Abstract
A photon of momentum k can have only two polarization states, not three. Equivalently, one can say that the magnetic vector potential A must be divergence-free in the Coulomb gauge. These facts are normally taken into account in QED by introducing two polarization vectors ελ (k) with λ ∈ {1, 2}, which are orthogonal to the wave-vector k. These vectors must be very discontinuous functions of k and, consequently, their Fourier transforms have bad decay properties. Since these vectors have no physical significance there must be a way to eliminate them and their bad decay properties from the theory. We propose such a way here.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 477-483 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Communications In Mathematical Physics |
Volume | 252 |
Issue number | 1-3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2004 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
- Mathematical Physics