Having difficulty comprehending a problem in Peskin's text

In summary, the conversation discusses the bound state of positronium described by a ket, where the RHS is a superposition of kets. The matrix $\Sigma^i$ represents the two-particle wavefunction in the momentum space representation and is used to construct the positronium bound state. It contains the momentum space wavefunction $\psi_i(p)$.
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In his "an introduction to quantum field theory", problem 5.4 (c), he describes a bound state of positronium as [tex]|B(k)\rangle=\sqrt{2M}\int{\frac{d^{3}p}{(2\pi)^{3}}\psi_{i}(p)a^{\dagger}_{p+\frac{k}{2}}\Sigma^{i}b^{\dagger}_{-p+\frac{k}{2}}|0\rangle}[/tex]
where [itex]\psi_{i}(p)[/itex] are the p-orbtal wavefunctions in momentum space(i=1,2,3), [itex]a^{\dagger}[/itex]and [itex]b^{\dagger}[/itex] are electron and positron creation operator, [itex]\Sigma^{i}[/itex] is some 2 by 2 matrix. I don't understand where this [itex]\Sigma^{i}[/itex] comes from. LHS of the equation is just a ket, in this case shouldn't RHS be a superposition of kets? What should I make of [itex]\Sigma^{i}[/itex]?
 
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  • #2
The wavefunction of the positronium bound state is a two-particle wavefunction, which is a function of both electron and positron coordinates. The matrix $\Sigma^i$ is used to represent the two-particle wavefunction in the momentum space representation. It is essentially a two by two matrix whose elements contain the momentum space wavefunction $\psi_i(p)$. The matrix $\Sigma^i$ is used to construct the two-particle wavefunction in the momentum space representation of the positronium bound state.
 

FAQ: Having difficulty comprehending a problem in Peskin's text

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