W efL Ze
sin2 W efL Ze
sin2 W efR Ze

2 cos W
2 cos W
cos W
cos W


g
1 f + f
1 f f
/ Lf + g
/ eL + g
/ L g sin W A efL
=
Lf Z
L W
eL W
efL + efR efR
2 cos W
2
2




g
g
2
2
/ fL +
efL + efR efR
cos W + sin W efL Ze
sin2 W Z efL

2 cos W
cos W


g
1
1
+

/ efL + g
/ Lf g sin W A efL
/ Lf + g
=
efL + efR efR
Lf W
efL W
Lf Z
2 cos W
2
2


g
g
/ fL +

efL Ze
sin2 W Z efL
efL + efR efR
2 cos W
cos W

i



h
g
f 3 f
efL + efR efR
efL + efR efR g sin W A efL
T 3 efL sin2 W efL
T L + efL
=
Z L
cos W
1 f f
1 f + f
/ eL + g
/ L
W
e W
+ g
2 L
2 L
The first three terms involve what are known as neutral currents (since they interact with the neutral bosons) while the
remaining terms involve charged currents. Now, note that the current coupling to the photon gauge boson A is the electron
so the coefficient of the term must be electric charge! Therefore lets define the following:



e = g sin W
JEM
= efL
efL + efR efR
JZ =

 



1 

J3 sin2 W JEM
= Lf
T 3 Lf + efL
T 3 efL sin2 W efL
efL + efR efR
cos W

Now, recall that a theory based on Weyl spinors can be written out of Dirac spinors and projection operators:
PL = 0 1 (1 5 )

2

  0 1   0  1  1 + 1

= L R
1 0

0
0
2

  0 1   0   

L
= L
R
1 0

0
0

 0 1  0 

= L R
1 0

L



L

= L
= L

L
R
0

0
11



L
R

Page 13 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

So the lepton-gauge Lagrangian can be written in terms of the charged and neutral currents as
h


i


g
Llepton-gauge =
Z Lf
T 3 Lf + efL
T 3 efL sin2 W efL
efL + efR efR g sin W A efL
efL + efR efR
cos W
1 f f
1 f + f
/ eL + g
/ L
W
e W
+ g
2 L
2 L
1
1
e
+

/ PL ef + g ef W
/ f
Z J + eA JEM
+ g f W
=
sin W Z
2
2

Yukawa sector
The Higgs field also couples to the fermion sector; when a VEV is assigned to the Higgs field, these terms yield masses for
the fermions. Recall that fermion masses may be written in terms of Weyl spinors as
= m 0
Lmass = m

 0 1  

L
= m L R
1 0
R

 

R
= m L R
L



L
R + R
= m L
With the leptons, this is achieved easily enough by mixing the left and right-handed fields we defined above (using the
example with electrons):

R + ye H L
Llepton mass = y LHe
R
!



0

0
e
+
ye
= y L eL
v
h
R
R
+
2
2


y 
yv 
= eL eR + eR eL + h eL eR + eR eL
2
2

v
2

 
L
eL

yv
The first term above yields a mass term for the electron with m =
. The second is a Yukawa coupling between the real
2
Higgs scalar field h and the electron field (which could be written as a Dirac spinor!). Similarly, we can yield mass terms for
the down-type quarks (d, s, b) since theyre isospin-down (like the electron in the example above). In other words
   
 
i Hdj + Yijd
i
Ldown-quark mass = Yijd Q
djR H Q
R
!
!
     
    
 ui

0
j
d
j
d
v
h
L
i
i
0 2 + 2
dR + Yij
dR
= Yij
uL
dL
h
v +
diL
2
2

 
    
    

v  i  d j
1
dL Yij dR + djR
=
Yijd diL + h diL Yijd djR + djR
Yijd diL
2
2

Now, note that the coupling isnt a single constant (unlike with the leptons), but rather a matrix that mixes flavors. Ill
discuss this later. So the leptons and down-type quarks acquire masses by coupling to the Higgs. Great! But what about
the up-type quarks (u, c, t)? Our choice of Higgs field makes it impossible to give the up-type quarks masses by means of the
above couplings. Recall the operation of charge conjugation, which creates a right-handed spinor out of a left-handed spinor
and vice-versa:

R = i2 L
Recall that i2 represents the spinor metric of sorts. Whats the action of the spinor metric on the Higgs doublet?
!
!


