Finite Temperature QED: Non-Cancellation of Infrared Divergencies and Thermal Corrections to the Electron Magnetic Moment

Abstract

In this work quantum electrodynamics at T > 0 is considered. For this purpose we use thermo field dynamics and the causal approach to quantum field theory according to Epstein and Glaser, the latter being a rigorous method to avoid the well-known ultraviolet divergencies of quantum field theory. It will be shown that the theory is infrared divergent if the usual scattering states are used. The same is true if we use more general mixed states. This is in contradiction to the results established in the literature, and we will point out why these earlier approaches fail to describe the infrared behaviour correctly. We also calculate the thermal corrections to the electron magnetic moment in the low temperature approximation k_B T << m_e. This is done by investigating the scattering of an electron on a C-number potential in third order in the limit of small momentum transfer p -> q. We reproduce one of the different results reported up to now in literature. In the low temperature approximation infrared finiteness is recovered in a very straightforward way: In contrast to the literature we do not have to introduce a thermal Dirac equation or thermal spinors.