5.2.2 Dyson Series#

Prompts

  • Why is the Volterra integral form often a better starting point than the differential equation for \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)\), and what does it make conceptually clear about perturbative iteration?

  • How does repeated substitution of the Volterra equation generate the Dyson series order by order, and what physical process is represented by each order in \(\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}\)?

  • What is the bare Green’s function \(\hat{G}_0(t,t')\), and why is it a natural language for describing free propagation segments between interaction events?

  • How does the dressed Green’s function \(\hat{G}(t,t_0)\) encode the same propagate-scatter history as the Dyson series, and why does time ordering appear in the integration domain?

  • How do Feynman-diagram elements (free line, vertex, dressed line) map to operator factors in the Dyson expansion, and why must diagram reading order mirror operator multiplication on states?

Lecture Notes#

Overview#

Section 5.2.1 established the interaction-picture equation \(\mathrm{i}\hbar\,\partial_t\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)\) with \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(0)=\hat{I}\), and the factorization \(\hat{U}(t)=\hat{U}_0(t)\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)\). The central task of this section is to solve for \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}\) perturbatively when operators at different times do not commute. The result is the Dyson series: a time-ordered expansion that can be truncated order by order.

After constructing the Dyson expansion, we rewrite the same physics in two equivalent languages. The Green’s-function form makes each term read as “free propagation interrupted by scattering,” and the diagrammatic form turns that same structure into compact Feynman rules. By the end, we have a practical formula for \(\hat{U}(t)=\hat{G}(t,0)\) to any desired order in \(\hat{V}\), which serves as the technical input for the next section’s concrete transition calculations.

Dyson Series#

Integrate Eq. (190) from \(0\) to \(t\) and use \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(0)=\hat{I}\):

(191)#\[ \boxed{\; \hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\hat{I}-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\int_0^t\mathrm{d}t'\,\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t')\,\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t')\;} \]

This is the Volterra integral equation for \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}\), equivalent to the differential operator EOM but better suited for iteration: the unknown \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}\) appears under the integral, so substituting Eq. (191) into itself reduces it to a quantity multiplied by one extra factor of \(\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}\).

Iteration (blackboard style). Perform one explicit substitution under the integral:

\[ \hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\hat{I}-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\int_0^t\mathrm{d}t_1\,\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_1)\Bigl[\hat{I}-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\int_0^{t_1}\mathrm{d}t_2\,\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_2)\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_2)\Bigr]. \]

Expand once:

\[ \hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\hat{I}-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\int_0^t\mathrm{d}t_1\,\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_1) +\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^2\int_0^t\mathrm{d}t_1\int_0^{t_1}\mathrm{d}t_2\,\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_1)\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_2)\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_2). \]

The pattern is now visible: each substitution adds one ordered time integral and one extra \(\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}\). Continuing to all orders gives the Dyson series:

(192)#\[ \boxed{\; \hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^{\!k}\! \int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_k\!\int_0^{t_k}\!\mathrm{d}t_{k-1}\cdots\!\int_0^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\; \hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_k)\,\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_{k-1})\cdots\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_1)\;} \]

where the \(k=0\) term is \(\hat{I}\). The integration domain \(0\le t_1\le t_2\le\cdots\le t_k\le t\) enforces time ordering: in each operator product, later times sit to the left and earlier times to the right.

Why the time ordering matters

If \([\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_1),\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_2)]\neq 0\), the order in which interactions act is physical, and the simplex \(0\le t_1\le\cdots\le t_k\le t\) — not the full hypercube — is what reproduces causal composition. The compact notation

\[ \hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\mathcal{T}\exp\!\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\!\int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t'\,\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t')\Bigr) \]

with \(\mathcal{T}\) the time-ordering operator is shorthand for exactly Eq. (192).

What each order means physically

  • \(k=0\): no interaction (\(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}=\hat{I}\)).

  • \(k=1\): one interaction event in \((0,t)\) — first-order amplitudes.

  • \(k=2\): two events in time-ordered sequence; different intermediate histories interfere.

  • General \(k\): a time-ordered “film” of \(k\) scatters.