h
v +
0
0 i

2
2
=
i2 H = i
h
v +
i 0
0
2
2
Page 14 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

This looks useful. Combining this with the above Yukawa couplings, we get
 

 

i
i i2 H uj + Yiju uj
Lup-quark mass = Yiju Q
i
H
Q
2
R
R
!
!
     
h
 ui
    
v +

u
j
d
j
h
v
L
i
i
2
2
+
0
= Yij
uR + Yij
uR
uL
dL
2
2
diL
0
 



 
 
 

v
1
i
u j
j
u
i
i
u j
j
u
i
=
uL Yij uR + uR
Yij uL + h uL Yij uR + uR
Yij uL
2
2
There we go! Alright, so we have a way to impart masses on the fermions by means of imparting a non-zero VEV on the
Higgs field.

Quark flavor mixing

Summary
There are a ton of random little definitions peppered throughout the above sections, so let me summarize them here.
e = g sin W

mW =

1
gv
2

mZ =

1
gv
2 cos W

Lastly, heres a handy table of the isospin, hypercharge and corresponding electric charges of the quarks, leptons. Recall that
Q = T3 + Y :
Q
T3
Y
eL , L , L 1 21 21
eR , R , R 1
0
1
1
1
Le , L , L
0

2
2
2
1
1
uL , cL , tL
3
2
6
2
2
uR , cR , tR
0
3
3
1
1
1
dL , sL , bL 3 2
6
dR , sR , bR 13
0 31
Similarly, heres the table for the gauge bosons

Z0
W+
W
h

Q
0
0
1
1
0

T3
0
0
1
1
12

Y
0
0
0
0
1
2

Quantization
Quantizing electroweak theory carries special challenges. First, since the theory is a Yang-Mills theory, this requires calling
on the Fadeev-Popov procedure to fix the gauge such that a propagator for the gauge bosons may be written down. This
introduces a gauge-fixing sector and a ghost sector. However, theres an added twist due to the fact that the symmetry is
broken which carries its own implications for choice of gauge. Well examine two choices, the unitary gauge, which makes the
relevant degrees of freedom manifest, but at the cost of complicating the propagators for the purposes of computations and
the R gauges, which are a generalization of the covariant gauges and are carefully chosen to cancel some nasty couplings
arising from the spontaneously broken symmetry. However, in the R gauges, the Goldstone bosons are no longer fixed at 0,
and so become propagating degrees of freedom well need to keep track of.

Page 15 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Gauge-fixing (Faddeev-Popov procedure)

Lets review the Fadeev-Popov procedure for fixing the gauge in a non-Abelian gauge theory. Let A represent that gauge
field(s) and let i represent the various other fields (whether they be scalar, spinor, etc.). The generating functional is then
 Z

Z




Z[J ] = exp i
L A , i + J A d4 x DA Di
Recall that the above functional is problematic since it includes an integral over the gauge fields which have redundancies
that lead to infinities when integrated. Therefore, lets break the redundancies by introducing a function cleverly:

!
Z



g A
1 = g A det
D(x)

where the (x) parameterize the orbits over gauge space (aka each (x) is a different closed orbit in gauge space); so the
above functional integral picks one particular gauge orbit over which to integrate! Now recall from the beginning of this
discussion the infinitesimal transformation rule for a gauge field in a non-Abelian symmetry:

1
1
1
Aa Aa + a (x) f abc b (x)Ac = Aa +
gf abc b (x)Ac a (x) = Aa + D a (x)
g
g
g
Now lets choose a particular gauge fixing scheme (known as the covariant gauges, which represent a generalization of the
Lorenz gauge):


g A = A (x)


so when g A = 0 (enforced by the function), A = (x), which is a Lorenz-like condition. Now, lets again cleverly
multiply by 1 in the form
!
Z
Z 2
(x) 4
d x D(x)
1 = N () exp i
2
where N () is some normalization dependent on , which will drop out of any physical observable. Lastly, note that with the
transformation rule for A and the function g picked out above, the determinant becomes Note that with this transformation
rule, the functional derivative in the determinant


 



1


g A

1
=
Aa + D a (x) (x) =
Aa (x) +
D a (x)
(x) = D

g
Putting this all together, and performing the integral over (x) using the function we get
!


