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arXiv · 2011.03757

The simplest description of charge propagation in a strong background

Martin Lavelle·David McMullan
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Abstract

Exploiting the gauge freedom associated with the Volkov description of a charge propagating in a plane wave background, we identify a new type of gauge choice which significantly simplifies the theory. This allows us to develop a compact description of the propagator for both scalar and fermionic matter, in a circularly polarised background. It is shown that many of the usually observed structures are gauge artefacts. We then analyse the full ultraviolet behaviour of the one-loop corrections for such charges. This enables us to identify and contrast the different renormalisation prescriptions needed for both types of matter.

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Martin Lavelle, David McMullan. 2020-11-07. The simplest description of charge propagation in a strong background. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.103.036015

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