Infrared multiphoton resummation in quantum electrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper explores the infrared singularities in quantum electrodynamics (QED), demonstrating how to resum multiphoton contributions to address these divergences at zero and finite temperatures.

Contribution

It presents a derivation of the Bloch-Nordsieck propagator for electron propagation, providing insights into infrared structure and potential applications in QED.

Findings

Infrared singularities are caused by massless photons in QED.

Complete summation of radiative corrections can eliminate infrared catastrophe.

Derived the Bloch-Nordsieck propagator at zero and finite temperatures.

Abstract

Infrared singularities in massless gauge theories are known since the foundation of quantum field theories. The root of this problem can be tracked back to the very definition of these long-range interacting theories such as QED. It can be shown that singularities are caused by the massless degrees of freedom (i.e. the photons in the case of QED). In the Bloch-Nordsieck model the absence of the infrared catastrophe can be shown exactly by the complete summation of the radiative corrections. In this paper we will give the idea of the derivation of the Bloch-Nordsieck propagator, that describes the infrared structure of the electron propagation, at zero and finite temperatures. Some ideas of the possible applications are also mentioned.