Z Z
Z 2


(x)
1
1 = N ()
exp i
A (x) D(x) det
D D(x)
2
g



 Z
Z

2
1
1
= N () exp i
A d4 x det
D D(x)
2
g
Z



 Z


2 4
1
1

= N ()
D(x) det
D exp i
A d x
g
2
where, in the last step, the fact that neither the exponential nor the determinant depend on (x) was used to pull them
through the integral. Now lets insert this identity operator into the generating functional:

 Z
Z




Z[J ] = exp i
L A , i + J A d4 x DA Di
Z
Z
 Z 







2
1
1
= N ()
D(x)
exp i
L A , i
A + J A d4 x det
D DA Di
2
g
So the net effect has been to add a gauge-fixing term to the Lagrangian; its possible to prove that physical observables
dont depend on choice of , but I wont do that here (see Schwartz 14.6 for more details). Were almost done, except for
Page 16 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

that nasty-looking determinant left over from this procedure. It turns out we can cleverly rewrite this as an integral over
fermionic scalar fields
Z
det () = exp (
cc) D
cDc
where is any operator; in our case = g1 D . Lets redefine c, c to get rid of the factor of g and this yields
 Z 







2
1
1
exp i
L A , i
A + J A d4 x det
D DA Di
2
g


Z
Z
 Z 




1
2
A c D c + J A d4 x D
cDcDA Di
= N ()
D(x)
exp i
L A , i
2
Z

Z

Z[J ] = N ()

D(x)

The c, c fields are known as Faddeev-Popov ghost fields. These are Grassmann-valued scalar fields, meaning that they violate
the spin-statistics theorem and consequently cannot be found in physical states. Their main role is to cancel the longitudinal
propagation modes of gauge bosons that may arise in three-point interactions (where, for example an intermediate gauge
boson, which is off-shell and could therefore be polarized longitudinally, couples to external gauge bosons which are on-shell
and there must be transverse polarized.) Now note that D in this instance came from the infinitesimal transformation rule
for the gauge fields, which transform in the adjoint representation. Therefore, in order for the above expression to make
sense, since D is acting on the ghost fields, the ghost fields themselves must also transform in the adjoint representation.

R gauges
The analysis in the previous sections has employed the unitary gauge; well find at the end of this section that the unitary
gauge is simply a particular choice of R gauge. First, lets restore the gauge symmetry we lost by choosing the Goldstone
bosons to be 0 identically. To do that, lets examine the parameterization of the Higgs field after the larger symmetry is
spontaneously broken:
!


0
a a
H = exp 2i
h
v +
v
2
2
In this parameterization, h represents radial excitations of the field about the vacuum v, while the a represent angular
excitations of the field (recall that the Higgs potential is the mexican hat potential which has a trough of equivalent vacua).
Note that there are three a fields (one for each generator of SU (2)), in keeping with the Goldstone theorem that each broken
generator produces a massless boson. Now lets think of the exponential factor as an inverse unitary gauge transformation


a a
U = exp 2i
v
Recall that non-Abelian gauge fields transform as
W

U W U 1

i
U U 1
g

Inserting this unitary transformation and finding the infinitesimal form (to first order in ) gives









a a
a a
i
a a
a a
W exp 2i
W exp 2i

exp 2i
exp 2i
v
v
g
v
v









 i
a a
a a
a
a a
a a
= 1 + 2i
+ . . . W 1 2i
+ ...
2i exp 2i
a exp 2i
v
v
g
v
v
v



 

a b
a b
i
a
a a
a a
= W + 2i W a b 2i W b a
2i a 1 + 2i
+ ...
1 2i
+ ...
v
v
g
v
v
v
2ia b
2 a
= W
W (a b b a ) +

v
gv a
2ifabc
2 a
= W
a Wb c +

v
gv a
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Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