Green’s Function#

The Dyson series Eq. (192) is written in terms of \(\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}=\hat{U}_0^{\dagger}\hat{V}\hat{U}_0\). Each adjacent product

\[ \hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_{j+1})\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_j) =\hat{U}_0^{\dagger}(t_{j+1})\hat{V}(t_{j+1})\,\underbrace{\hat{U}_0(t_{j+1})\hat{U}_0^{\dagger}(t_j)}_{\text{call it }\hat{G}_0(t_{j+1},t_j)}\,\hat{V}(t_j)\hat{U}_0(t_j) \]

contains a free-evolution sandwich whose only role is to propagate the system from \(t_j\) to \(t_{j+1}\) between two scatterings. This motivates an independent name for that object.

Bare propagator (bare Green’s function)

(193)#\[ \boxed{\; \hat{G}_0(t,t'):=\hat{U}_0(t)\,\hat{U}_0^{\dagger}(t') =\sum_n \vert n\rangle\,\mathrm{e}^{-\mathrm{i}E_n(t-t')/\hbar}\,\langle n\vert\;} \]

It is the unitary propagator of the unperturbed system from time \(t'\) to time \(t\). Composition is automatic: \(\hat{G}_0(t,t'')\hat{G}_0(t'',t')=\hat{G}_0(t,t')\).

The Schrödinger-picture propagator \(\hat{U}(t)=\hat{U}_0(t)\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)\) inherits the same expansion structure but with \(\hat{G}_0\) links between \(\hat{V}\) vertices:

(194)#\[ \boxed{\; \hat{U}(t)=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^{\!k}\! \int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_k\cdots\!\int_0^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\; \hat{G}_0(t,t_k)\,\hat{V}(t_k)\,\hat{G}_0(t_k,t_{k-1})\,\hat{V}(t_{k-1})\cdots\hat{V}(t_1)\,\hat{G}_0(t_1,0)\;} \]

Each term reads, left to right, as free propagation \(\to\) scatter at \(\hat{V}(t_k)\) \(\to\) free propagation \(\to\) scatter at \(\hat{V}(t_{k-1})\) \(\to\cdots\to\) free propagation back to time \(0\).

Dressed propagator (dressed Green’s function)

Generalize the initial time from \(0\) to \(t_0\) and define

\[ \hat{G}(t,t_0):=\hat{U}(t)\,\hat{U}^{\dagger}(t_0). \]

It is the full propagator from \(t_0\) to \(t\) in the presence of \(\hat{V}\). The same expansion now reads

(195)#\[ \boxed{\; \hat{G}(t,t_0)=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^{\!k}\! \int_{t_0}^{t}\!\mathrm{d}t_k\cdots\!\int_{t_0}^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\; \hat{G}_0(t,t_k)\,\hat{V}(t_k)\,\hat{G}_0(t_k,t_{k-1})\cdots\hat{V}(t_1)\,\hat{G}_0(t_1,t_0)\;} \]

— the Dyson series for the Green’s function. Since \(\hat{U}(t)=\hat{G}(t,0)\), computing \(\hat{G}\) in powers of \(\hat{V}\) is computing \(\hat{U}\) in powers of \(\hat{V}\).

Goal achieved. Given \(\hat{G}_0\) (which we know explicitly in the eigenbasis of \(\hat{H}_0\)), Eq. (195) lets us compute \(\hat{G}(t,t_0)\) — and therefore any transition amplitude \(\langle f\vert\hat{G}(t,t_0)\vert i\rangle\) — order by order in the perturbation.

Feynman Diagrams#

The expansion Eq. (195) is algebraically long but structurally simple: free propagation, vertex, free propagation, vertex, … Diagram rules compress this bookkeeping without changing physics.

Feynman rules

Element

Symbol

Meaning

directed single line \(t'\to t\)

G0

\(\hat{G}_0(t,t')\) — bare propagation

solid dot at time \(t\)

V

\(-\dfrac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\hat{V}(t)\) — one scattering event

directed double line \(t_0\to t\)

G

\(\hat{G}(t,t_0)\) — dressed propagation

Connecting links and dots identifies the time labels. Outermost times (initial \(t_0\), final \(t\)) are fixed; internal times are integrated over the time-ordered domain.

Mirror rule (diagram vs operator order)

Time flows along the arrow on the page (past on the left, future on the right). But operators in \(\hat{G}(t,t_0)\) act on a ket from the right, so the operator product reads right-to-left. Diagram and operator are mirror images of each other.

The Dyson series Eq. (195) becomes, schematically,

Dyson diagrammatic expansion

a dressed propagator built from sums of all diagrams with arbitrarily many internal \(\hat{V}\) vertices.

Summary#

  • Volterra integral form: the IP operator EOM is recast as an integral equation with the unknown \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}\) under the integral — the form that makes perturbative iteration natural.

