Theoretical status of the muon g-2

Abstract

We review the present status of the theoretical evaluation of the anomalous magnetic moment of the the muon within the Standard Model. We mainly focus on the hadronic contributions in the muon g-2 due to vacuum polarization effects, light-by-light scattering and higher order electroweak corrections. We discuss some recent calculations together with their uncertainties and limitations and point out possible improvements in the future. In view of the inconsistent values for the hadronic vacuum polarization based on e^+ e^- and tau data, no conclusion can be drawn yet, whether the apparent discrepancy between the current experimental and theoretical values for the muon g-2 points to physics beyond the Standard Model.