Two-loop massive scalar three-point function in a dispersive approach

Abstract

We present a dispersion relation formalism to calculate a massive scalar two-loop vertex function. Such calculation is of direct relevance in the evaluation of the hadronic light-by-light contribution to the muon's anomalous magnetic moment due to meson poles. The discontinuity of the two-loop diagram is obtained by a sum of two- and three-particle cut contributions, which involve a phase space integration over the physical intermediate states. The real part of the vertex function is subsequently reconstructed through evaluation of a dispersion integral. We explicitly demonstrate that the dispersive formalism yields exactly the same result as the direct two-loop calculation.