  • Dyson series: iterating Volterra produces \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}\) as a time-ordered power series in \(\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}\); the simplex domain enforces causal composition and is compactly written as the time-ordered exponential \(\mathcal{T}\exp(\cdots)\).

  • Green’s functions: the bare propagator \(\hat{G}_0\) and the dressed propagator \(\hat{G}=\hat{U}\hat{U}^{\dagger}\) rewrite the same series as “free \(\to\) scatter \(\to\) free \(\to\cdots\)”.

  • Feynman diagrams: one rule per ingredient — single line \(\hat{G}_0\), dot \(-\mathrm{i}\hat{V}/\hbar\), double line \(\hat{G}\) — visualize the Dyson series for \(\hat{G}\) order by order; the mirror rule converts diagram order into operator order.

  • Output: \(\hat{U}(t)=\hat{G}(t,0)\) to any desired order in \(\hat{V}\) — the input used in 5.2.3 to compute transition probabilities.

See Also

  • 5.2.1 Interaction Picture: definitions of \(\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}\), \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}\), and the operator EOM that this section integrates.

  • 5.2.3 Applications: first-order transition amplitudes, Fermi’s golden rule, adiabatic process, and the Kubo formula — all built on Eq. (195).

Homework#

1. Volterra integral form. Verify directly that the Volterra integral equation \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\hat{I}-(\mathrm{i}/\hbar)\int_0^t\mathrm{d}t'\,\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t')\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t')\) for \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)\) is equivalent to the IP operator EOM \(\mathrm{i}\hbar\,\partial_t\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t),\;\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(0)=\hat{I}\) together with the initial condition \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(0)=\hat{I}\), by differentiating both sides.

2. Iteration to second order. Substitute \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\hat{I}-(\mathrm{i}/\hbar)\int_0^t\mathrm{d}t'\,\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t')\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t')\) for \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t')\) on its own right-hand side once, and verify the \(k=2\) term of the Dyson series \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^{\!k}\int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_k\cdots\int_0^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\;\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_k)\cdots\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_1)\). Pay attention to the ordering of the two integration variables and the signs.

3. Time-ordering identity. For an integrand symmetric in \((t_1,t_2)\), show that

\[ \int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_2\!\int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_1\,F(t_1,t_2) =2\!\int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_2\!\int_0^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\,F(t_1,t_2). \]

Use this to rewrite the \(k=2\) Dyson term with the time-ordering operator \(\mathcal{T}\) as

\[ \frac{1}{2!}\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^{\!2}\,\mathcal{T}\!\int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_2\!\int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_1\,\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_2)\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_1), \]

and explain why the \(1/k!\) from the Taylor expansion of \(\mathcal{T}\exp\) matches the simplex factor from time ordering.

4. Bare Green’s function. From \(\hat{G}_0(t,t')=\hat{U}_0(t)\hat{U}_0^{\dagger}(t')=\sum_n \vert n\rangle\,\mathrm{e}^{-\mathrm{i}E_n(t-t')/\hbar}\,\langle n\vert\),

(a) Show \(\hat{G}_0(t,t'')\hat{G}_0(t'',t')=\hat{G}_0(t,t')\) using the spectral form.

(b) Show \(\hat{G}_0(t,t')^{\dagger}=\hat{G}_0(t',t)\), i.e. \(\hat{G}_0\) is unitary.

(c) Compute the matrix element \(\langle m\vert\hat{G}_0(t,t')\vert n\rangle\) and identify the Bohr phase.

5. Schrödinger-picture Dyson series. Starting from \(\hat{U}(t)=\hat{U}_0(t)\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)\) and the second-order term of \(\hat{U}_{\mathcal{I}}(t)=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^{\!k}\int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_k\cdots\int_0^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\;\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_k)\cdots\hat{V}_{\mathcal{I}}(t_1)\), derive the second-order term of \(\hat{U}(t)=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^{\!k}\int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_k\cdots\int_0^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\;\hat{G}_0(t,t_k)\hat{V}(t_k)\hat{G}_0(t_k,t_{k-1})\cdots\hat{V}(t_1)\hat{G}_0(t_1,0)\) explicitly. Show step by step where each \(\hat{G}_0\) link comes from.

