Flow equations for the quantum electrodynamics on the light-front

Abstract

The method of flow equations is applied to QED on the light front. Requiring that the particle number conserving terms in the Hamiltonian are considered to be diagonal and the other terms off-diagonal an effective Hamiltonian is obtained which reduces the positronium problem to a two-particle problem, since the particle number violating contributions are eliminated. Using an effective electron-positron Hamiltonian, obtained in the second order in coupling, we analyze the positronium bound state problem analytically and numerically. The results obtained for Bohr spectrum and hyperfine splitting coincide to a high accuracy with experimental values. The rotational invariance, that is not manifest symmetry on the light-front, is recovered for positronium mass spectrum. Except for the longitudinal infrared divergences, that are special for the light-front gauge calculations, no infrared divergences appear. The ultraviolet renormalization in the second order in coupling constant is performed simultaneously. To preserve boost invariance we take into account the diagrams arising from the normal ordering of instantaneous interactions. Using flow equations and coupling coherence we obtain the counterterms for electron and photon masses, which are free from longitudinal infrared divergences.