Now, lets check that this is gauge invariant under a U (1) transformation, since thats the gauge invariance weve just added
back in! Recall that under an infinitesimal Abelian gauge transformation (like U (1)) the transformation rule for the gauge
field is
1
Wa Wa + a (x)
g
Thus
2ifabc
2 a
a Wa a Wa
a Wb c +

v
gv a




1
2ifabc
1
2 a
a Wa + a (x)
a Wb + b (x) c +

g
v
g
gv a
2ifabc
2 a
1
2ifabc
= a Wa
a Wb c +
+ a (x)
b (x)c
v
gv a g a
gv a


2ifabc
2
1
= a Wa
a Wb c +
a a + va a (x) ifabc a b (x)c
v
gv
2


2if
2
1
abc
= a Wa
a Wb c + a a + va a (x) ifabc a b (x)c
v
gv
2
The expression is invariant so long as a , the Goldstone bosons also transform properly; this rather nasty transformation rule
is the original SU (2) U (1) symmetry manifested in a non-linear way. Now lets examine what happens to the Lagrangian
under this gauge transformation, using the example of the mass term in the Lagrangian:
Lmass =

1 2
m W W
2 W

Extensions to the standard model

In the original standard model, neutrinos were assumed to be completely massless and thus eigenstates in flavor space.
Experimental evidence from the Kamiokande experiment indicated that neutrinos are capable of changing flavor as they
move through space and matter, a development that can be attributed to the (extremely light) masses neutrinos have been
found to have. These oscillations can be incorporated into the standard model by means of a seesaw mechanism. Before
discussing neutrino mass

Neutrino masses
Lets recall that in order to impart masses on the leptons in the previous sections, we postulated the existence of a lefthanded lepton (like the electron) which transformed in an SU(2) doublet with the corresponding left-handed neutrino and
the existence of a right-handed lepton, which transformed in an SU(2) singlet (aka not at all). When the symmetry was
spontaneously broken and the Higgs given a non-zero VEV, this allowed the left- and right-handed leptons to come together
to form a Dirac mass
R + ye H L

Llepton mass = y LHe

R
!



0

0
= y L eL
e
+
ye
h
v
R
R
+
2
2


yv 
y 
= eL eR + eR eL + h eL eR + eR eL
2
2

v
2

 
L
eL

where the second term is the Dirac mass. Consequently, we can impart masses to neutrinos the same way, by postulating
the existence of an SU(2) singlet right-handed neutrino that couples to the left-handed neutrino when the symmetry is
spontaneously broken. However, this doesnt solve the problem of flavor oscillations. We could employ a method similar
to the Yij matrices used to allow the quarks to change flavor (since mass eigenstates are no longer flavor eigenstates); but
Page 18 of 19

Humberto Gilmer

Electroweak Theory Summary

this isnt enough. There is yet one more kind of mass term, called the Majorana mass, which is allowed by the electroweak
symmetry. Lets discuss Majorana masses and their relation to Majorana spinors. Recall that Dirac spinors are bispinors
made by stacking two Weyl spinors, one left- and one right-handed:


L
Dirac =
R
Now, instead of letting L and R be independent of each other, let the degrees of freedom filled by R be filled by the
charge-conjugate of L . In other words

R = i2 L
where, recall, i2 represents the spinor metric. Therefore

Majorana =

i2 L

Now lets make a Lorentz invariant out of this object. Recall that a Dirac mass is given by

LDirac mass = mD D = mD
0 D

 0 1  

L
= m L R
1 0
R
 


R
= m L
R
L



= m L
R + R
L

Now a Majorana mass term will similarly be

LMajorana mass = mM M = mM
0 M

 0 1 

L

= m L i L 2

1 0
i2 L
  i 


T
2 L
= m L
2
iL
L



2 L
L
2 L
= im L

Note that the choice of using the left-handed spinor to define the right-handed spinor is arbitrary; I couldve just as easily
used the right-handed spinor to define the left-handed spinor. In fact, lets do that! Lets write the analogous coupling of
the Higgs to the left- and right-handed neutrinos:
 

 

i
i i2 H j + Yij j
Lneutrino Dirac mass = Yij L
i
H
L
2
R
R
!
!
     
h
 i
  
v +

j


j
h
v
L
i
i
2
2
+
0
= Yij
R + Yij
R
L
eL
2
2
eiL
0
 



 
 
 

v
1
i
i
j
j
j
j

i

i
=
L Yij R + R
Yij L + h L Yij R + R
Yij L
2
2
Now lets write down the Majorana mass for the neutrinos, using the right-handed neutrino. Instead of a single mass m, lets
generalize by using a mass matrix Mij that mixes flavors:
   

 

i
i
i
i
Lneutrino Dirac mass = iMij
R
2 R
R
2 R

Seesaw mechanism
Page 19 of 19