Monday, October 20, 2014

quantum field theory - Vacuum Expectation Value and the Minima of the Potential


Often times in quantum field theory, you will hear people using the term "vacuum expectation value" when referring to the minimum of the potential $V(\phi )$ in the Lagrangian (I'm pretty sure every source I've seen that explains the Higgs mechanism uses this terminology).


However, a priori, it would seem that the term "vacuum expectation value" (of a field $\phi$) should refer to $\langle 0|\phi |0\rangle$, where $|0\rangle$ is the physical vacuum of the theory (whatever that means; see my other question).


What is the proof that these two coincide?




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