Asymptotic states and renormalization in Lorentz-violating quantum field theory

Abstract

Asymptotic single-particle states in quantum field theories with small departures from Lorentz symmetry are investigated perturbatively with focus on potential phenomenological ramifications. To this end, one-loop radiative corrections for a sample Lorentz-violating Lagrangian contained in the Standard-Model Extension (SME) are studied at linear order in Lorentz breakdown. It is found that the spinor kinetic operator, and thus the free-particle physics, is modified by Lorentz-violating operators absent from the original Lagrangian. As a consequence of this result, both the standard renormalization procedure as well as the Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann reduction formalism need to be adapted. The necessary adaptations are worked out explicitly at first order in Lorentz-breaking coefficients.