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I am reading Schwartz QFT. On page 61 in eq (5.20) he gives an expression that describes the probability for a $2\to n$ scattering event to happen:

$$dP=\frac{T}{V}\frac{1}{(2E_1)(2 E_2)}\left|\mathcal{M}\right|^2 \, d\Pi_{\rm LIPS}\tag{5.20}$$

where $T$ and $V$ are finite time and space volumes and

$$d\Pi_{\rm LIPS}=(2\pi)^4\delta^{(4)}\left(p_1+p_2-\sum_{i=1...n}p_i\right)\times \prod_{i=1...n}\frac{d^3p_i}{(2\pi)^3}\frac{1}{2E_i}.\tag{5.21}$$

Now I consider the example for a $2\to 1$ event. Writing everything out yields:

$$dP=\frac{T}{V}\frac{1}{(2E_1)(2 E_2)(2E_f)}\left|\mathcal{M}\right|^2 \, (2\pi)\delta^{(4)}\left(p_1+p_2-p_f\right)d^3p_f$$

where $p_f$ is the final state momentum. Performing the integral over $p_f$ gives:

$$P=\frac{T}{V}\frac{1}{(2E_1)(2 E_2)(2E_f)}\left|\mathcal{M}\right|^2 \, (2\pi)\delta^{(1)}\left(E_1+E_2-E_f\right)$$

with $E_f=\sqrt{E_1^2+E_2^2}$. I am confused that in this expressions $T$ and $V$ still appear. My feeling tells me that they should drop out since one takes the limit $t,V\to \infty$ in the end.

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According to Schwartz, the factor $\frac{T}{V}$ drops out when we go from differential probability $dP$ to the differential cross-section $$ d\sigma~=~ \frac{V}{T} \frac{1}{|\vec{v}_1-\vec{v}_2|}dP.\tag{5.6} $$

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  • $\begingroup$ Yeah I saw that but should not the probability by itself be a quantity where V and T drop out? $\endgroup$
    – user255856
    Commented Mar 16, 2022 at 20:49

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