14 Chapter 2 The Klein-Gordon Field Tn nonrelativistic quantum mechanics we have E = p?/2m, so (t) = (| eH?" x0) @ ~i(p? /2m) = fae ep) Blo) [bre san nt) m_ 3/2 ,im(x—xo)}® /2t = (sR) This expression is nonzero for all x and J, indicating that a particle can prop- agate between any two points in an arbitrarily short time, In a relativistic theory, this conclusion would signal a violation of causality. One might hope that using the relativistic expression E’ = yp? + m? would help, but it does not. In analogy with the nonrelativistic case, we have U (i) = (xh VPH hg) aap [en NR cons = 1 T apy i itm? = apy rag | PP sim —xa))e . 3 This integral can be evaluated explicitly in terms of Bessel functions.* We will content ourselves with looking at its asymptotic behavior for x? > t? (well outside the light-cone), using the method of stationary phase. The phas function pe—ty/p? + m? has a stationary point at p = ima/Va?—®. We may freely push the contour upward so that it goes through this point. Plugging in this value for p, we find that, up to a rational function of z and t, Ul) ome, Thus the propagation amplitude is small but nonzero outside the light-cone, and causality is still violated. Quantum field theory solves the causality problem in a miraculous way, which we will discuss in Section 2.4. We will find that, in the multiparticle ficld theory, the propagation of a particle across a spacelike interval is indis- tinguishable from the propagation of an antiparticle in the opposite direction (see Fig. 2.1). When we ask whether an observation made at point 279 can affect an observation made at point x, we will find that the amplitudes for particle and antiparticle propagation exactly cancel—so causality is preserved. Quantum field theory provides a natural way to handle not only multipar- ticle states, but also transitions between states of different particle number. It solves the causality problem by introducing antiparticles, then goes on to See Gradshteyn and Ryzhik (1980), #3.914.