On Kreimer's Hopf algebra structure of Feynman graphs

Abstract

We reinvestigate Kreimer's Hopf algebra structure of perturbative quantum field theories with a special emphasis on overlapping divergences. Kreimer first disentangles overlapping divergences into a linear combination of disjoint and nested ones and then tackles that linear combination by the Hopf algebra operations. We present a formulation where the Hopf algebra operations are directly defined on any type of divergence. We explain the precise relation to Kreimer's Hopf algebra and obtain thereby a characterization of their primitive elements.