6. Recursive Dyson equation. Show that \(\hat{G}(t,t_0)=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^{\!k}\int_{t_0}^{t}\!\mathrm{d}t_k\cdots\int_{t_0}^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\;\hat{G}_0(t,t_k)\hat{V}(t_k)\hat{G}_0(t_k,t_{k-1})\cdots\hat{V}(t_1)\hat{G}_0(t_1,t_0)\) is equivalent to the closed recursion

\[ \hat{G}(t,t_0)=\hat{G}_0(t,t_0) -\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\!\int_{t_0}^{t}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\,\hat{G}_0(t,t_1)\,\hat{V}(t_1)\,\hat{G}(t_1,t_0). \]

Iterate this recursion once and verify the \(k=1\) and \(k=2\) terms of \(\hat{G}(t,t_0)=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^{\!k}\int_{t_0}^{t}\!\mathrm{d}t_k\cdots\int_{t_0}^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\;\hat{G}_0(t,t_k)\hat{V}(t_k)\hat{G}_0(t_k,t_{k-1})\cdots\hat{V}(t_1)\hat{G}_0(t_1,t_0)\).

7. Two-level Feynman diagrams. Take

\[\begin{split} \begin{split} \hat{H}_0&=\frac{\hbar\omega_0}{2}\hat{Z},\\ \hat{V}&=\hbar\Omega\,\hat{X}, \end{split} \end{split}\]

with \(\hat{V}\) time-independent.

(a) Write the second-order (\(k=2\)) term of the survival amplitude \(\langle 0\vert\hat{U}(t)\vert 0\rangle\) from \(\hat{U}(t)=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\Bigl(-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hbar}\Bigr)^{\!k}\int_0^t\!\mathrm{d}t_k\cdots\int_0^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\;\hat{G}_0(t,t_k)\hat{V}(t_k)\hat{G}_0(t_k,t_{k-1})\cdots\hat{V}(t_1)\hat{G}_0(t_1,0)\) as an explicit double time integral, using the spectral form of \(\hat{G}_0\).

(b) Identify the intermediate state that contributes and draw the corresponding Feynman diagram.

(c) Show that the first-order term \(\langle 0\vert\hat{U}^{(1)}(t)\vert 0\rangle\) vanishes, and explain the selection rule responsible. Conclude that the \(k=2\) term is the leading correction to the survival amplitude beyond the free-evolution phase \(\langle 0\vert\hat{G}_0(t,0)\vert 0\rangle\).

8. Three-level virtual transition. Let \(\hat{H}_0=\Delta\vert 3\rangle\langle 3\vert\) with \(E_1=E_2=0\) and \(E_3=\Delta\). Take a perturbation that connects \(\vert 1\rangle\leftrightarrow\vert 3\rangle\leftrightarrow\vert 2\rangle\) but has no direct \(\vert 1\rangle\leftrightarrow\vert 2\rangle\) matrix element:

\[\begin{split} \begin{split} \hat{V}(t)&=\lambda(t)\bigl[(\vert 1\rangle+\vert 2\rangle)\langle 3\vert+\mathrm{h.c.}\bigr],\\ \lambda(t)&=\lambda_0\cos(\omega t). \end{split} \end{split}\]

At \(t=0\) the system is prepared in \(\vert 1\rangle\); we compute the amplitude \(\langle 2\vert\hat{G}(t,0)\vert 1\rangle\) to find it in \(\vert 2\rangle\) at time \(t\). Work in units with \(\hbar=1\) throughout this problem, so \(\Delta\) is the level-3 angular frequency and the Dyson factor at order \(k\) is \((-\mathrm{i})^k\).

(a) Write down \(\hat{G}_0(t,t')\) explicitly using the spectral form.

(b) Argue from the Dyson series

\[\begin{split} \begin{split} \hat{G}(t,t_0)&=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}(-\mathrm{i})^k\int_{t_0}^{t}\!\mathrm{d}t_k\cdots\int_{t_0}^{t_2}\!\mathrm{d}t_1\\ &\quad\hat{G}_0(t,t_k)\,\hat{V}(t_k)\,\hat{G}_0(t_k,t_{k-1})\cdots\hat{V}(t_1)\,\hat{G}_0(t_1,t_0) \end{split} \end{split}\]

that the leading nonzero contribution to \(\langle 2\vert\hat{G}(t,0)\vert 1\rangle\) is second order in \(\lambda_0\), and identify which Feynman diagram it corresponds to.

(c) Write the second-order amplitude explicitly as a double time integral; leave it unevaluated here (that comes in 5.2.3 once we know how to handle long-time limits).